Big (man) return: Flagler Palm Coast scores six touchdowns, none bigger than defensive tackle Reagan Melland's 41-yard fumble return, in Homecoming victory

The Bulldogs handed Yulee its first loss of the season, winning 42-14 with a running clock.

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Flagler Palm Coast defensive tackle Reagan Melland had a potential interception in his hands, but he couldn’t hang on early in the Bulldogs’ Homecoming game. So, at halftime his teammates told him, ‘You got to redeem yourself.’

He did just that. With 7:42 left in the third quarter, Melland picked up a Yulee fumble and sprinted 41 yards for a touchdown to give FPC a 35-0 lead and a running clock for the rest of the game.

The Bulldogs went on to defeat the Hornets 42-14 on Friday, Oct. 17, handing Yulee (7-1) its first loss of the season.

“Everyone in the locker room was saying, ‘You got to redeem yourself,’ I was like, ‘I’ll redeem myself,” Melland said. “A couple of years ago, I picked up [a fumble] and I didn’t score. So, I told myself as soon as I picked it up, ‘I got to go.’ They grabbed me at the pile, and I was like, ‘I got to book it.’ I ran, I ran. I went for it. And thankfully my teammates were there to help me.”

The Bulldogs cheered from the sidelines as Melland rumbled down the field to score his first high school touchdown.

“I did not think he was going to score,” FPC quarterback La’Darius Simmons said of the burly lineman. “I thought someone would catch him.”

Melland’s defensive teammates swarmed him in the end zone to celebrate.

“It was an unbelievable play,” FPC coach Patrick Turner said. “Just the heart and drive to stay on his feet and keep going, throw a (Yulee player) off and then run as fast as he could, I’m so proud of him.”


I told myself as soon as I picked it up, ‘I got to go.’ They grabbed me at the pile, and I was like, ‘I got to book it.’
— REAGAN MELLAND, on his fumble return for a touchdown

The extra-point kick was blocked, but thanks to another unexpected play on the Bulldogs’ previous point-after touchdown, they had the 35-point lead needed to prompt a running clock. After Ehimen “He Man” Ajede scored his second touchdown of the game with 9:48 left in the third quarter, holder Teagan Paulo picked up the snap and threw a 2-point conversion pass to Dwayne Webb.

Paulo is the soccer team’s goalie and the football team’s full-time punter and part-time kicker, but he can do so much more, Turner said.

“We took a risky shot right there,” Turner said. “We wanted to see it. They came up exactly like we thought. Webb was wide open, and Teagan, man, he's as cool as a cucumber. He delivered the baby and scored two points. Everything he does is awesome. He can do anything you ask. He actually plays receiver for us, too [in practice]. We have to tell him to get out, because we don't want him to get hurt. He’s that valuable to us. But he just loves the competition.”

Just about everything the Bulldogs (3-5) did in the game went right. Simmons rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns and threw a 40-yard pass to Logan Jacobelli that gave FPC a 21-0 halftime lead. Simmons threw just five passes in the absence of leading receiver Nolan Caliendo, but completed all five for 89 yards. Caliendo injured his knee against DeLand.

“We had to be different," Turner said. "We lost Nolan, so we had to move some personnel around. And we did some things that [Yulee] obviously hadn't seen on film, and it was in our favor. It took them a while to adjust, but we played pretty solid. The defense was dialed in and played fantastic. Obviously, they were undefeated and had been scoring a lot of points, and we knew they were going to play really, really well.”

Simmons said the Bulldogs had gained confidence from their 49-21 loss to undefeated DeLand the previous week when FPC dropped three potential touchdown passes and had a touchdown return called back.

“We scored 21 points on DeLand in the second half. Everyone was playing together, so I knew we had a great chance of beating Yulee,” Simmons said. “We are executing plays better and not really making any mistakes. We didn't have any fumbles or interceptions this game, and fumbles was a problem in the last games, so we had none of that.”

FPC will meet another highly ranked team on Friday, Oct. 24, when its visits Spruce Creek (6-1), which lost its first game of the season, 16-10 in overtime at Sanford Seminole on Oct. 17.

“This [win] raises morale a lot,” Simmons said, “because this was a 7-0 team.”

 

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