Bucs fall short: Mainland battles back in 35-33 loss at Nease

The Panthers led 32-19 in the third quarter but had to stave off the Bucs' fourth-quarter comeback attempt.

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On a rainy night at Nease High School, in a football game that began an hour and a half late because of lightning delays, who would blame home and visiting fans alike from leaving in the third quarter with the host Panthers leading Mainland High 32-19?

Those fans missed an exciting fourth quarter. The Buccaneers (0-2) came within a successful 2-point conversion from sending the game to overtime, falling 35-33 on Friday, Sept. 4.

“We stopped shooting ourselves in the foot and started playing clean football,” Mainland coach Jerrime Bell said of the near comeback. “Early in the game, we had several drives that stalled out because of penalties. The weren’t undisciplined penalties; they were more aggressive penalties that put us behind the chains on offense.”

Mainland's Tamaj Woodard and Dennis King V each scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the Bucs back in the game. Mainland's 2-point conversion attempt failed after the first fourth-quarter score, and Nease’s Aric Davis-Baer kicked his second field goal on the night to stretch the Panthers’ lead to 35-25.

After the Bucs reached the end zone again and converted the 2-point conversion, Nease (1-2) recovered an onside kick to secure the victory.

Mainland quarterback PJ Miller threw three touchdown passes and ran for a touchdown. Receiver Nolan Caliendo hauled in two of the touchdown receptions. The junior’s catch-and-run for a touchdown gave the Bucs the early lead in the first quarter.

Nease quarterback Aiden Phifer also tossed three touchdown passes, all to his cousin, Chase Phifer.

Before the game, Nease held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new turf field. 

“They’re a tough team, and we went to their house with the ribbon cutting, field dedication ceremony, so we knew it was going to be a hostile environment,” Bell said. “And for the most part, we battled toe to toe with them. We just made too many untimely mistakes.”

The Bucs are off this week. They will try to get in the win column on Friday, Sept. 18, in a home game against Sanford Seminole.


Early in the season, I'm optimistic. Our offense finally caught its rhythm again.
— JERRIME BELL, Mainland football coach

“Early in the season, I'm optimistic,” Bell said. “Our offense finally caught its rhythm again. The mistakes we made on defense are correctable — communication, alignment, assignment. We have a week that we can work on those things.”

Seminole (3-0) is coming off a 27-13 win over Eau Gallie. The Seminoles are ranked sixth in Class 6A and 25th overall in the state by MaxPreps and feature former Mainland receiver Kadin Flores. The speedster scored 10 touchdowns for the Bucs last year. This season, Flores, a junior, leads Seminole with 15 catches for 177 yards.

“He's having a successful season, so it's going to be fun,” Bell said. “It's always fun whenever we match up with Seminole. All we have left on our schedule is tough games, so that’s every week, you’re not allowed to breathe.”

 

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