There were 98 seconds left, a third-down play at the 3-yard line, when West Florida High took a timeout before a game-defining moment.
“Hey guys, is this great or what? I love you guys!” said Jaguars’ head coach Harry Lees, later relaying what he told his offensive unit, as they huddled with quizzical looks like he had gone bonkers.
His players then made it memorable.
Quarterback Xavier Finley bulled his way into the end zone with offensive line help, then West Florida’s defense made a goal-line stand as time expired for a 23-20 homecoming football victory Friday against Milton, setting off an explosion of joy from the Jaguars’ players and crowd at Marlon L. Bullock Stadium.
“Our kids were resilient. I just believed in them,” said Lees, as he tried to catch his breath and savor the win. “I felt good about it (at the end). They just made plays.”
It was the first time these teams have met in 10 years. It became a game that was among the best this season for Northwest Florida high school football.
After Milton took its first lead early in the fourth quarter, when sophomore quarterback Cade Pierce connected with senior Bryson Brown on a 10-yard touchdown, the Jaguars’ resolve was tested.
Finley directed an amazing 18-play, 64-yard drive, which included two fourth-down conversions and culminated with his scoring run with 1:28 left in the game. The drive consumed 8 minutes and 12 seconds in a do-or-die situation.
“We got stopped and faced a couple fourth downs, but our guys knew that we were going to get it done,” Finley said. “Because we just had that confidence. And we kept pushing.
“It looked bad for a little bit, but we regrouped in the huddle, calmed down a little bit and then just said that, ‘Hey, it’s our ball. it’s what we do.’ I think all of us dove together in the end zone on my run.”
The Panthers (0-8) seeking their first win, had a last attempt after the Jaguars (3-5) smothered a kick return at the Milton 23.
Pierce was up for the challenge. He connected with Brown on a gain to the West Florida 42. The Jaguars called a timeout with 1:02 left. A couple plays later, Milton had the ball at the Jaguars’ 20 with 29.2 seconds remaining and a second time out called by Lees.
After another completion, the Panthers had two plays left with 10.8 seconds and the ball at the 5. The first was an end zone incompletion. On the final play, Pierce took a shotgun snap and looked for Brown again, then took off up the middle when stopped at the 3-yard line as time expired.
“We knew they were throwing it, so we played our coverage, played deep and we had their guys locked up and their quarterback had to scramble,” said senior safety and running back Trevor Rogers, who was named homecoming king at halftime.
“He is a great runner, so we were watching him but we also have great (defensive linemen) who where there and got on him.”
The well-played game – there were few penalties – was completed in just over two hours and featured emotion boosts on both sidelines.
The Jaguars started the game with an 11-play, 64-yard drive that was finished on a 14-yard touchdown pass by Finley, the only pass in the drive.
On its second possession, Milton tied the game when Brown took an end sweep and went 53-yards for a touchdown.
The Jaguars’ punter, Hayden Olson, then got a kick that was downed by teammates at the Milton 1. On the next play, the ball-carrier was smothered for a safety.
It enabled West Florida to take a 16-7 lead into halftime, after getting good field position off the safety and free kick. This time, Finley scored from the 9.
Pierce and Brown hooked up for a big-play score on an 80-yard, pass-catch and run early in the fourth quarter. That’s when West Florida answered.
“We have a bunch of different guys who play defensive and play running back,” Lees said “We took a couple guys who are our best at running downhill. Unfortunately, they also play defense, so I would have liked to had a lot less time on the clock.”
Milton’s end-of-season schedule only gets tougher, first with a district game against Niceville Next Friday.
The Jaguars will now turn focus to next Friday’s unique game against Pensacola High at Blue Wahoos Stadium in the second annual First City Bowl.
Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: West Florida football beats Milton in close homecoming victory
