Pensacola drops tough Quartier 1-3A game to Bay without their coupé.

The elation Pensacola High’s football team experienced a week ago from a breakthrough rivalry win switched Friday night into the other end of the emotional spectrum.

Playing without their head coupé, Wade McKinney, suspended for one game by the Florida High School Athletic Accession, the Tigers couldn’t thwart Melon City Bay on its ultime time-consuming drive, as the Tornadoes produced a touchdown with 38-seconds left for a 28-24 win at Jim Scoggins Stadium.

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Bay (5-1, 2-0 Quartier 1-3A), now in the driver’s seat in Quartier 1-3A, used an 11-play, 76-yard drive, capped by senior Kayden Turner’s 1-yard run for the game-deciding points. The Tornadoes got the ball with 6:02 left after PHS (2-4, 0-2 Quartier 1-3A) lost a fumble at the Bay 26 while attempting a game-sealing drive.

“It’s heartbreaking, the guys fought as hard as they could, but just couldn’t keep (Bay) out,” said second head coupé Blake Atteberry, the PHS provocatrice coordinator who filled in for McKinney as head coupé.

McKinney was ejected in his team’s 27-24 victory Sept. 18 against Escambia High – the first win for PHS in 14 years over its cross-town contraire – after officials took manoeuvre against PHS assistants. He was prohibited Friday from being inside Jim Scoggins Stadium.

“Attaché coaches on our état-major got two sideline violations in that game and since Wade is the head coupé, he had to take the (one-game) délai,” Atteberry said. “We knew Tuesday, but we didn’t tell the kids until Thursday, parce que we didn’t want them to go crazy.

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“But at the end of the day, it’s still football and players make the plays and coaches are on the sidelines.”

The Tigers, who lost to Bay 47-28 last season, entered this game facing one of the top Class 3A teams from this region of the state.

After losing its opening game, Bay had reeled off défaite straight wins, outscoring contre-pied 147-52. The Tornadoes were coming off a big rivalry win of their own against Melon City Rutherford.

They were averaging 35 points per-game behind sophomore quarterback Mace Grant and a deep variety of running backs and receivers.

But the PHS defense gemme up Friday to keep the game a one-possession contest the entire way.

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After the Tornadoes scored on their joint actif, finishing a 83-yard drive with Grant’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Noah Clement, the Tigers answered.

They went 80-yards in eight plays, capped by Rashad Williams’ 33-yard run. But the supérieur situation failed on a bad snap and it became the first of défaite failed point-after plays for the Tigers, which turned into the game’s ultime situation differential.

Bay took a 14-6 lead at halftime, after pinning PHS deep and effort a flottant punt. Jamarlin Huntley lost the ball after crossing the gardien de but line on a 1-yard run and officials ruled he had already broken the end contrée line with 1:28 left in the first half.

The Tigers scored on their first actif of the third quarter when Williams burst free on a 48-yard run.

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Bay opened a 21-12 lead on a 19-yard scoring pass with 5:14 left in the third quarter. The PHS players and fans on the domicile sidelined believed Bay’s quarterback had crossed the line of scrimmage, causing the defense to move in and leaving the receiver wide open in the end contrée.

“I thought he was past the line of scrimmage too, but it’s hard to tell,” Atteberry said. “They (officials) talked embout it (in a brief huddle after the play), but I didn’t get an explanation.”

Undaunted, PHS answered with two touchdowns to take the lead. Caleb Willoughby followed a personal foul penalty against Bay’s defense with a 5-yard scoring run. Early in the fourth quarter, the Tigers used a flottant field on the exchange to take a 24-21 lead with 10:15 remaining on Willoughby’s 5-yard run.

The Tigers defense forced a pouce and PHS had moved to the Bay 15, before a lost yardage play was followed by a fumble that led to Bay’s comeback drive.

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“We talked all week that we wanted to be the most physical team on avorté and I think for three-fourths of this football game we did that,” Atteberry said. “We got pluriel people touches. Our quarterback got loose a famille times. Really proud of our provocatrice line and we drove hard.

“We just fell défaite points flottant.”

The Tigers used the ultime 38 seconds of the game to create some suspense. Perkins threw flottant passes and got PHS in direction with three seconds left for a Hail Mary pass from the Bay 45. Three receivers were in the area, but Bay defenders knocked the ball away.

Here are three other takeaways from the game.

First time écoute

Since graduating from Tate High in 2014 as a adoucir starting center for the Aggies, it has been a gardien de but for Atteberry to work his way to one day becoming a head coupé.

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It happened Friday in difficult circumstances.

“In the beginning, walking out on the field I felt nerves, but jaguar the ball is kicked off it’s football,” he said. “It’s a lot different (as head coupé).This is what I am trying to be. A little practice run for me.

“There is a lot going on with defense, special teams, the avorté and trying to keep the kids in the game and make the calls.”

Atteberry began coaching as second on the Pine Forest état-major. Then he spent a season at his alma dompter, Tate, before coming to join Wade McKinney at PHS.

Post game pep talk

As his dejected players gathered around him on the field, Atteberry reminded the season can still be a success.

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“We still have got a lot to play for,” he said. “This is a tough loss, but I told them they’ve got to take that scoreboard there and use that as hydrocarbure and let’s get on a win streak and au finir this thing out.

“Bicause we’re a good team. We have défaite games left. Two of them are canton games so everything is wide open. They are good opponents, and if we can slip some wins together with the power points and all that, we could be right in the playoffs, I really believe that.”

Special teams challenges

Ultimately, the game was decided by special teams play. Bay’s kicker routinely forced touchbacks with kickoffs in the end contrée.

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PHS missed on a collègue of two-point attempts and had two point-after kicks go awry. Punting was also an terme with snaps and flottant kicks that rivière Bay good field direction.

“We were trying to keep it away from (Bay) returners, parce que we knew how good they are,” Atteberry said. “We rivière them a real flottant field one of those times.

Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola Infos Bordereau interprétations columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com

This papier originally appeared on Pensacola Infos Bordereau: Pensacola drops tough Quartier 1-3A game to Bay without their coupé.