Montory Bellamy broke loose for a 26-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds left to play Friday night to lift Fleming Island to a 24-17 regional semifinal playoff upset of visiting Daytona Mainland (8-4).
The victory puts the Golden Eagles (8-4) in the Region 1 championship final game next Friday at Bartram Trail (8-4), a 35-12 winner at Niceville.
(Game pictures on Spotted at MyClaySun.com)
Bellamy ran 18 times for 91 yards, a TD and a two-point conversion Friday night, but it was the legs of quarterback Ryan Aplin that kept the Golden Eagles' season alive four plays earlier with a desperate, sudden death-defying scramble.
With just 1:42 left to play, Fleming Island was facing fourth-and-six at Mainland's 49-yard line. The game, and essentially the entire season, had come down to this one play and the six yards in front of Aplin and the Golden Eagles. The senior QB, who has pulled off so many crucial plays throughout the year, was about to unveil perhaps his greatest one yet.
He took the snap and rolled right, with Buccaneer defenders in hot pursuit. But as he neared the right sideline, things were not looking good downfield. With things looking even worse behind him, Aplin took the only route available to him: back towards his own goalline. About 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage, the nimble quarterback reversed field and headed for the left sideline with several Bucs getting bits and pieces of him along the way, but no one getting enough of his No. 11 jersey to bring him down.
As he neared his second sideline of the play, he could see he wasn't going to get the first down rushing as more defenders had come up to try to stop him. Fortunately for the Golden Eagles, Aplin was also able to see his 6-foot-3 wide receiver, Hayes Towery, who had caught three TD passes last week, but who, up until this play, had been silent in this contest. That silence might have earned him the wide-open spaces he now enjoyed. Aplin stopped, and with the pressure of an entire season riding on his arm, he looped the ball perfectly over the hard-charging Mainland defenders and into Towery's hands for a nine-yard gain that kept the drive and the season alive.
"It's the typical story of our football team," said coach Neal Chipoletti. "Fourth down, I don't know how long to go ... and Ryan Aplin gives us another play on just pure Ryan Aplin and hits Towery over here for a first down and we end up going down and scoring and winning the game."
Four plays later, and on almost as desperate a play as Aplin survived – third and nine and under 25 seconds to play – Bellamy broke through the middle of the line and swerved left down the sideline for the go-ahead TD. He added three more yards to this total with a two-point conversion.
Aplin finished the game 12-of-21 for 110 yards and one TD in the air and nine carries for 75 yards and one TD on the ground.
Fleming Island started the game with an 18-play drive that ate the first 8:49 off the clock but culminated in no points after a fake field goal at the Mainland 9 saw Salmon Williams come up just one-yard short of the end zone.
The Golden Eagles, however, were given a second shot at taking the first lead when Mainland fumbled a punt at its own 14 early in the second quarter. Fleming Island scored five plays later as Aplin faked a pitch and angled his way into the right side of the end zone. Nathan Branz's first of two PATs made it 7-0.
Fleming Island's defense held the visitors to three-and-out on their next possession as Wes Whiddon registered a sack. Aplin and the offense then launched another long drive – 14 plays – culminating in a16-yard scoring pass to Williams on a short crossing pattern with 36 seconds left in the first half.
The Bucs' offense woke up in those final seconds, and in only five plays they went from their own 20 to Fleming Island's 20, where kicker Andy Brown connected for a 37-yard field goal to make it 14-3 at the half.
Mainland's offense continued to click to start the second half, driving 51 yards to the Fleming Island 29. Golden Eagle Clinton Walker then broke up three-consecutive passes before quarterback Greg Ross hit Division I-recruit Antonio Bell for a 24-yard TD. Whiddon burst through the line to block the extra point to keep his team's lead at 14-9.
Ross and Bell connected again on a 24-yard touchdown play later in the third quarter, and Ross ran in the two-point conversion as the Bucs took the lead for the first time, 17-14.
The game turned ugly in the fourth quarter following an illegal procedure call that nullified a 55-yard Mainland touchdown that would have put the Bucs up by 10 points. Instead, they suffered three-straight unsportsmanlike calls that gave Fleming Island the ball on the Mainland 36 following a punt. While the Golden Eagles were unable to capitalize on that great field position, it did help them pin the Bucs down at their own 6-yard line on an ensuing punt. A strong defensive stand by Fleming Island forced the visitors to take a safety while punting from their own 2. The move made it a one-point game at 17-16 and set up Aplin and Bellamy's game-winning heroics.
The disgruntled Bucs further illustrated their frustration at the officiating as well as at the Golden Eagles when they pushed through the line on the last play of the game – a quick kneeldown by Aplin – and drove the quarterback to the turf, where he lay in pain for several minutes with an injured thigh. Brief skirmishes needed to be quelled as the teams tried to line up and shake hands. Security officials came on the field and remained close to the Bucanneers as Golden Eagle faithful celebrated their victory.
Daytona Mainland 0 3 14 0 – 17
Fleming Island 0 14 0 10 – 24
FI – 11 run Aplin (Branz kick)
FI – 16 pass Williams from Aplin (Branz kick)
DM – 37 field goal Brown
DM – 29 pass Bell from Ross (kick blocked)
DM – 24 pass Bell from Ross (Ross run)
FI – Safety
FI – 26 run Bellamy (Bellamy run)