BY CHUCK DOWLING
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
After an 0-2 start that saw Keystone Heights still looking to score its first points on the young season, the Indians finally got a chance to play in the friendly confines of home. The young home side did not disappoint, rolling to 38 points in the first half and riding out the running clock in the second en route to a 38-12 victory over the Impact Christian Lions out of Jacksonville.
The win over the third-year program was a much-needed confidence builder for Keystone after being outscored by a combined 50-0 in its first two contests.
On the triumph, Head Coach Chuck Dickinson said, “We needed it. We had played two tough opponents — Fort White and Eastside — but we didn’t play very well offensively.” He added, “Of course, our whole game plan is based on our offense, and If the offense goes, that helps the defense, etc. The last two weeks we’ve had the defense on the field way too many times, so tonight was better.”
The Indians won the toss and elected to receive. Junior Darrion Grady returned the opening kickoff 31 yards to the KHHS 41 to set the Tribe up for their opening drive. Senior Bryar Schenk, who would finish the affair with eight carries for 29 yards, got the start at halfback and took the first carry of the game 5 yards before junior Cartez Daniels went 8 yards and across midfield on the next carry to give Keystone the initial first down of the contest. A couple plays later, junior Ben Ulsch scampered 35 yards to give the Indians an early 6-0 lead. Schenk got the carry and found the end zone on the two-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 9:40 remaining in the first quarter.
After a sky kick from KHHS, in addition to a facemask penalty on the Indians, Impact (1-2) had the ball at its own 40. Two false-start penalties later, aided by the small, but enthusiastic crowd that managed to brave the muggy elements, the Lions were unable to convert on a third-and-5 and were forced to punt. Keystone ill-advisedly attempted to grab the line-drive slow-roller, which resulted in an Impact recovery to give the visitors the ball deep in Indian territory. The visitors then made a blunder of their own, throwing into the end zone where Grady was waiting to make the interception and give the Tribe the ball right back.
Keystone began the ensuing drive with 7:09 still remaining in the opening quarter. The Indians played the “Super Rough-Super Tough” brand of football they have come to be known for, putting together a nearly four-minute drive before Daniels busted out a 37-yard run to paydirt to put the good guys on top 14-0. Schenk was again able to carry it in for the apparent two-point conversion before it was called back for holding. Freshman quarterback Baylor Ford then found Daniels in the corner of the end zone to make it 16-0 with 3:11 still to go in the first.
The Lions took the sky kick at the 31 and were again unable to accomplish much with the ball as a big first down-saving tackle by Wyatt Van Zant, followed up by a Tyler Anthony-Rozier sack, forced Impact to punt. The punt went only 22 yards before going out of bounds.
Ulsch took the ball to the Lion 33-yard-line on the last play of the quarter. The second quarter began with Daniels taking it down to the 19. Ulsh capped off the drive with his second touchdown carry of the night. After a QB keeper on the two-point attempt, it was 24-0 with 9:29 remaining in the half.
ICHS began the ensuing drive on the 35. With 8:31 left to play in the opening half, the Lions got their first first down of the contest. Unfortunately for Impact, a third-and-7 pass attempt would fall incomplete, forcing another punt. The snap, however, was bobbled, and the punter was only able to make it to the Indians’ 47 before being shoved out of bounds, resulting in Keystone taking over on downs.
Two plays later, facing third-and-4, Ulsch disappeared into what appeared to be a moving rugby scrum before popping out the other side and bolting 47 yards for his third score on the night. Grady then found Daniels for two to make it 32-0 with 5:34 left in the half.
The Lions’ next drive was doomed from the start when junior Jayden Goodman came in for the quarterback sack 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and forced a fumble that was recovered by sophomore defensive lineman Jackson Herman. Grady then rumbled to the 16-yard line. A facemask penalty was marked off half the distance to the goal line, giving the Indians the ball at the 8. Two plays later, Grady put an exclamation point on the drive with a 5-yard scoring run. Ford’s pass attempt to junior Bryson Wester fell incomplete. The score stood at 38-0 with 3:52 in the half, which is how the teams would end up heading into the locker rooms for the break.
The clock was running for the second half of the game and would pass by quickly. Keystone was in no hurry, having already secured the contest. The half began with them abandoning their usual sky kick. We quickly witnessed why they rarely do this, as speed and coverage issues hamper them. Impact returned the ball all the way across midfield to the Keystone 42. With nothing to lose, the Lions would complete a fourth-down conversion when Malichi Byrd caught a pass for the second first down of the game for ICHS. Eighth-grader Hans Price would later find Leon Gamble — one of the two seniors on the squad’s roster — for the 7-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, and we stood at 38-6 with under six minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Indians took the kick and ended the quarter facing their first punting situation of the night. A booming line drive to open the fourth was unable to be returned, and Impact would take over at its own 47. The Lions would give it right back, however, with an interception by Noah Branch deep on the reservation, but returned back to the Indian 31. Keystone would be forced to punt again, with Goodman ending the night averaging 26.5 yards on his two kicks.
With under a minute to go, another completion to Gamble set the Lions up for a score. Junior wideout Andres DeVargas would haul in a touchdown pass as time expired. No PAT was even attempted, as the game would finish 38-12.
“We didn’t run many plays — just tried to be more physical than them,” Dickinson said. “I thought we responded well, so this is a good confidence builder heading into next week to play Interlachen, who should be undefeated.” (The Rams defeated Fernandina Beach 14-12 at home last week to move to 4-0 on the season.)
When asked about the team’s struggles to this point in the season compared to last year, which saw the Indians earn their first playoff victory in school history, Dickinson stated, “These guys that are seniors, not a lot of them started last year, so there’s a whole lot of new guys getting game experience, so hopefully we keep getting better each week.” He added, “We’re going to do what we’re going to do offensively and the kids got to believe in it, but like I said, we have a lot of guys that have never played varsity, so we are just trying to get them that experience factor”
On the effort put forth by the young Impact team, Dickinson said, “They had a good game plan. They executed well, but we were just better than them up front, and that’s where we win games, the offensive and defensive line.”
The Indians travel just down the road to play rival Interlachen on Friday, Sep. 23, at 7:30 p.m.
