BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Cartez Daniels had a strong second half, rushing for 132 yards and two scores as the Keystone Heights High School football team defeated Class 1S P.K. Yonge 27-22 on Nov. 2 in Gainesville.
The second touchdown by Daniels, who rushed for 147 yards in all on 34 carries, proved to be the difference. P.K. Yonge scored twice in the fourth quarter, but was unsuccessful on an onside-kick attempt with less than two minutes remaining. The Blue Wave eventually got the ball back with time enough for one play, which resulted in the second of two interceptions by the Indians’ Bryce Hollingsworth.
Keystone (6-4) created four turnovers in all and overcame its own three turnovers.
“The key is this group of kids’ resilience and their ability to work and overcome adverse situations,” Keystone Head Coach Steve Reynolds said.
Reynolds couldn’t help but be excited about the fact that Keystone finally came up with a road win. The Indians were 0-2 in away games this year and had lost nine in row since their last road win, which occurred Oct. 28, 2021.
“We’ve been struggling on the road,” Reynolds said. “We finally went and got a win.”
That’s a positive sign because Keystone looks to be in good shape to qualify for the Region 2-2S playoffs. If the Indians do qualify, they’ll be playing on the road in the first round.
Keystone is seventh in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s current 2S power rankings, which would assure them of a postseason spot if those were the final rankings. The rankings will be updated, though, after Friday, Nov. 3.
“We came into this one in a good position,” Reynolds said. “No guarantees, but we felt like, ‘Win, and we’re in.’ That’s how the kids approached it.”
P.K. Yonge (3-7) received the opening kickoff, but failed to pounce on the ball as it rolled on the ground. Jackson Parmeter fell on the live ball to give the Indians possession at the Blue Wave 33. Baylor Ford completed a 14-yard pass to Bryson Wester on fourth-and-2 to give Keystone a first down at the 11-yard line. The Indians, though, would eventually fumble the ball away.
The Blue Wave picked up a couple of first downs before Hollingsworth made his first interception, which occurred at the Keystone 25.
Keystone’s offense responded with first downs on runs by Ford (10 yards) and Daniels (6 yards), but two consecutive holding penalties put the Indians into a hole they couldn’t dig out of. P.K. Yonge fielded Connor Guy’s punt inside its own 10-yard line, with Parmeter making a tackle at the 5.
Six straight carries by Corinthian Graham gained 42 yards and moved P.K. Yonge out of the shadow of its own end zone. A run by quarterback Lawrence Wright moved the Blue Wave past midfield, but a sack by Trey Jeffries had P.K. Yonge facing a third-and-16 play. After a 4-yard pass play, the Blue Wave went for it on fourth-and-12, with Wright behind held to a 1-yard gain.
Darrion Grady caught a 21-yard pass from Ford to move the Indians to the Blue Wave 29. A personal-foul facemask penalty advanced the Indians to the 14. Then, on third-and-10, Ford had a 7-yard run on which P.K. Yonge was also penalized. That made it first-and-goal from the 2. The Blue Wave tackled Daniels for a 1-yard loss, but Ford threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Bryson Wester, putting Keystone up 6-0 with 4:21 remaining in the first half. A fake play on the PAT resulted in an incomplete pass. Reynolds said the trick play was worked on all week based upon how P.K. Yonge lined up.
“When they came out, they had a different look,” Reynolds said. We ran it. It wasn’t there. That was on me.”
The Blue Wave evened the score approximately three minutes later. Wright had a 13-yard run and completed passes of 13 and 14 yards as P.K. Yonge moved from its own 44 to the Keystone 16. A 14-yard run by Graham set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Wright. The Blue Wave went for two, with Wyatt Van Zant tripping Wright up on a failed run attempt.
Keystone turned the ball over on an interception on its series to open the second half, but the defense stepped up and forced the Blue Wave to punt after three plays. Jadyen Goodman had a 6-yard sack on second-and-2. On third down, a bad shotgun snap rolled past Wright. Wright recovered and was able to shake off the Indians’ Talan Messina, but Jackson Herman came up and sacked the quarterback for a 17-yard loss.
Daniels, who had 10 carries for 15 yards in the first half, got his big second half started in earnest on the ensuing series. He had consecutive runs of 5 yards each before Garrison Teague caught a 16-yard pass to the Blue Wave 32. Daniels then had runs of 14 and 16 yards, with the second seeing him break through several tackles and drag several defenders down to the 2-yard line. Daniels scored on a run from there at the 4:17 mark of the third quarter. Tyler Sapp kicked the extra point for a 13-6 Keystone lead.
The Indians’ defense forced another three-and-out, with the offense taking to the field again at the P.K. Yonge 42. A 17-yard run by Daniels and a penalty on the Blue Wave resulted in a first down at the 13. Three plays later, P.K. Yonge’s Devin Johnson intercepted a pass at the goal line.
P.K. Yonge was able to drive almost 20 yards from its own 18 before Zane Leger picked off a pass at the 45 and returned it to the 15. A couple of Daniels runs moved the Indians inside the 10, but an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty backed them up. Ford then threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Teague. Sapp added the PAT, making it a 20-6 game at the 10:50 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Keystone defense came up with another turnover when Joe Paul recovered a fumble, but the Indians couldn’t capitalize. Connor Guy got off a 42-yard punt, which had P.K. Yonge starting a drive at its own 24.
Two plays later, the Blue Wave had first-and-goal at the 9 after a 63-yard run by Johnson. Wright scored a touchdown on a run from there with 7:27 to play. On the two-point conversion, Wright slipped out of a tackle in the backfield and made his way into the end one, making the score 20-14.
A 20-plus-yard kickoff return by Parmeter had the Indians beginning their next drive at their own 38. A 15-yard penalty gave Keystone a first down at the P.K. Yonge 45. Daniels then carried the ball seven straight times, with the final carry resulting in a 3-yard touchdown run with 3:40 on the clock. Sapp kicked the extra point for a 27-14 lead.
Wright returned the ensuing kickoff 29 yards to the Keystone 31. Graham was stopped for no gain on first down. After a holding penalty, Parmeter tackled Johnson for no gain, resulting in a third-and-20 play. Wright completed a 34-yard pass to Calvin Thomas to the 7-yard line. Graham scored on a run from there with 1:53 to play. Graham broke several tackles on a successful run on the conversion attempt, making the score 27-22.
Teague recovered P.K. Yonge’s onside-kick attempt. The Indians couldn’t gain a first down, but were able to hold onto the ball for more than a minute and a half before punting.
After Guy’s 30-yard punt, P.K. Yonge was at its own 18 with 4 seconds to work with. Wright’s deep pass was intercepted by Hollingsworth.
Ford rushed for 41 yards on seven carries and completed 8 of 21 passes for 133 yards.
Teague caught two passes for 37 yards, while Wester had two catches for 17 yards.
“We had a good night from our tight-end group,” Reynolds said.
The Indians, who went 2-8 in 2022, won four of their last five regular-season games.
“Last year, we were very young and green,” Reynolds said, adding, “Last year, a lot of these kids took some lumps. They learned from it. They obviously improved from it and got better from it.”
