KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— Tyler Sapp kicked a 14-yard field goal with two seconds left to give Keystone Heights a 31-28 win over Crescent City.
The kick highlighted a 50-yard drive initiated by an onside kick recovery by Jackson Parmeter. The Indians then drove down to the Crescent City 4 on seven consecutive runs by Cartez Daniels.
Sapp set up the winning field goal three times. On his first attempt, the kick went through the uprights, but the goal was nullified by an official who said Crescent City had called a timeout before the ball went airborne.
Sapp’s second attempt was blocked, but a Crescent City offsides penalty called off that play. Sapp’s third attempt was true, as was his first, and the 10th-grade kicker was rushed by his teammates, who lifted him in the air.
After the game, Coach Steve Reynolds paid tribute to the visiting Raiders.
“That’s a good club over there,” he said of the visitors of Putnam County. “We’ve got a lot of respect for Crescent City and their coaching staff, their athletic department.”
Reynolds also credited his team for working through the distractions of homecoming week for the win.
“Kids put together a good win. “Coaches, kids, they all deserve it.”
The game consisted of a seesaw battle between the two squads, with neither team gaining more than a seven-point advantage.
Keystone got on the board first when Jaydon Goodman blocked a Crescent City punt from the Raider 29, then scooped up the ball and ran it in for the score. Sapp’s extra point put the boys in blue up 7-0 with 4:49 remaining in the first quarter.
But the Raiders answered on the subsequent drive, marching 57 yards in nine plays, finished off by a Jarcus Session seven-yard run. David Newbold’s point after touchdown tied the score at seven all.
The Raiders then surprised Keystone with an onside kick, recovering the ball on the Keystone 56 and putting together a five-play drive, giving them a 14-7 lead with the extra point. Eric Jenkins’s 25-yard pass to Lenatavious Keenon capped the drive with 11:50 remaining in the first quarter.
Keystone came right back with a 63-yard drive, taking nine plays. Baylor Ford found Darrion Grady in the endzone with a 25-yard scoring pass to complete the campaign, and Sapp’s PAT tied the score at 14 with 4:30 remaining in the half.
After the Indian defense forced a punt, Ford returned to work, connecting with Wyatt Van Zant on a 72-yard touchdown with under two minutes remaining in the half. The point after touchdown gave the Indians a 21-14 lead with intermission approaching.
However, the visitors were not content to go into the locker room behind, and they marched 60 yards in 2 minutes and 18 seconds, hitting paydirt with 24 seconds left in the first half. Jenkins hit Freddie Major with a 13-yard pass for six, and Newbold added one more, tying the score at 21-21 at the break.
Crescent City’s Jenkins salvaged a bad snap into a touchdown to start the second half. After marching from their own 47 to the Keystone 26, the Raider signal caller lined up in the shotgun, but his snapper put the ball on the ground. Jenkins scooped up the errant snap and found Keenon 26 yards downfield, giving Crescent City a 28-21 lead after the extra point.
The teams changed possessions four times from 8:22 in the third quarter to 5:45 in the fourth.
With a little less than six minutes remaining, Daniels broke free on a 36-yard rush and followed that up with a 25-yard scoring run. Sapp’s PAT tied the score at 28 with 4:35 remaining in the game, setting up the heroics by Parmeter, Daniels, and Sapp.
