BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Keystone Heights started its 2024 campaign on a positive note on Aug. 23, winning 29-0 over Interlachen in Putnam County.
The Indians, who host Union County on Friday, Aug. 30, at 7:30 p.m., started aggressively by recovering a sky kick to Interlachen on the Rams’ 25. Running back Zane Leger then carried for 5 and 15 yards before scoring on a 5-yard dive with 10:37 left in the first quarter. Tyler Sapp added the extra point, which gave Keystone a seven-point lead to begin the game.
Leger led the Indians in rushing with 152 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries.
Leger continued his heroics on the other side of the ball when he recovered an Interlachen fumble midway through the first quarter. The turnover gave the Indians the ball at midfield. Leger and Colton Hollingsworth combined for five runs totaling 18 yards before Leger capped off the drive with a 32-yard dash with 1:55 remaining in the quarter. However, the Indians mishandled the hold on the extra point, leaving them with a 13-point lead as the first quarter wound down.
Hollingsworth ended the game with 99 yards rushing on 18 carries. He also led the Indians in tackles with five solos and four assists.
Tallon Campbell had seven tackles, and Layton Wright recorded six takedowns.
Keystone once again received excellent field position with eight minutes remaining in the half when Interlachen went for it on fourth-and-4 from the Keystone 39. However, the promising drive, which started on the Interlachen 26, was doomed with a botched snap on the fourth-down attempt. The Indians recovered the ball on the Interlachen 35, and after two Leger runs, which gained no yards, quarterback Baylor Ford hit Andrew Wilson with a 35-yard touchdown pass with 6:22 remaining in the half. Sapp’s extra point sailed wide of the goal post, and Keystone took a 19-0 lead into intermission.
Ford finished with four completions on nine attempts for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
Wilson had three catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns, while Jackson Parmeter caught one pass for 4 yards.
The Indians began the second half with an 11-play, 49-yard drive that concluded with a 16-yard Sapp field goal with 7:48 remaining in the third quarter. Behind the blocking of Luke Bacorn, Jackson Herman, Bryce Daniels, Pete Bostic and Teddy Westbrooks, Hollingsworth and Leger churned out runs of 2, 4, 3, 19, 6, 6 and 3 yards during the drive.
Campbell set up Keystone’s final score at the beginning of the fourth quarter when he picked off an Interlachen pass. Two plays later, Ford and Wilson connected again on a 38-yard pass, and Sapp added the P.A.T., giving the Indians a 29-0 victory.
Things won’t be easy this week for the Class 2A Indians when Union County comes to town. The Tigers, who play in the Rural classification and have advanced to the regional-championship round four straight years, opened their season with a 14-13 win over Class 3A Yulee in Nassau County. Keystone played Yulee in the first round of the playoffs last year, losing 36-10.
Keystone and Union last played each other in 2020, with the Tigers winning 42-20.
