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TALLAHASSEE — Jacob Gettman kept his nerve, and struck the football true. There was no doubt in his mind that it would split the uprights the moment it left his right foot.
As he turned around, he saw an explosion of emotion — catharsis after 20 years of high school football frustration, near-misses and heartbreak at Mainland High School, as recently as last December when the Bucs fell short to Lake Wales.
Head coach Travis Roland collapsed to his knees, All-American cornerback Zavier Mincey sprinted onto the field from the sideline, quarterback Dennis Murray Jr. cried and slapped the turf, offensive lineman Elijah Walker demanded his long-awaited ring. Helmets soared into the evening sky, and fireworks soon followed.
Mainland, for the first time since 2003, captured a state football championship.
Mainland coach Travis Roland, right, poses with his son Paxton and senior defensive lineman Ramon McCollough after winning the FHSAA Class 3S state football championship.
Gettman nailed a 23-yard field goal as time expired, lifting Mainland to its second FHSAA title in program history in a 21-19 victory Thursday against St. Augustine in the Class 3S final at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
“To get to this place now, it’s humbling because you realize how hard it is,” said Roland, a captain and linebacker for the ’03 Bucs.
Mainland (14-1) fought back from a 13-0 first-quarter deficit, digging themselves into a hole with a couple of St. Augustine special-teams suckerpunches. Trenton Jones returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, and Marquice King scooped up a blocked field goal and brought it back 67 yards to the end zone.
“We weren’t fazed at all,” senior defensive lineman LJ McCray, a Florida commit, said. “We’ve been down before. We’ve been here before. We just had to come through and finish.”
St. Augustine (13-1), held…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/last-second-field-goal-propels-013034547.html
Author : Daytona Beach News-Journal
Publish date : 2023-12-08 01:30:34
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