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A remarkable, breakthrough football season for Pensacola High now has a keepsake feat to forever cherish.
The Tigers drove 98 yards on their final possession, highlighted by quarterback Jamarcuz Fountain’s 41-yard touchdown with 2:29 remaining, then made a pair of game-ending sacks inside their 40 and pulled off a dramatic 28-21 victory against West Florida High in the second annual First City Bowl at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
The win ignited an explosion of joy from the Tigers, who swarmed each other, then celebrated with the gold-plated game trophy, moments before the stadium went dark for the post-game fireworks show.
“Wow, man, let’s talk about the resilience of the Tigers,” said first-year Pensacola head coach Wade McKinney, a longtime assistant coach at several area schools, including last year at West Florida.
“I’m proud of these kids, just kept fighting and fighting. There is no quit in those guys. We’ve been on the short end of a couple these kind of games so it was good to get that one.”
Pensacola (4-5) went 0-10 last season and scored just 14 points the entire year. That misery followed four consecutive one-win seasons. McKinney and his staff, which includes former Tate and Pine Forest head coach Ronnie Douglas, have restored pride in the tradition-rich Pensacola program.
Already with distinction as the first football-playing high school team in Florida, the Tigers now have a First City Bowl trophy.
“That’s nice to come down here in front of our fans and put on a show,” McKinney said. “Just a good high school ballgame. And those guys on the other side (West Florida) did an outstanding job as well.
“They kept the ball away from us, had a great gameplan and their kids played hard,”
The game was West Florida’s senior night for players, cheerleaders and band. The setting included a spectacular…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/pensacola-high-football-gets-season-062117045.html
Author : Pensacola News Journal
Publish date : 2024-10-26 06:21:17
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