The Dixie County (Cross City) football team entered the FHSAA Rural Florida Invitational Tournament as a No. 5 seed and with a losing record.
However, the Bears caught fire at the right time and advanced to the championship game, before falling to No. 6 seed Fort Meade, 21-13, on Friday afternoon at H.G. Morse Range Stadium on the campus of The Villages Charter School.
They trailed 21-0 in the third quarter but rallied in the second half to make it a one-score game in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve got this word ‘beardown’ that we adopted this postseason that no matter what happens, no matter what obstacles come our way, we’ve seen a ton of adversity this year between things in and around the program, and hurricanes, and no matter what we’re going to ‘beardown,’ we’re going to fight through it,” said Dixie County coach Ric Whittington. “Man, these young men did that at halftime. It surely was incredible to watch these young men grow and just compete like that and that’s just been our mentality,”
Following a scoreless first quarter, Fort Meade (6-7) scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jaden McCutchen to senior wide receiver Nasier Berrien for a 7-0 lead with 7:28 to play in the half.
Dixie County (7-7) had a 3-and-out on its next possession and the Miners put together a 63-yard scoring drive, capped with a 13-yard touchdown pass from McCutchen to junior wide receiver Cayden Clark for a 14-0 lead with 2:20 to play in the half.
Fort Meade received the opening kick of the third quarter and drove 53 yards for a 21-0 lead, scoring on a 15-yard touchdown run by junior Omari Russell with 7:38 remaining in the quarter.
But on their next possession, the Bears answered thanks to a 54-yard run by senior running back Mister Williams on the first play of the drive.
“That was a big momentum shifter in the game,” said the Bethune-Cookman University commit. “I just had to get behind the big O-line, the big boys, and get it done.”
Williams ended the 6-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Bears on the scoreboard.
The defense, which only allowed 233 yards, forced a pair of punts and with 9:02 remaining, Dixie County put together a three-minute drive to make it a one-score game.
The key play was a 40-yard pass from senior quarterback Drew Pleasant to senior Jahiem Taylor down the Bears’ sideline to the Fort Meade 15-yard line.
A few plays later, Taylor scored on a 3-yard touchdown run. The extra point was blocked but the Bears only trailed by one touchdown, 21-13, with 6:03 remaining.
“This team has been resilient since Week 1,” said Williams, who finished with 133 net yards rushing. “We suited up one playoff game, I think there were 16 of us, so we’ve been resilient the whole way through. Today we had about 20 of us, so we’ve been resilient.”
After forcing a Fort Meade punt, the Bears began one final drive from their own 24-yard line with 3:34 to play.
Facing a 4th-and-4 at their own 30-yard line with 2:31 left, Pleasant (5-for-15 for 80 yards) completed a 14-yard pass to sophomore Keydran Teague to keep the drive alive.
“That last drive we just had to lean on a little bit of everything, the run, the pass, I mean we didn’t get it done but I think we learned something as men in this game,” Williams said.
A few plays later, following a sack of Pleasant, a Fort Meade personal foul moved the ball to the Miners’ 28-yard line. However, on 4th-and-10, Pleasant was intercepted inside the 10-yard line to end the comeback.
Dixie County entered the postseason with a 4-6 record but won three straight playoff games to advance to the championship game.
“Mister talked about how this run was one of the most special things that’s ever happened to him,” Whittington said. “I think it gave our guys a great opportunity to learn to get in the postseason and make some noise in the postseason. It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve had the ability to practice on Thanksgiving and play in a game like this, in a venue like this, and in an atmosphere like this. It was really special for our guys. I know they’re hurting right now but they definitely need to be proud of what they’ve done and that’s what this postseason opportunity has given us.”
Williams led the Bears in rushing (over 1,200 yards), scoring and tackles this season.
“This was a great career in Dixie County,” Williams said. “People kind of shied away from this program a little as we started losing, but my senior year we started winning a couple of games and bringing back the championship experiences, and I like where this program is headed.”
