- Dunnellon senior Tony Tanner ran for over 250 yards and scored a pick-6 to lead the Tigers to a 23-21 win over Eastside on Friday.
- Eastside's turnovers, including a fumbled punt recovered for a touchdown, contributed to their 23-21 loss in the Class 3A-District 5 game.
- Eastside scored late to narrow the gap to two points but failed to recover the onside kick, ending their comeback attempt.
Tony the Tiger was grrreat.
Dunnellon senior Tony Tanner ran for over 250 yards and added a pick-6 as the visiting Tigers beat Eastside 23-21 at Citizens Field in a Class 3A-District 5 game.
“Turnovers,” Eastside coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins said. “You know, there’s no such thing as a moral victory. I like the way that we fought. I wish we could have pulled this one out.”
Eastside also fumbled on a punt attempt and Dunnellon recovered in the end zone for a score as the Tigers rallied from a 7-0 halftime deficit with 17 unanswered points.
The Rams (1-5, 1-1) didn’t give up. They scored with less than a minute to play but were unable to recover the onside kick.
“The guys, they fought all the way to the fourth quarter, to the end,” Hoskins said. “You know, it’s something that we can go and watch the film and get better at, but we’ve got to protect the ball. We gave them 14 points, man, that hurts.”
Dunnellon (6-0, 2-0) entered the game averaging 35.8 points per game, but the Rams pitched a first-half shutout and allowed only one offensive touchdown all night.
On the opening drive of the first quarter, Eastside junior quarterback Andrew “Cade” Sutherland completed a 54-yard touchdown pass to senior Braeden Brockington down the right sideline just 87 seconds into the game.
“Kind of something that we had seen on film,” Hoskins said. “We got them in a defense that we thought we would get them in. Cade made a great throw, and Brockington had a great run after the catch.”
Senior Gene Duffy-Massey’s extra point gave the Rams a 7-0 lead with 10:33 to play in the opening quarter.
Twice Dunnellon moved the ball into Eastside territory, but the Rams’ “bend-but-don’t-break” defense forced a turnover on downs each time.
On the Tigers’ first possession, which began at their own 19-yard line, Tanner had a 32-yard run to put the ball in Eastside territory. However, the drive stalled on a fourth-and-8 at the Rams’ 26-yard line.
Dunnellon’s next drive began at its own 20-yard line and Tanner ripped off runs of 14, 17, 10, 6 and 7 yards.
“I got a chance to watch him last year, you know, being in our district,” Hoskins said. “We had a conference meeting about him. He’s a guy. He’s special.”
However, on fourth-and-goal at the 4-yard line, Tanner was stopped for no gain.
“The defense is getting better,” Hoskins said. “We’ve just got to find a way to finish. We came out flat in the third quarter offensively, and on the last drive with four minutes left, we’ve got to find a way to get a stop right there.”
Eastside forced a punt on Dunnellon’s first possession of the second half, but three plays later, Tanner stepped in front of Sutherland’s pass and returned it 36 yards for Dunnellon’s first score of the night.
Sophomore kicker Jhordy Linares’ extra point tied the game at 7-7 with 8:54 remaining in the third quarter.
After a 3-and-out by Eastside, the Tigers got the ball back at their own 44-yard line.
Facing a third-and-4 at the 50-yard line, Tanner added a 31-yard run to put Dunnellon in the red zone. Four plays later, Linares kicked a 28-yard field goal as the Tigers took their first lead, 10-7, with 4:44 left in the third quarter.
An intentional grounding by Eastside on their next possession forced the Rams to punt the ball from out of the end zone. A bad snap was bobbled by Duffy-Massey, who fumbled the ball and Dunnellon recovered for a touchdown to go up 17-7 with 3:31 remaining in the quarter.
Following a turnover on downs at midfield, Dunnellon had a chance to put the game out of reach, but once again the Eastside defense stepped up.
Tanner, who rushed for 27 yards on the drive, had a 7-yard run to put the Tigers inside the 10-yard line. On fourth-and-goal at the 9-yard line, Dunnellon faked a field goal, but Tanner’s pass to senior Frederick Mathis was incomplete in the right corner of the end zone.
It took just two plays for Eastside to get back in the game.
Sutherland’s first pass was incomplete, but he completed the next one to Brockington, who outraced the defense for a 91-yard touchdown. Duffy-Massey’s extra point got the Rams within three, 17-14, with 5:56 left in the game.
Dunnellon fielded the kickoff but made the mistake of running out of bounds at its own 10-yard line. However, that enabled the Tigers to eat some clock by putting it in the hands of Tanner, who had 87 yards rushing on the drive, including a 47-yard touchdown run.
The point after was blocked with 1:41 remaining, but the 23-14 lead seemed insurmountable in a short amount of time.
Sutherland and the Rams weren’t done yet, though, as Malicah Williams hauled in a bobbled pass for a 50-yard touchdown with 41 seconds to play.
“It was a great catch,” Hoskins said. “I wish we could have got to it earlier, but you know he made a great play. I’m really proud of that kid, man. He’s a two-way starter for us. Pretty much played all game, special teams. He’s our Travis Hunter. I’m gonna continue to call his number and he’ll continue to put great things on film.”
The onside kick didn’t travel 10 yards before Eastside touched it, allowing Dunnellon to take a knee and run out the clock. It was the third straight year that the game was decided by two points.
“This one tonight was a big game,” Hoskins said. “It was a district one; try to get you in the playoffs. We kind of had to have this one, so we’ve got to go back to the drawing board. Hopefully, we can pull out these next couple of ones and then one game at a time. This was a tough loss tonight.”
Eastside will host another undefeated team next Friday as Bradford (Starke), who outscored Madison County 30-6 in the second half for a 52-34 win at Boot Hill, improved to 6-0.
High School Football
Thursday, Sept. 24
Countryside Christian 20, Florida School for the Deaf & Blind (St. Augustine) 14
Buchholz 38, Forest (Ocala) 20
Friday, Sept. 25
Atlantic (Port Orange) 41, Keystone Heights 6
Bell 40, Eagle’s View (Jacksonville) 6
Bradford (Starke) 52, Madison County 24
Branford 26, Crescent City 2
Columbia (Lake City) 35, Riverside (Jacksonville) 17
Dixie County (Cross City) 55, South Marion (Ocala) 20
Dunnellon 23, Eastside 21
Fort White 27, Taylor County (Perry) 20
Hawthorne 37, Williston 0
Joshua Christian Academy (Jacksonville) 32, Bronson 13
Newberry 48, Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 29
Oak Hall School 33, P.K. Yonge 7
Saint Francis Catholic Academy 51, Munroe (Quincy) 27
Santa Fe (Alachua) 47, North Marion (Citra) 0
Wakulla (Crawfordville) 37, Suwannee (Live Oak) 7
Union County (Lake Butler) 46, Terry Parker (Jacksonville) 26
Trenton 21, Chiefland 14
Vanguard (Ocala) 54, Gainesville 6
OFF – Cornerstone Academy
