The Gainesville football team will be happy to return home in a couple of weeks.

The Hurricanes just completed their fifth consecutive road game and had a chance to go back to Alachua County with a winning record.

However, penalties and mistakes were costly in a winnable game on the road as Forest (Ocala) defeated GHS, 24-13, at Jim Simmons Field on Friday night.

The host Wildcats scored 21 unanswered points in the second half after GHS took its first lead at 7-3 on the first possession of the third quarter.

The Hurricanes had enough opportunities to get the win on the road, but many times they self-destructed.

Forest (3-1) took the opening kickoff and marched from their own 35-yard line to the GHS 33-yard line.

But on the next play, Gainesville senior Josef Scott intercepted Forest quarterback Caleb Sanford’s pass at the 24-yard line and returned it to the Wildcats’ 20-yard line.

The first offensive play by GHS was a false start and the drive ended when Hurricanes’ quarterback Jaishawn Sanford slightly overthrew sophomore Anthony Jenkins, who tried to make a leaping catch in the end zone on fourth down.

Three drives later, Gainesville began a drive at its own 46-yard line with 7:13 remaining in the half.

The Hurricanes had big runs of 6, 17, and 7 yards by sophomore running back Keihonest Perry and drove down to the 1-yard line. However, a false start against the Hurricanes forced them to settle for a field goal attempt.

Forest senior Khelich Brown blocked senior kicker Moris Guardado’s 23-yard field goal attempt with 2:05 remaining in the half, with the score tied 0-0.

“First time we’ve got a chance to score, we don’t get lined up and get a penalty on a touchdown, and then we aren’t able to make a field goal right before halftime,” said GHS coach Ian Scott, whose team dropped to 2-3 on the season. “

But there were also missed calls, tipped passes, and more special teams that contributed to the loss.

Facing a 4^th down at their own 42-yard line with less than a minute remaining, the Wildcats faked a punt and threw an incomplete pass, but the Hurricanes were flagged for pass interference.

“There is no pass interference on a fake punt, because that DB does not know, once the ball is snapped, he doesn’t know if it’s a kick or a pass,” Scott said. “The ball is in the air. That’s why that rule exists in the rule book, and I tried to explain that to them, and they were like, ‘No, it’s a pass, no, it’s a pass,’ and I get that, but it’s a fake. You can’t call pass interference on a fake punt, and that’s a clear rule. We could have had the ball at midfield in that situation and potentially going the other way, potentially have a chance for us to have the lead at halftime.”

Instead, Forest took advantage of two tipped passes after the first down penalty.

With 22 seconds remaining in the half and the ball at the GHS 43-yard line, Caleb Sanford’s pass was tipped at the 29-yard line and caught by senior Israel Utegg, who finished off the 26-yard pass play down to the 17-yard line.

A GHS facemask penalty on a 4-yard run by Caleb Sanford put the ball on the 7-yard line.

Another pass was tipped to junior Trent Richburg in the right corner of the end zone, but he juggled the ball and could not maintain possession and was ruled out of bounds.

However, sophomore Zane Waldren drilled a 27-yard field goal on the final play of the half to give Forest a 3-0 lead at the break.

The Hurricanes answered quickly out of the locker room, marching 74 yards on just four plays, which was aided by a horse collar penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. GHS capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run by Perry.

He had 51 yards rushing during the possession.

“We’ve got some really talented running backs,” Scott said. “KP did the Wildcat stuff for us tonight… we ended up in a situation where we’re down two scores and had to throw the ball a little bit more, so we had to get away from it.”

Guardado’s extra point gave the Hurricanes their first lead, 7-3, with 10:07 to play in the third quarter.

Forest followed that drive with an 80-yard scoring drive of their own as Caleb Sanford completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to junior CiaRyn Roberts to reclaim the lead at 10-7.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jenkins fumbled, and senior Angel Nunez recovered at the Hurricanes’ 44-yard line.

Five plays later, Caleb Sanford found Roberts again on the left side from 15 yards out for a 17-7 lead with 3:08 left in the third quarter.

With five-plus minutes remaining in the game, GHS faced a 4^th-and-12 at the Forest 34-yard line, but the receiver slipped down at the first down marker and Jaishawn Sanford’s pass was incomplete.

Then, on their next possession, facing 4^th-and-12 at their own 23-yard line, Jaishawn Sanford’s pass was caught by junior wide receiver Jyquan Wooden-James a yard shy of the first down.

Two plays later, Forest junior running back Kez Rivers put the final nail in the coffin with a 37-yard touchdown run and a 24-7 lead with 1:36 remaining.

“We had a fumble, and they scored off the fumble on a short field, and that really ended up being the difference in the game,” Scott said. “That last touchdown was just the nature of we’re at the end of the game and guys are, they’re trying to fight, but we just made a few too many mistakes tonight.”

The Hurricanes ended the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jaishawn Sanford to senior Aric Welch on the final play of the game.

GHS is off next week and will host city rival Buchholz at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3.

Football scores

Friday, Sept. 19

Bell 21, Old Plank Christian Academy (Jacksonville) 12

Bradenton 20, Countryside Christian 6

Bradford (Starke) 28, Eastside 7

Branford 35, Lake Weir (Ocala) 6

Buchholz 21, Richmond Hill (GA) 0

Central Florida Christian Academy (Ocoee) 42, Bronson 12

Chiefland 42, Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 14

Columbia (Lake City) 27, Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) 20

Dixie County (Cross City) 39, Keystone Heights 24

First Baptist Academy (Naples) 21, P.K. Yonge 14

Forest (Ocala) 24, GHS 13

Fort White 47, Union County (Lake Butler) 0

Saint Francis Catholic Academy 35, Gainesville Christian Community 0

Santa Fe (Alachua) 37, Fernandina Beach 27

Suwannee (Live Oak) 34, Hamilton County (Jasper) 6

Williston 24, North Marion (Citra) 14

OFF – Hawthorne, Newberry, Oak Hall, Trenton