The further you make it in the postseason the smaller the margin for error.
Buchholz found out the hard way on Friday night as a missed extra point in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in a 21-20 loss to defending state champion Lakeland in the FHSAA Class 4S state semifinals at Citizens Field.
“They were one point better than us tonight, a couple of special teams miscues that are on me,” said Buchholz coach Chuck Bell.
The first miscue was late in the first quarter.
Buchholz scored on its first two possessions, a 9-yard run by senior running back Quinton Cutler less than three minutes into the game, and a 25-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Trace Johnson to sophomore wide receiver Justin Williams down the right sideline for a 14-0 lead with 3:50 to play.
It looked like the Bobcats might have a chance to put the game away early, but then the game quickly changed.
Down 14-0 late in the first quarter, Lakeland was facing a 4th-and-10 at the Buchholz 42-yard line and sent in the punt team.
However, junior punter Caluum Muldoon faked the punt and ran 14 yards for a first down to the Bobcats’ 28-yard line.
“I had safe punt on there, we didn’t send a guy off the edge and I should have coached it better,” Bell said.
On the next play, junior quarterback Zander Smith threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Rick Pennick to cut the deficit in half.
Momentum swayed to the black and orange, and a couple of possessions later and with Buchholz backed up to its own 12-yard line, Johnson’s pass across the middle deflected off the hands of Williams and was tipped into the hands of sophomore linebacker Ziggy Riley for an interception and returned to the 7-yard line.
Two plays later, sophomore Malik Morris ran it in from a yard out to tie the score at 14-14 with 3:57 to play in the half.
Neither team was able to move the ball for most of the third quarter until Lakeland (11-3) drove 80 yards for the go ahead score on a 2-yard run by Morris on a toss sweep to take a 21-14 lead with :41 to play in the third quarter.
The Bobcats (13-1) began their next drive at their 15-yard line and got a 7-yard run by UF commit Myles Graham on the final play of the quarter.
An 11-yard pass to senior wide receiver Jordan Richardson, followed by a pass interference penalty a few plays later, took the ball near midfield.
Then, on 3rd-and-2 at the Lakeland 43-yard line, Johnson found a wide-open D.J. Hicks for a 31-yard pass play down to the 12-yard line.
“D.J. Hicks is a Polk County guy,” Bell said of his sophomore. “His family moved up here last year. D.J’.s familiar with a lot of these guys. It was personal for DJ tonight…I’m really proud of the way D.J. prepared and played this week.”
After a procedure penalty moved the ball back to the 17-yard line, Graham ran for 12 yards out of the wildcat down to the 5-yard line.
A couple of plays later, Johnson threw a 2-yard touchdown pass in the left corner of the endzone to Richardson with 7:53 to play. However, sophomore Jay Giunta missed the extra point.
Lakeland was able to drive to the Buchholz 10-yard line on its next possession by converting a 3rd-and-20 with a 67-yard pass from Smith to senior wide receiver Jayren Dennis on the drive.
The defense held, and Muldoon missed a 27-yard field goal with 3:41 to play.
“Defensively we shut down their vaunted rushing attack…we took away what they did best, we were just one point short tonight,” Bell said.
Cutler got injured on the block attempt and didn’t return, leaving Buchholz without one of its top playmakers on their final two possessions.
The Bobcats had it twice with under four minutes to play but were unable to move the ball past their own 39-yard line.
After the game, Bell singled out his 24 seniors who were a part of the school’s first undefeated regular season since 2001 and a third straight regional championship.
“They leave having played 41 football games in the last three years,” Bell said. “We’ve won more games in the playoffs in the last three years than some of our city rivals have won in the regular season combined over the last three years. We’ve left a mark of dominance on this city, we’ll continue to dominate this city thanks to what these seniors have done.”
Thursday, Nov. 30
Class 1R state semifinals
Hawthorne 49, Blountstown 0
Friday, Dec. 1
Class 4S state semifinals
Lakeland 21, Buchholz 20
Class 2S state semifinals
Bradford (Starke) 22, Pensacola Catholic 21 (OT)
I wonder why having city dominance in the city is so important to Coach Bell. They have the largest student body of any high school in the district and what seems like the highest number of transfers from out of school/county zone each year. Seems like that would be a given.