AMAZING SFSNTV Football GAME OF THE WEEK Flanagan Comes back to beat Miramar High School
- 10 years ago
Moments before his players emptied a bucket of ice water on his head, coach Devin Bush jubilantly shouted on the sideline, "Flanagan is here to stay!"
The Falcons stormed back from a 15-point second-half deficit at home Friday night to beat Miramar 27-21 and position themselves to win the first district title in program history one season after making their first playoff appearance.
"For us to be able to fight back and come back and win this game like that – ooooooh, that's another step we just grew," Bush said.
Arkeem Granger rushed for two touchdowns, including a 7-yarder to the left corner on third-and-goal with 24.6 seconds left and the third-ranked Falcons (8-0, 5-0) downed the seventh-ranked Patriots (5-3, 3-1) in the much-anticipated District 12-8A clash.
The defending district champion Patriots led 21-6 after Travante Franklin's 9-yard TD run with 7:53 left in the third quarter.
"I told all the other players, 'Hey, hold your head up,'" Granger said.
From that point on, it was all Falcons.
Ryan Stanley scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper with 2:28 left in the third. For the second time Friday, Miramar couldn't convert the extra point. After Miramar fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, Flanagan mounted a 62-yard scoring drive. Granger's 4-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter and successful point-after pulled Flanagan within 21-19.
Flanagan got the ball back at its own 37 with 3:19 left trailing by the same score. On third-and-10, Stanley escaped a sack, managed to keep his feet after losing his balance and scampered for 28 yards. An 18-yard completion to Keavon Mitchell, who caught 11 passes for 82 yards, set up first-and-goal from the 6.
It was quite a turnaround for Stanley, who started the night strong with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Robert Foy, but then threw two interceptions to Miramar linebacker Deshondre Pitts on back-to-back throws.
With Flanagan threatening to take the lead late in the first half, Pitts stole Stanley's pass and raced 90 yards for a touchdown as time expired. Then on Flanagan's first offensive play of the second half, Pitts again picked off Stanley to give Miramar possession at Flanagan's 20-yard line. Four plays later, Franklin bulldozed into the end zone.
"I'm so happy he was able to bounce back from that," Bush said of Stanley. "He could have gone into a shell and died, but he came back out, fought hard, and Flanagan is in position to win that first district title."
But Miramar blew a fourth-quarter lead for the third time this season. The Patriots previously failed to close out American Heritage and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Friday night, Flanagan came back to improve to 17-1 in the regular season under Coach Bush. Its lone loss? Against Miramar 22-13 last season.
Now the Falcons need only to beat Western to capture their first district title.
The Falcons stormed back from a 15-point second-half deficit at home Friday night to beat Miramar 27-21 and position themselves to win the first district title in program history one season after making their first playoff appearance.
"For us to be able to fight back and come back and win this game like that – ooooooh, that's another step we just grew," Bush said.
Arkeem Granger rushed for two touchdowns, including a 7-yarder to the left corner on third-and-goal with 24.6 seconds left and the third-ranked Falcons (8-0, 5-0) downed the seventh-ranked Patriots (5-3, 3-1) in the much-anticipated District 12-8A clash.
The defending district champion Patriots led 21-6 after Travante Franklin's 9-yard TD run with 7:53 left in the third quarter.
"I told all the other players, 'Hey, hold your head up,'" Granger said.
From that point on, it was all Falcons.
Ryan Stanley scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper with 2:28 left in the third. For the second time Friday, Miramar couldn't convert the extra point. After Miramar fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, Flanagan mounted a 62-yard scoring drive. Granger's 4-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter and successful point-after pulled Flanagan within 21-19.
Flanagan got the ball back at its own 37 with 3:19 left trailing by the same score. On third-and-10, Stanley escaped a sack, managed to keep his feet after losing his balance and scampered for 28 yards. An 18-yard completion to Keavon Mitchell, who caught 11 passes for 82 yards, set up first-and-goal from the 6.
It was quite a turnaround for Stanley, who started the night strong with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Robert Foy, but then threw two interceptions to Miramar linebacker Deshondre Pitts on back-to-back throws.
With Flanagan threatening to take the lead late in the first half, Pitts stole Stanley's pass and raced 90 yards for a touchdown as time expired. Then on Flanagan's first offensive play of the second half, Pitts again picked off Stanley to give Miramar possession at Flanagan's 20-yard line. Four plays later, Franklin bulldozed into the end zone.
"I'm so happy he was able to bounce back from that," Bush said of Stanley. "He could have gone into a shell and died, but he came back out, fought hard, and Flanagan is in position to win that first district title."
But Miramar blew a fourth-quarter lead for the third time this season. The Patriots previously failed to close out American Heritage and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Friday night, Flanagan came back to improve to 17-1 in the regular season under Coach Bush. Its lone loss? Against Miramar 22-13 last season.
Now the Falcons need only to beat Western to capture their first district title.