FPC comes up short in loss to DeLand

Penalties plagued Flagler Palm Coast in the 10-3 loss.

  • By Ray Boone
  • | 11:06 p.m. October 19, 2018
  • Palm Coast Observer
  • Sports
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With Flagler Palm Coast needing to convert a critical fourth down in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter against district rival DeLand, FPC coach Travis Roland turned to one of his best defenders to lead the offense: senior cornerback Dennis Shorter.

“If it’s crunch time, Dennis is the kind of guy we’re going to trust,” Roland said. 

With FPC down a touchdown, Shorter caught a pass on fourth-and-7 to keep FPC’s hopes alive with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game.

FPC’s offense was able to claw its way to DeLand’s 20. And on fourth-and-3 with 1 minute left, Shorter rocketed into the air and pulled down a pass over a defender for another crucial first down.

And finally, with 17 seconds left, FPC faced a final fourth down from the 5. Quarterback Donovan Montoyo rifled a pass to Shorter, hitting him in the hands. But with the weight of a defender on his back, he couldn’t hold on.

The ball fell to the ground. DeLand regained possession and kneeled to run out the clock.

Despite a dominant effort by FPC’s defense, which held DeLand to 226 total yards of offense, FPC fell 10-3 on the night of Friday, Oct. 20, on senior night at Sal Campanella Memorial Stadium.

Roland said Friday night’s loss was similar to FPC’s first loss of the season: a 21-0 defeat at the hands of Seminole on Sept. 7. The Bulldogs’ offense had no trouble finding the red zone but couldn’t get into the end zone.

FPC settled for a 32-yard field goal by Stephen Usina in the second quarter but failed to score for the remainder of the game. FPC had 150 yards of total offense — 72 of which came from Montoyo.

“We just couldn’t punch it in,” Roland said. “And that’s what you’ve got to do in the red zone.”

The main killer: penalties.

FPC was flagged seven times for 60 yards over the first two quarters. The first came during one of the game’s biggest plays. FPC’s Ja’Corey Benjamin intercepted DeLand’s Jadyn Nirschl and took it 80 yards to the end zone to give FPC a brief lead — until a block in the back on the return negated the score, setting FPC up at midfield. Still, FPC drove inside the DeLand 10 with 3 minutes to play in the half, only to have a first-and-goal from the 7 turn into a fourth-and-goal from the 50 after back-to-back holding calls and a poor snap.

“We were on the wrong end of the referees’ flags tonight,” Roland said. “We just have keep playing and figure it out.”

FPC (7-2, 2-1) travels to face another district rival in Mandarin at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, in the final game of the regular season. Their hopes for a district title are on the line.

“This loss hurts, but we’ve really got to come together as a unit,” defensive end Nelson Paul said. “Everybody has to focus.”

 

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