Two for nil: Inadvertent whistle on a 2-point conversion attempt leads to Flagler Palm Coast losing 29-28

Colby Cronk's first 2-pointer didn't count; his second attempt was ruled a fumble in the Bulldogs' loss to Tocoi Creek.

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Colby Cronk knew he had scored the 2-point conversion.

“I was in for sure,” Cronk said.

The 2-pointer would have put Flagler Palm Coast ahead by one point against Tocoi Creek with 5:42 remaining in a District 4-4S football game on Friday, Aug. 27, at Sal Campanella Memorial Stadium.

The ball was dislodged after it crossed the goal line. That’s how the Bulldogs saw it. That’s how one official saw it too. He raised his arms, signifying the conversion was good. The official on the opposite side blew his whistle.

“It was an inadvertent whistle,” FPC coach Daniel Fish said. “The official on the other sideline blew his whistle for whatever reason. I thought it was after he scored anyway, so it should have counted.”

It didn’t. After conferring, the officials decided to do the play over again. FPC ran the same play. Cronk bulldozed in again, and the ball was jarred loose again.

“I don't think I made it on the second one, to be honest,” Cronk said. “I was trying to get the ball over (by reaching across the goal line). But I think they stripped it when I did that. I'm not going to be doing that anymore for sure.”

The Bulldogs never got the ball back and lost to the Toros 29-28. It was the second time this season FPC lost by that score (University edged FPC 29-28 in Orange City on Sept. 21).

The loss knocked the Bulldogs out of the playoff picture and dropped them to 3-6 with one game remaining. They host playoff-bound DeLand (7-2) on Friday, Nov. 3, in their season finale.

“We're going to practice really hard this week. I'm going to make sure of it,” FPC quarterback Caden Gonzalez said. “Our goal is to go (beat) DeLand before they go in the playoffs. So, we want to set a tone and show them what type of team we are.”

Gonzalez, a senior, who had played only flag football before this season, passed for 191 yards with three touchdowns against the Toros (5-4). Junior running back Marcus Mitchell ran for over 150 yards to put him over 2,600 yards rushing in his career.

Tocoi took a 22-8 lead on quarterback Ryan Killmer’s 6-yard run with 43 seconds left in the first half. But on the first play of the ensuing drive, FPC tight end Roman Caliendo scored on an 80-yard catch-and-run to make it 22-15 at the half. It was the junior’s first touchdown as a Bulldog.

FPC quarterback Caden Gonzalez.
Photo by Brent Woronoff

“(Offensive coordinator Jake Medlock) set it up perfectly,” Gonzalez said. “He told me, ‘just read it and watch that linebacker.’ The linebacker took two steps up, and I was able to rip it to Roman. He amazed me on that run. I can't believe he ran that fast. I've never seen him run so fast before. He got a really great touchdown for his first touchdown of the season. I'm really proud of him.”

FPC tied the score 22-22 on Mikhail Zysek’s 38-yard touchdown catch from Gonzalez with 5:53 left in the third quarter. It was Zysek’s second touchdown reception of the game. Gonzalez also connected with the junior from 6 yards out to tie the score at 8-8 with less than a minute left in the first quarter.

Tocoi drove 78 yards for the go-ahead score as Killmer tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hudson Brewer with 10:31 remaining in the game to put the visitors up 29-22.

The Bulldogs started their final drive at their 26-yard line and mixed in their elephant formation with Cronk, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound defensive end, running behind the 225-pound Mitchell and a jumbo offensive line. Cronk converted a fourth-and-5, ran 10 yards on third down to the Toros’ 12-yard line and scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run to pull FPC within a point at 29-28. Fish decided to go for 2 points with Cronk carrying the ball.

“The elephant was working,” Fish said. “I knew the whole time. When we were driving down, I said, ‘have the elephant ready, because we're going to go for 2.’ We have all the confidence in the world in that group.”

Fish said he thought Cronk crossed the goal line before the ball squirted out on both of the 2-point attempts.

“I thought he gave an extra lunge at the end and held the ball out as he was over (on the second attempt),” Fish said. “They smacked the ball as it was over. I thought he got two successful 2-point tries there at the end. But the ref saw it differently. So, I'm not at all going to blame our loss (on that). There are plenty of other areas that you can look to where we just didn't do what we were supposed to do, but I’m proud of the fight. I’m proud of the battle.”

Killmer’s 42-yard keeper allowed the Toros to run out the clock. Running back Vincent Galella slid down at the 7-yard line rather than scoring and giving the ball back to the Bulldogs. After that, Killmer was able to kneel twice to end the game.

Tocoi took an 8-0 lead on Julio Santiago’s 50-yard punt return. An offsides penalty against FPC on the point-after allowed Galella to run in a short 2-pointer.

The Toros intercepted two passes and blocked a 42-yard field goal attempt by Chase Magee.

After the game, one of the Bulldogs’ seniors burst into tears and gave Fish, FPC’s first-year coach, a hug.

“We have a small senior class, but those guys have put in so much into the program, so much into this year,” Fish said. “I really wish we could have sent them out on a better note than this, but they fought hard and they were leaders of our football team, made plays for us all year long.”

It’s my senior season and I got one more game left, so we're going to make the most of it next week and just get as many points as we can here at home.” — CADEN GONZALEZ

Gonzalez, who has had just one year in the program, said the year has gone by too fast.

“It's crazy. I remember coming here in spring and thinking of it being a long time, but it happened so fast,” he said. “I remember the first game I ever played in the spring game being like yesterday. So yeah, it happened really fast. But it was a really good experience. I'll do it over and over again, but unfortunately, I can't. I got to move on. It’s my senior season and I got one more game left, so we're going to make the most of it next week and just get as many points as we can here at home.”

 

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