North downs rival Fort Myers, 16-10, in OT
Mother Nature and all of her forces could not deny the North Fort Myers High School football team an opening night win on its home turf against its big rival.
A game that kicked off at 7 p.m. did not see an end until 11:45 p.m. thanks to a more than 2 1/2-hour weather delay. When all was said and done and the lightning cleared the area, the Red Knights came away with a thrilling 16-10 overtime win against Fort Myers.
“The guys played well — really well. I’m proud of them and they persevered,” said North head coach Dwayne Mack.
The “Battle of the Caloosahatchee” saw the road team on the board first as the Greenies cashed in on their second drive of the game. Starting with good field position on their own 40-yard line, it took just five plays before quarterback Chris McFoley put his head down from the 1-yard line to burst into the end zone. The score was set-up by a huge 45-yard run from Madrid Tucker one play prior.
Tucker nearly extended Fort Myers’ lead one series later, returning a North punt 60-plus yards for a touchdown, but it was called back due to penalty.
The Greenies would three-and-out instead, though kicker/punter Vaughn Lennon could not have placed the ball better, going out of bounds just before the pylon pinning North on its own one-inch line.
Looking at 99 yards in front of them to score, the Red Knights stayed focused and put together the most impressive drive of the contest for either side. North marched down to the Fort Myers 3-yard line in 17 plays before eventually having to settle for a Daniel Jaquiss 24-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to 7-3 with 5 minutes and change to play in the half.
A few minutes later, both teams and all in attendance were ordered to clear the field for a weather delay — one that lasted two hours and 43 minutes.
“We’ve got the best field house in America,” Mack said on how his team handled the delay. “For us, it was just relaxing and getting our kids (focused on the game plan) and we could go from there.”
The coaching staff did make one change unrelated to scheme that they hoped would flip a switch.
“We thought at halftime if we changed the jerseys to red, we’d get a little spark and it happened,” Mack said. “If we did what we needed to do, we knew we could win this game.”
When play resumed, the end of the second quarter was played out to no score, and a short halftime was taken.
Coming out of the break, both teams traded punts until a special teams play, as they often can, changed everything.
Fort Myers was poised to extend its lead as Lennon lined up for a 26-yard field goal. A low snap to the holder was bobbled, and Lennon’s swinging leg grazed the top of the football as the holder was trying to correct its alignment. The ball trickled forward slowly back towards the line of scrimmage – that’s when North’s Daniel Newson scooped the rock and turned on the jets. The senior scampered 82 yards the other way, completely swinging the momentum of the game and scoreboard, as the Red Knights went up 10-7 with seconds left in the third quarter.
The Green Wave would not go down without a fight, as North quarterback Gabriel Duross threw an interception of the first play of a Red Knights fourth quarter drive, putting Fort Myers on its 35-yard line.
The Red Knights defense nearly came away unscathed, but an unsportsmanlike penalty gave Fort Myers a fresh set of downs. Eventually working down to the 7-yard line, Lennon drilled a 24-yard field goal to knot the game 10-10.
Lennon, a few drives later, had a chance to put the Greenies up with less than 2 minutes to go, but the 43-yard attempt came up short.
“First game. A lot of mistakes both ways. A long night with the big delay,” said Fort Myers head coach Sam Sirianni. “It seemed early we had a chance to really bust the game open. We let a good team off of the hook. A game like that goes down to the final play or two. They made the plays and all power to them. We’ve just got to learn from it and correct a lot of mistakes.”
North looked as if it was going to walk away with the contest in the final moments of the fourth quarter as senior all-around player Levontai “Bo” Summersett first threw a pass for a 46-yard gain and then broke away on a long run. With not much between him and the goal line other than 20 yards of grass, a Fort Myers defender came from behind and punched the ball out, seeing it tumble all the way through the back of North’s end zone for a touchback and turnover.
Fort Myers took a knee with seconds left to play and on to overtime they went. Fort Myers won the toss and elected to attempt to score first. On the second play of OT, a Greenies player was called for a chop block, sending them all the way back to the 20-yard line in a goal-to-go scenario. On fourth down, North’s Santino Arroyo picked off McFoley to ensure a scoreless drive.
On North’s first play in overtime, Summersett had one thing on his mind, and that was to end things right then and there. He took the handoff and fought through two to three defenders, extending his arm and the football over the goal line before his knees touched down to give his team a victory.
“I was upset about (the fumble), but my teammates and coaches boosted me and helped me get over it. They motivated me and I just had to do what was best for us,” Summersett said.
“Bo is a special player,” Mack said. “He can run. He can throw. He can do it all.”
As for what was going through his head when he broke the plane, Summersett said, “It was exciting. I felt happy. It was great seeing all of my teammates come celebrate. It felt good to get a win in the first game.”
For the fans who stuck around – and there were quite a few – it was worth the wait.
Next week North travels to Dunbar for a 7 p.m. start with the Tigers. Fort Myers will host St. Thomas Aquinas.
— Connect with Associate Sports Editor CJ Haddad on Twitter: @haddad_cj
1 2 3 4 OT
Fort Myers 7 0 0 3 0 — 10
North Fort Myers 0 3 7 0 6 — 16
1st Quarter
FM: Chris McFoley, 1-yard run (Vaughn Lennon kick); 6:21
2nd Quarter
NFM: Daniel Jaquiss, 24-yard field goal; 5:32
3rd Quarter
NFM: Daniel Newson, 82-yard fumble recovery (Jaquiss kick); 0:06
4th Quarter
FM: Lennon, 24-yard field goal; 7:40
Overtime
NFM: Levontai “Bo” Summersett, 10-yard run