PENSACOLA — It certainly wasn’t the way either coach had drawn it up.
And the postgame handshake certainly backed that up, as both coaches stood there talking, each scratching their heads trying to make sense of what just transpired.
In what turned out to be a frantic finish, the Crestview Bulldogs used three defensive touchdowns and a fake punt to finish their season on a good note with a 27-23 win over the Pensacola High Tigers.
The Bulldogs (3-7) trailed 17-0 a few seconds into the third quarter, but rallied on the strength of their defense to take the win.
“I’m proud of our players, you know it’s been a tough season for us,” Crestview Coach Tim Hatten said. “We didn’t play very well tonight, but our kids hung in there and never quit and our defense came up with a couple of big plays to get us back in it.”
After a scoreless first quarter, the PHS Tigers finally broke the scoreless drought when Kevon Abrams scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead. The Tigers extended that lead to 10-0 at the half on a Curtis Thiess 35-yard field goal.
PHS got a big play on the ensuing kickoff as Crestview’s Keenan Redd fumbled and Pensacola’s Doug Lewis actually caught ball in mid-air and rambled 17 yards for the score and a 17-0 Tiger lead.
The Tiger defense followed that with yet another stop to give it back to the offense. And just when it looked like the PHS Tigers would start to pull away, disaster struck for the Tigers.
Quarterback Slade Jarman tried to hit a receiver on an inside slant route, but instead threw it straight to Marcus Mobley, who had little trouble racing into the endzone for the touchdown and a 17-7 Crestview deficit.
Just a few minutes later, with PHS driving, the Bulldogs got another big break when the center snapped the ball over Jarman’s head, nearly 15 yards back to the 50-yard line. Jarman was unable to pounce on the loose ball and Corey Armstrong was there to pick it up and ramble 55 yards for the touchdown. The extra point cut the PHS lead down to 17-14.
Crestview’s defense came up with another big stop and the offense moved into PHS territory only to have the drive stall and bring up a fourth-and-12 at the Tigers’ 42-yard line. The Bulldogs sent out the punt team, but ended up being whistled for a delay of game penalty to back it up to fourth-and-17.
Before the Bulldogs could snap the ball, PHS called a timeout, to warn against a potential fake. It didn’t help, though, as Crestview did fake it and the pass to tight end Matt French covered 30 yards, and a subsequent facemask penalty moved the ball down to the PHS 22-yard line.
“We’ve had that play for four weeks and been sitting on it,” Hatten said. “First time we went out there, they didn’t give (us the defense we needed to run it). After the penalty, they still didn’t give it to us. Then after the timeout, they still didn’t give it to us, but our special teams coach does a great job with that unit and he called for it. When I saw them run it, I was as surprised as anybody.
“He made a great catch and was able to get a few extra yards to get that first down. No doubt that was the turning point in the game.”
The fake led to the Bulldogs taking their first lead of the night — 21-17 — on a 5-yard touchdown run by DJ Stewart.
PHS appeared to be poised to retake the lead as Jarman drove the Tigers down into Crestview territory, but the mistakes continued for the PHS offense as Jarman was sacked on third-and-10 to force PHS to punt.
The Tigers defense came through with another big stop, though, and turned it back over to the PHS offense with a little more than three minutes left in the game. A fourth-down pass attempt by PHS drew a pass interference call against the Crestview defense and gave the Tigers’ another shot. But Jarman’s next pass attempt out into the flat was jumped by Marquis McClain, and he returned it 53 yards for the touchdown and a 27-17 lead.
PHS didn’t quit, though, and a long pass completion to Deondre Norman set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Jarman to cut the lead to 27-23 after the missed PAT.
As luck would have it, PHS recovered the ensuing onside kick and set up shop inside Crestview territory. But two plays into that possession, McClain came up with his second pick of the game to ice it and send Crestview into the offseason on a good note.
“We needed something like this to go into the offseason," Hatten said.“ "We have a young team and have had to battle through lot. This will be good for us."
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bulldogs close season with win over PHS