BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Keystone Heights High School’s football team fumbled three times in the first half and committed a costly roughing-the-kicker penalty in the third quarter en route to a 30-7 loss against District 5-2A opponent Santa Fe on Oct. 11 in Alachua.
Penalties dominated the matchup, with referees assessing two penalties before the Indians (2-5, 0-3 in District 5) started the game’s first drive.
The Raiders (1-6, 1-2) appeared vulnerable before the game. They were winless in their last 21 games and scoreless in their last four matchups.
Days before kickoff, the team’s head coach resigned, citing financial demands on his family after transitioning from sales to teaching.
However, the Raiders appeared energized for their homecoming game and looked different from the hapless squad reflected in their record.
Santa Fe’s first score came after the Indians’ third lost fumble. Mayer Steen hit a 32-yard field goal to put the Raiders up 3-0 with 7:39 remaining in the half.
After the Indians turned the ball over on downs, Santa Fe marched 70 yards on eight plays, ending with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Gentry to Makijah King. Steen added the extra point, giving the Raiders a 10-0 halftime lead.
The Raiders added seven more to begin the third quarter, driving 35 yards from their own 45 to the Keystone 30 on the legs of running back Carson Capallia.
Gentry then lofted a 30-yard pass to Malcolm Merriex, who wrestled the ball away from a Keystone defender. Steen added the P.A.T. for a 17-0 Raider lead.
The Indians got on the board with a 90-yard drive, sparked by runs by Kyle Perkins and Zane Leger. Perkins finished the campaign with a 2-yard run, and Tyler Sapp added the extra point for a 17-7 Santa Fe lead.
On Santa Fe’s subsequent drive, the Raiders dug themselves in a hole. Facing fourth-and-22 from their own 48, the Raiders’ punter watched as the snap sailed over his head. After scrambling and kicking the ball away, two Indians slammed into the punter, drawing a penalty and breathing new life into the all-but-dead drive.
The home team took advantage, driving to the Indian 11 and going for it on fourth-and-1 from the Keystone 11. Asaph Bryant took the handoff from Gentry and barreled into the end zone, giving the Raiders a 24-7 lead after the extra point.
The game’s final score came on a penalty riddled 12-play, 57-yard drive by the Raiders, which featured personal fouls, a late hit, a delay of game and a face mask.
Capallia dashed in from 3 yards out, and Steen kicked the extra point, giving the Raiders a final lead of 30-7.
Keystone hosts Chiefland (6-1) on Friday, Oct. 18, at 7:30 p.m. Chiefland, which is fifth in the Florida High School Athletic Association/MaxPreps Rural Class power rankings, is coming off its first loss, dropping a 13-10 game to eighth-ranked 2A Taylor County.
