ENGLEWOOD — Gervaris Leaphart scored from 6 yards out in the second overtime as Island Coast defeated Lemon Bay, 32-26, in a District 3A-13 matchup Friday night at Veterans Stadium.
The teams were tied at 20-20 at the end of regulation and the Gators got the ball first in overtime, scoring on a 10-yard pass from Dominik Rosado to Kennari Shorter. Leaphart was stopped just short on a two-point conversion run, giving the Gators a 26-20 lead.
The Mantas scored on the first play of their possession on a 10-yard run by Asher Spring. Lemon Bay opted to try kicking the PAT to win the game but never got the kick off thanks to a bobbled snap.
“I probably should have gone for two,” Lemon Bay coach Jason Mensing said. “But when we attempted a field goal at the end of regulation I thought the kids executed pretty well, so that’s why we did it. We should have gone for two, that’s on me.”
The Mantas moved backwards on the first possession of the second overtime, giving the Gators the ball needing only to score to win. Two carries by Leaphart finished the job.
The teams played to a 12-12 tie through three quarters, but the Mantas got the ball at the end of the third period and embarked on a 14-play drive that took 9 minutes off the clock. Spring plowed in from the 1-yard line and Drew Smith caught a two point conversion pass from Luke Brown to give Lemon Bay a 20-12 lead with 2:59 to go.
The Gators passing game, which had faltered all night, kicked into gear and Rosado hit Keenan Moore with a 25-yard touchdown pass with 1:14 to play. Leaphart ran in for a two-point conversion to tie the game and send it to overtime.
KEY STATS: Adam Schwartz, who opened the scoring with a 36-yard run in the first quarter, had 109 yards on 13 carries for Lemon Bay. Spring added 93 yards on 18 attempts with three touchdowns. Smith had 41 yards on 8 carries and Caleb Hutcherson rushed 10 times for 40 yards.
Leaphart had 157 yards on 12 carries for Island Coast with three touchdowns, including an 81 yard run in the second quarter.
Rosado finished 12 of 15 passing for 119 yards and two TDs.
KEY PLAYS: In addition to his 36-yard touchdown run, Schwartz picked up 19 yards on a 3rd and 19 to extend the Mantas fourth quarter go-ahead drive. The Gators quickly faced a 4th and 10 after the Lemon Bay touchdown, but Jervontae Johnson made a leaping catch for 16 yards to pick up the first down. Three plays later, the Gators tied it upon Moore’s catch and Leaphart’s conversion run.
QUICK HITS: The loss sent the Mantas Homecoming crowd home unhappy and dropped Lemon Bay to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the district. Island Coast improved to 3-3, 1-0. Lemon Bay will have a second bye this week as an earlier game against Cape Coral will not be made up.
QUOTE: “The game was playing out like we wanted it to. We used a lot of clock in that possession. We knew they had an explosive offense so we didn’t want to give them the ball with too much time left. It just didn’t work out how we wanted it. It was a tossup game going in that could have gone either way, and it played out that way” — Mensing.
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