ORLANDO, Fla. — It was senior night last at Timber Creek as the Wolves faced the Hagerty Huskies in the final regular season game for both playoff-bound squads. The previous four meetings between the two teams have been split, as the home team always finished the game on top. That trend ended last night as the Huskies, trailing 14 at halftime, came back and won 28-21 behind three touchdowns from running back Leo Gomez.
THE INFO: Timber Creek jumped out to an early one score lead after a screen pass to Maryland commit MJ Jarrell turned into a 35-yard touchdown at the 7:46 mark of the first quarter. The Huskies stepped on the field for the first time and drove the ball deep into Timber Creek territory. Three straight runs by Leo Gomez set the Huskies at the one-yard line to start the second quarter. Gomez slipped through the defense and tied the game at seven a piece early second quarter.
Less than a minute later, the Wolves took back the lead. This time it was Peter Hayes-Patrick who burst free for a 58-yard run bouncing off of defenders left and right. After a three-out by Hagerty, Hayes-Patrick scored on the very next possession for Timber Creek on a 15-yard carry with 8:53 left in the first half. Hayes-Patrick finished the night with 149 yards on the ground and two touchdowns for Timber Creek. The score held and the Wolves were feeling confident up 21-7 at halftime.
PHOTO GALLERY: Check out all the action from the game in photos
However, the Huskies had other plans that evening. Hagerty made halftime adjustments on both offense and defense as Ethan Brewer cut the deficit to 21-14 with a one-yard quarterback sneak. The Huskies defense forced Timber Creek to the turn the ball over on downs and minutes later, Gomez found the end zone again. Brewer ran the ball to the 16-yard line of Timber Creek, then Gomez finished the drive off with a 13-yard touchdown knotting the game at 21 with 11 minutes left.
Timber Creek was unable to produce any sort of offense in the fourth quarter as they had to punt again with 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Huskies defense and special teams set up quarterback Ethan Brewer at the 40-yard line of Timber Creek.
KEY PLAY OF THE GAME: Facing 4th and 1 inside the red zone, the Huskies needed to convert with less than nine minutes in the game. Running an option play, Gomez took it himself, picked up the first down and the Huskies were looking to take their first lead of the night as the clock continued to move as well. Gomez rushed the ball through the defense of Timber Creek, scoring his 3rd touchdown of the night. The one-yard score gave Hagerty its first lead silencing the Wolves’ fans.
STAR OF THE GAME: Quarterback Ethan Brewer led the Huskies with 128 yards rushing and one touchdown, but it would be Leo Gomez to score the go-ahead the touchdown for Hagerty. The senior rushed for 93 yards and three touchdowns and was the star of the game for the Huskies.
QUOTABLE: “They came back out in the second half and reacted well. We told them ‘the defense will adjust, they’ll hold them, you take the first drive and score, and if you do that we’re in the money,’ and they take it right down there and score and we held them, just like we drew it up,” said Hagerty head coach Phil Ziglar.
QUOTABLE TWO: “That’s a good way to start off the playoffs. It gives the whole team more self-esteem, to boost us up and try to win our first playoff game next week,” said Hagert running back Leo Gomez.
WHAT’S NEXT: The Hagerty Huskies finish off the regular season (9-1), runner-up of District 7A-4. Next week the Huskies are on the road for the first round of the 7A playoffs to the Buchholz Bobcats (7-2), District 7A-3 champs. As for the Timber Creek, the Wolves, District 8A-3 runner-up, finish the regular season (7-3) and travel to face the undefeated (9-0) Apopka Blue Darters, District 8A-3 champions.
