After that Vero Beach-Lake Mary 7A title game finish that felt like somebody slipped a laxative in the football gods' coffee. I watched the replay about six times last night—partly for analysis, partly because I couldn't sleep after remembering my own clock-management disasters back when I was slinging Frostys at the Wendy's drive-thru on State Route 4 in Ohio. Kid pulls up at 1:58 a.m., orders four Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers and a large Coke, hands me a twenty, and I give him change for a fifty because I'm too busy staring at the cashier with the low-cut shirt. Cost me the drawer being short and a stern talking-to from the manager who looked like he ate nails for breakfast. Lesson learned: when the clock's ticking down, don't do something stupid that'll cost you the win... or twenty-three bucks.                             Anyway, this poor fan's rant hits like a hangover after a Buckeyes loss to Michigan (don't get me started—2006 still keeps me up some nights). Calls it the worst coaching meltdown he's seen at any level, says Jankowski's brain got short-circuited by the rain worse than when I tried to fix my ex-wife's toaster while standing in a puddle. Strong words. And honestly... he's got a point that don't need much polishing.Up eight, 1:18 left, two timeouts for Lake Mary. You take three quick knees—chunk yards backward like you're auditioning for a moonwalk contest—then burn the timeouts. Fine so far, I guess. But then comes the intentional safety. Running the QB out the back of the end zone to make it a six-point game instead of eight. Folks, that's like being up two touchdowns in the fourth and deciding to spot the other team a field goal just to "flip the field." In the rain. With a miracle-prone opponent.The poster lays out the smart play: feed Hillsman—who'd already trucked for 238 yards like he was mad at the turf—three straight times. Tell him, "Son, hold that ball like it's the last beer at a tailgate and stay in bounds." If you need a first down, fake to him and let Monds keep it. Worst case, you punt, they get it inside their 30, still down eight, and even if they block it and house it (or fumble-six the other way), you're still ahead by two or six. They'd need the TD plus the deuce just to tie and go to overtime. And with Vero's offense humming for damn near 500 yards? I'd take my chances in free football over giving Lake Mary a "TD + extra point and we win" scenario.Instead, the safety flips the math, good return sets 'em up at the 42, and boom—Hail Mary, lateral, guy runs it in like he's got rockets in his cleats. Game over. Heartbreak city.Now look, I've seen coaches pull the intentional safety and it works—usually when you're nursing a skinny lead and just want to bleed the clock dead. But when you're up eight? That's like me back in my chasing-skirts days deciding to buy a woman flowers after she already said yes. Unnecessary risk, pal.Credit where due: Jankowski's a hell of a coach, built Vero into a machine, and the rest of the game plan was solid. Explosive plays happen, defense gets gassed, injuries pile up—that's football, not malpractice. But that last sequence? Yeah, that's gonna be on the film-room blooper reel for a long time. Hope he owns it like a man, because trying to spin that one would be harder than explaining to my old Wendy's manager why the drawer was short again the next weekend.Lake Mary earned it with that miracle—first title, sweet revenge for last year. Vero folks, chin up. Y'all were 14-0 getting there and you'll reload. Just maybe next time... run the damn ball three times and punt.Alright, I'm gonna go pour a scotch and pretend 2006 never happened. Y'all behave

LongtimeVero, do you have any thoughts/ideas about the performance of the coaching staff of Vero Beach in that game? 

I have seen that play many times, and in my view that was NOT a forward hand off. An illegal forward handing foul has to be a clear arm forward by the player handing the ball off, and I did not see that on that play. Also,  if it was a foul, that play would not have been blown dead immediately as no live-ball foul ends a play/down. The penalty for illegal forward handing is five yards and a loss of down. Loss of down is loss of the right to replay the down, so if there was a foul on that play, Lake Mary would have not received another play and since the game clock had reached 00:00, the game would have been over right then. 

All right. No, of course not. 

Hotels might be an issue with the Villages. It is still a developing area, and I am not sure how close that many rooms needed are.