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Football: Sickles 13, Wiregrass Ranch 12

 
Published Sept. 15, 2018|Updated Sept. 15, 2018

WESLEY CHAPEL — If calling a run play in the closing seconds, with no timeouts and needing a touchdown to win seems risky, imagine doing it twice.

After a frantic finish Friday night, Sickles fans would say that strategy is just fantastic.

Gryphons quarterback Joey Sandorf plunged in from the 1-yard line with nine seconds left as visiting Sickles (3-1, 1-0 7A-8) scored a dramatic, and critical, 13-12 victory at Wiregrass Ranch.

"It was crazy," said Sandorf, aptly.

Sickles had been getting shut out in the second half, and its only previous points came on a 20-yard drive. But down 12-7, the Gryphons defense forced a punt, starting an eventful 55-yard winning march in the final 3:05.

For one, Sandorf was shaken up and had to miss two plays. Sophomore Brandon Dessi threw a pair of incompletions. Then on fourth and long, Wiregrass standout junior LB Dylan Ridolph lined up Sandorf for a sure game-ending sack with barely more than a minute left.

Ridolph, who had three sacks and three more tackles for loss snuffing out the Gryphons' short passing game, had a form-tackle angle but Sandorf surged a yard forward — causing Ridolph to pull him down from behind, his left hand reaching up to Sandorf's neck. The horse-collar call resulted in a first down, Sickles ball at the 32.

"I wasn't sure if it was (a penalty) or not. All I knew is I was tackled from behind," said Sandorf.

He went on to throw a beautiful 20-yard hitch to Rolando Linares down to the 7. Cam Howard added a 5-yard run to the 2, and after a timeout with 28 seconds remaining, Sickles coach Patrick Murphy lined things up.

"We knew we had enough time for two sneaks. We'd go one and 1 (yard) if we had to. I had all the confidence in the guys," Murphy said.

Sandorf indeed followed that route, with the Gryphons calmly (for the circumstances) scrambling into position for one last snap on third down.

Wiregrass was a yard away from not giving it back to Sickles, as Grant Sessums' pass to Hunter Henry on third and 10 ended up 1 yard shy of the marker. As much of a thriller as it was for Sickles, a win that could have playoff implications down the line, it was a gut-punch for Wiregrass (2-2, 0-1).

The Bulls more than doubled Sickles' yardage total, 296-144, with a 190-3 ground advantage. After Kasey Califar's 46-yard screen pass gain on the very first play, Sickles managed just 16 yards in the next three quarters.

But as Wiregrass looked poised to put things away — Mason Buie (101 yards, 11 carries) going for a pair of 15-yard gains early in the fourth quarter — Luke Gage recovered a fumble at the Sickles 40. Elijah Achecar (five catches, 40 yards) hauled in a 30-yard pass from Sandorf, but a holding call and Ridolph sack squashed that drive, only for Sickles to get one last chance.

Right after Wiregrass had gone up 12-0 midway through the second quarter, Sickles got a 60-yard kickoff return by Howard. Sandorf, who finished 18-of-23 for 141 yards, completed a pair of short passes to set up Ryan Gomes' 4-yard TD run with 5:12 in the half.

The Bulls went on a nine-play, 75-yard drive where Sessums found Tyler Stinson for a 35-yard pickup, ran for 5 on fourth and 3, and Nathan Miller bulled in for a 10-yard score late in the first. Wiregrass tried a pass play that went nowhere for the extra point and flubbed the snap on a kick try after Keith Walker's 1-yard TD run in the second quarter. Walker (12-56 rushing, 4-34 receiving) had 42 yards on four carries during the drive.

Brevin Hart, who also had a big catch on Sickles' first scoring march, joined Justin Kuhn and Parker Snead in making key tackles that kept the Gryphons in position to win. Snead also picked off Wiregrass' desperation pass at the end, with Jackson Dorman ending the first half on a pick.

Tyler Hayes added two sacks for Wiregrass. Sessums went 8-of-17 for 106 yards. At the time of the fourth-quarter fumble, Wiregrass had been outgaining Sickles 110 to minus-10 in the half, and 278-17 since the game's first play. Five of Sickles' nine second-half completions were for negative yards.