By Timothy Williams
Twitter – @Timothy3pk
There are reasons why people love sports and football in general.
So many emotions simmer on the field and boil over into the bleachers. The roller coaster of emotions can take us to Everest before dropping us off in Death Valley.
For the Buchholz Bobcats, the roller coaster parked in Death Valley for the end of their contest against the Creekside (St. Johns) Knights.
The Bobcats entered Thursday’s 7A-District 2 game with a record of 4-4 overall. They matched up against a Creekside team that was 3-5 and losers of their last four.
In all senses of the word, Buchholz entered this game with all the momentum.
However, after a scoreless first quarter it seemed as if these two schools had much more of a battle going on than was previously expected.
The momentum shifted after Creekside was able to score two quick touchdowns in the second quarter as a result of Creekside’s senior QB Quinn Sieger and a pair of textbook completions.
The third quarter was more of the same for Buchholz, although they were able to stifle the offense of the Knights enough to prevent any more points from being added onto the total.
Buchholz seemed to save their best for last, however, as the fourth quarter began to get underway.
The scoring for the Bobcats finally began after the defense was able to capitalize on excellent defensive field position as a result of a textbook punt. The Bobcats were able to tackle Sieger in the endzone to get their first two points of the contest.
After more excellent Buchholz defense, the Bobcat’s junior QB Jack Hevesy put six points on the board with an 80-yard bomb to Damien Curtis. This was followed by an extra point to bring the score to 14-9.
Creekside fumbled on the next possession and allowed senior RB Quan Smith to take a handoff 14 yards for the score. This was immediately followed by a successful two-point conversion to allow Buchholz to take their first lead of the game at 17-14 with 2:56 remaining.
With everything pointing towards a Bobcat’s victory, adversity hit when Quan Smith lost the ball on a short handoff. His first lost fumble of the year, Creekside was able to score the ball and hold off Buchholz’s offense to narrowly win with a final score of 21-17.
Following the game, Buchholz hung their heads and held back tears as their coach, Mark Whittemore, addressed the team.
As they turn their attention to next week’s matchup at Sante Fe (Alachua), Whittemore proudly comforted his team.
“I’d rather lose with you than win with them,” he said.
He related the game of football to life. Sometimes it isn’t fair, and you just get hit in the mouth.
While life certainly is not fair, it was just downright unfortunate for the Bobcats.
With all eyes on Sante Fe, these young men must prepare for a new week, and hopefully, a better result.
