GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Clay vs. Baker County football 2017 looked eerily similar to Clay vs. Baker County 2016 with untimely errors, strong running on both sides and Baker County walking out with the district 5-5A title.

“You just can’t fumble the ball twice the way we did and expect to win,” said Clay coach Joshua Hoekstra, after the Wildcats held on for a 21-14 win Friday night. “Now, we have to fight to just get into the playoffs.”

With the game promising to be a slugfest pitting two strong running offense against stellar defenses with a hint of a passing game, the contest ended in a flurry of passes putting Clay in scoring position with less than 11 seconds on the clock and the game at 21-14.

With a first down at the Baker County 14 and just 23 seconds on the clock, quarterback Caleb Eason missed tight end Denaud Valmyr with two end zone passes. On third down, Eason connected with wideout Ajay Belanger on a slant near the six yard line that landed somewhere near the five yard line. Clay needed to get inside the four yard line for a first down and any possibility of two final plays to score and tie the game.

Belanger’s effort was marked inside the first down mark giving Clay a fourth and yard down instead of a first down.

“We thought he got the first down (near the four yard line) and we set up to stop the clock with the spike,” said Hoekstra, who had no time outs to use. “It’s a tough way to lose a game.”

The loss, much like last year, puts the Blue Devils in an ironically precarious playoff picture with the Friday Palatka game a critical must-win game to put Clay into the playoffs as a wild card. In 2016, Clay responded with a dramatic last second win over Palatka that led to a state semifinal berth after defeating Baker County in the region semifinal in Baker County.

“We would possibly go in as the eight seed with the new points system and that would put us up on the road against the top seed, probably Zephyrhills,” said Hoekstra, who has pushed to regain home field advantage this year after last year’s three games on the road during the regional playoffs eventually put Clay back home in the state semifinal against Ponte Vedra.

“We’ve done it before,” said Hoekstra.

According to Floridahsfootball.com, Clay sits in second place in the district point total with 36.29 with Baker County at 37.71. Menendez, with their 55-39 win over Ridgeview, jumps to third at 36.13 with Ridgeview at 34.5. In the region point totals, Clay is at number seven contingent on the Palatka game and the final with University Christian.

Clay finishes district play with Palatka then has defending Class 2A champion University Christian in their season finale while Ridgeview travels to Baker County to finish their district slate and regular season play.

District 5-5A

Team (record, remaining games-records)

Baker County (7-1, 4-0; Ridgeview 6-3, Dunnellon 6-1)

Clay (5-3, 3-1; Palatka 3-6, University Christian 7-1)

Menendez (5-3, 2-2; Orange Park 1-8, Matanzas 5-3)

Ridgeview (6-3, 2-2; Baker County 7-1)

Palatka (3-6, 1-3)

Orange Park (1-8, 0-4)

Region 2-5A playoff point leaders

Baker County (5-5A) 37.71

Zephyrhills (8-5A) 37.71

Wesley Chapel (8-5A) 38

Hernando (7-5A) 38.6

Belleview (6-5A) 36.71

Clay (5-5A) 36.29

Menendez (5-5A) 36.14

Ridgeview (5-5A) 34.5

PROJECTED SEEDS

No. 1 Baker County*

No. 2 Zephyrhills*

No. 3 Belleview

No. 4 Nature Coast

No. 5 Hernando

No. 6 Wesley Chapel

No. 7 Clay

No. 8 Menendez

PROJECTED PAIRINGS

No. 8 Menendez vs. No. 1 Baker County

No. 5 Hernando vs. No. 4 Nature Coast

No. 6 Wesley Chapel vs. No. 3 Belleview

No. 7 Clay vs. No. 2 Zephyrhills

*NOTE: Baker County wins the tiebreaker on having more combined Category 1 & 2 wins over Zephyrhills.

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Against Baker County, the contest opened with Clay running back Aundre Carter blasting for carries of three yards and eight to put the Blue Devil faithful into a frenzy. A slant pass to wideout Ajay Belanger plus a facemask moved Clay to the Baker 28 before Carter and Cedric Brown pounded the Wildcat defense with gains of five and 17 yards to midfield before disaster; a Carter fumble.

Baker County quickly executed their run offense with running back Seth Paige getting eight carries in nine offensive plays to paydirt and a 7-0 Wildcat lead with 5:08 left in the first quarter.

Again, Hoekstra went to his backfield with Brown and Carter both denting the Wildcat defense with 12 plays of smash-mouth running offense highlighted by 22 yard Carter run to the Wildcat 35 and a fourth down pass completion to Belanger that put the Blue Devils at the Baker County 23 with a first down. Carter carried twice to the 16 before Brown fumbled away the ball on third down to end the first quarter.

For the rest of the half, both teams played crushing defense to end the half still at 7-0.

In the second half, with both sidelines anticipating a no-holds barred chase to the win, both teams delivered with Baker County moving from their own 30 to the Clay 43 with Paige dancing twice for gains of 27 yards and 14 yards around the right side of the Clay defense to get Baker County to the Clay 19.

A scamble on second down found Clay linebacker Marcus Dixon with the ball at the bottom of a scrum and the Blue Devils defense getting their first break.

Clay could only get to the 13 before punting where Baker County struck hard with tailback Josh Haygood rumbling 40 yards to paydirt.

Clay answered right back with a long scoring drive that ended with Eason finding Valmyr in the end zone with 4:56 left in the third to put the game at 14-7. Brown highlighted the drive with a strong 40 yard run that put the ball at the Baker County 16. Eason missed a slant to Belanger before hitting Valmyr.

Clay’s defense had renewed energy from the score with defensive tackler Kurt Jackson and linebacker Cory Devore both smashing quarterback John Green to force a punt from midfield.

Eason misfired on three passes and was flagged for an intentional grounding flag that thwarted any response by Clay.

As the fourth quarter started, it was cornerback Dakari Augustin who came up with the ball on a Baker County fumble at the Clay 30.

Carter ran for gains of 17 and five before the Wildcats stopped a fourth and inches dive for no gain.

Haygood would sprint 50 yards to push the score to 21-7 at 7:13 to go as Clay continued to look for some home field kharma, but a 35 yard kickoff return from Brown was negated by penalty flags.

The bad luck did not deter Clay, who started at the 20 but got a run of 25 yards from Carter to the 45 before, two plays later, the burly back broke away for a 50 yard scoring run at 5:18 with Clay now within striking distance at 21-14.

Baker County kept the ball in Paige’s hands, but linebacker Raequan Williams and Devore stopped a third down play at the Clay 46 to create a fourth and four down situation.

With 2:39 still on the clock, Clay looked to have one more shot to save the game, but an offsides squelched the opportunity.

The “squelch” lasted just one down as Clay linebacker Marchel Robinson burst from a Wildcat offensive scrum with the ball and was sprinting downfield for an apparent tying score. Referee whistles ended the fervor of the Clay crowd as Robinson was declared down at the point of the fumble recovery.

On first down from the Clay 35, some kharma came to Clay with wideout Spencer LeSage getting a pass interference call against the Baker County defense on a post pattern that put Clay at midfield. A slant to Belanger that also got a flag set up the thrilling ending from the Baker County 14.