Gainesville High School celebrated multiple wins Friday night under the bright lights and atop the soggy grass of Citizens Field.
The Hurricanes held on for a 34-27 win against Lecanto High School to capture first-year coach Ashour Peera the first victory of the season.
And less than three weeks after he and his family were detained by ICE, Sebastian Jimenez returned to the field for GHS.
The Hurricanes (1-3, 1-0) scored four touchdowns in the final 15 minutes for their first district win in five years.
Most of the first half of the Class 4A-District 5 opener for both teams was uneventful and a little sloppy with penalties on both sides. Gainesville’s offense struggled keeping the ball as it had a few fumbles, but Lecanto (1-3, 0-1) was not able to capitalize on those opportunities thanks to the Hurricanes’ defense making stops.
However, the last minute of the half changed the trajectory of the game.
Lecanto’s Terence Hollis scored on a 4-yard rushing touchdown to bring the score to 7-0 with the successful extra point with 10 seconds left before the break.
The Lecanto lead lasted mere seconds, as Gainesville’s Javaris Gardner returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 7-all at halftime.
After the sloppy first half, something changed as the Hurricanes stepped up to receive the opening kickoff of the second half.
“We talked about the second half playing the third quarter first,” Peera said. “Let’s focus on the end of the game at the end of the game.”
And Gainesville did just that.
Gardner scored his second touchdown of the night, this one off junior quarterback Joshua McClellan’s screen pass for a 31-yard score to give the Hurricanes their first lead at 13-7 following the missed extra point three minutes into the quarter.
On their next possession, the Hurricanes’ Keihonest Perry scored on a 7-yard touchdown run. Sy Jones caught the two-point conversion pass from McClellan to give GHS a 21-7 lead with 1:51 left in the third quarter.
Despite being down, the Panthers kept fighting.
Gainesville turned the ball over on downs at the Lecanto 4 with six minutes remaining in the game. The Panthers capitalized on this when Hollis ran 96 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-13 following the missed extra-point attempt.
The last five minutes delivered some of the most electrifying moments of the game.
Gardner ran 43 yards for another touchdown and the failed two-point conversion play left the score at 27-13.
Just when GHS thought it was in the clear, the offense fumbled at the Lecanto 28, where Jack Grannan scooped the ball up to return it 72 yards for a touchdown. Lecanto remained in the game at 27-19 after another failed two-point conversion.
The final 51 seconds saw more exciting plays after GHS recovered Lecanto’s onside kick. Perry scored a 50-yard rushing touchdown and the extra-point kick appeared to create a larger buffer between the teams at 34-19 with 28 seconds remaining.
Lecanto freshman receiver Elijah Morgan then snagged a pass to score on the 59-yard play as time expired with GHS up 34-25.
The game was considered over and the teams had started to line up for post-game handshakes. But two minutes later the game referees blew their whistles, calling on the Panthers for the extra point. With no time on the clock Hollis scored the two-point conversion to settle the final margin at 34-27.
Not only did the Hurricanes and Peera gain their first win, they saw Jimenez’s return. Jimenez is a punter, but after the last GHS touchdown he stepped up and kicked the extra point.
“I had tears,” Peera said. “I just wanted to make sure he got a kick in there and it meant a lot to everybody, especially him.”
Gainesville will play rival Eastside (1-3) at 7 p.m. next Friday at Citizens Field.
