Santa Fe football coach Earnest Graham credits his Raiders for their relentless mindset in their first loss Friday against Jacksonville University Christian in Alachua. [Ryan Roddy]

Santa Fe Football Suffers Heartbreaker in First Round of Playoffs

The Santa Fe Raiders had a late lead Friday, but a touchdown with about three minutes left in the game gave No. 2 seed Clearwater Calvary Christian a 34-30 win in the Class 2A-Region 2 quarterfinals.

The host Warriors (8-3) led 13-0 in the first quarter before seven seed Santa Fe (7-4) answered to come within 13-7 when Keimarion Neal connected with Dantre Little for a 52-yard TD.

Then the Raiders went up 14-13 in the second quarter on a rushing touchdown and Mayer Steen’s extra-point kick for a lead they took into halftime.

Steen kicked a 36-yard field goal to extend the Raiders’ lead to 17-13 with six minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Just a couple of plays later, Calvary Christian’s Lane Roberts claimed the lead back for the Warriors with an 80-yard rushing touchdown. The extra-point kick put Calvary Christian up 20-17.

Little’s 1-yard scoring run put the Raiders in the lead late in the third quarter, but an unsuccessful PAT left the score at 23-20.

Roberts and Little traded touchdowns again to leave Santa Fe in the lead at 30-27with six minutes remaining.

The Warriors then overtook the Raiders with the game on the line.

A short passing touchdown was the last score of the game and Calvary Christian celebrated the survival and advancement to next Friday’s region semifinal against visiting three-seed Cocoa (6-4).

While it wasn’t the outcome Santa Fe wanted, the season showed major improvements for the program in its first season under coach Earnest Graham.

Category: Football, High School Sports, Santa Fe High School