Gritty Buchholz Football Remains Undefeated After Second-Half Rally
TAMPA — Buchholz drove more than two hours, waited through a lightning delay and was down 14 points going into the half Friday night.
Despite all of that the Bobcats found a way to beat the Jesuit Tigers 20-17 on a 36-yard field goal by senior Timothy Ortiz with three seconds remaining.
One word to describe how the Bobcats (5-0) played Friday? How about gritty.
Jesuit (3-1) controlled much of the first half. The Tigers opened the game with a field goal. Buchholz responded with one of its own before Jesuit seized momentum.
Tigers running back Hezekiah Davis scored on a 77-yard touchdown run on their third drive of the game.
Jesuit didn’t wait long to get the ball back. After a three-and-out by the Bobcats, Jesuit kept its foot on the gas.
On their ensuing drive a string of Bobcat penalties repeatedly gave the Tigers new life and quarterback Jack Griffin distributed the ball effectively to a variety of receivers. They capped their drive with a 12-yard touchdown run by Davis, as the Tigers appeared poised to pull away going into halftime up 17-3.
Grit is the theme for this Buchholz team. And coming out of the half that’s exactly how it played.
The Bobcats opened the third quarter with a 23-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 10 minutes of the period. Quarterback Andrew Whittemore capped the possession with a goal-line touchdown, cutting into Jesuit’s lead and setting the tone for the second half.
“We always say three yards is a good play and we got three yards every play,” Whittemore said.
When Jesuit got the ball back, Buchholz’s defense delivered its biggest stop of the night to that point. The Bobcats forced the Tigers into another three-and-out and quickly went back to work on offense.
Buchholz followed with another long, clock-draining drive, marching all the way to the goal line before running back Joshua Menefee punched it in with five minutes remaining. The touchdown tied the game at 17 and completed the turnaround after the Bobcats’ early struggles.
The momentum had swung. In the ensuing Jesuit possession the Bobcats again made the necessary plays.
Jesuit went for it on fourth down with a reverse, but Buchholz junior cornerback Cam Burse sniffed it out and made the stop.
With the ball near midfield, the Bobcats again showed grit.
Buchholz leaned on its running game and bled the clock. Whittemore and the stable of running backs, Menefee and Ashton Norris, helped keep the chains moving and put the Bobcats in position for a game-winning kick.
“We executed a really good four-minute drill and put the ball in our best players’ hands,” Whittemore said.
Then came the unlikely hero.
“We practice these situations every day,” Ortiz said of the clutch kick.
With the game tied and a little more than three seconds remaining, Ortiz lined up for a 36-yard field goal, and for the first time this season, he had a chance to win the game for his team.
Jesuit attempted to ice him with a timeout, but Ortiz stayed composed.
“I knew I was going to make it,” Ortiz said. “They can call all the timeouts they want, every game I’ll make it.”
It will be a battle of unbeatens at Citizens Field at 7 p.m. Thursday when the Bobcats play Ocala Forest (5-0) for the 5A-District 3 lead. Both teams are 1-0 in the district.
Category: Buchholz High School, High School Sports
