BALDWIN, Fla. – With Jalen Hitchens nursing a rib injury, Baldwin coach Robert Shields wanted to rest his quarterback for as long as possible.
That lasted all of 11 minutes, 57 seconds on Friday night.
With the Indians offense out of sync, Hitchens entered the game with 3 seconds left in the first quarter and promptly drove Baldwin for a score. Hitchens’ dogged effort and a relentless pass rush from the Indians defense helped host Baldwin survive a fluke play and claim a 20-17 victory over District 5-2S foe Yulee in the News4JAX Game of the Week.
The payoff for playing with the rib injury could be the playoffs. The Indians’ magic number is 1 — one victory over West Nassau or one loss by West Nassau in its final three district games will give Baldwin (5-1, 3-0) its first FHSAA district title in program history.
“I just love the game and love my team and want to do everything to the best of my ability to help them win,” said Hitchens, who rushed for 179 yards and two touchdowns. “I can’t give up on them. I didn’t feel a thing. My adrenaline was pumping.
“I just want (West Nassau) to know we’re coming for them. We’re coming to win this district.”
West Nassau will have to wait for two weeks. The Hornets were the priority Friday, with Shields trying to find a workaround without Hitchens. Shields tried five different players taking snaps in the wildcat formation prior to Hitchens entering the game.
One drive ended in Yulee territory on downs. Another ended when Hornets safety Landon Hale picked off a pass and returned it 31 yards to the Indians 4.
So, with Yulee (3-2, 1-1) ahead 3-0 on the ensuing field goal, Shields went with Hitchens.
“If we were able to score, move without him, we were prepared to sit him,” Shields said. “He was cleared to play, but I didn’t want him to have to play. But he’s a tough kid.”
Baldwin played tough as well, surviving 16 drive-shortening penalties and some potential knockout blows from the Hornets. Yulee had a scoring drive to cut its deficit to 14-10 and then had a stroke of fourth-quarter luck. Jye Thompson was swarmed by Indians defenders after catching a short pass. He tried to break through but fumbled.
But teammate Zackary Drawdy was in the right place at the right time and plucked the ball out of the air, racing 60 yards for a touchdown, his second of the game, with 7:44 left.
“I was telling him to wrap it up,” said Drawdy, who caught eight passes for 86 yards and played quarterback for two drives when Chris Turner was injured. “The ball just popped out. I picked it and took off.”
The lead didn’t hold for long. King Grant took the ensuing kickoff 62 yards to the Yulee 33. Seven plays later, Cortez Martinez bulled into the end zone to give Baldwin a 20-17 lead.
“We could have put our heads down,” Shields said. “But we wanted (Grant) to bring it up the (right side). Quarterback had bruised ribs. We went a lot of wildcat, double tight. Smashmouth. It was ugly, but I’ll take the ‘W’ any day.”
That put the onus on the Indians defense, which was not a problem. Though the Hornets were averaging close to 300 yards of offense a game, Yulee managed only 138 against Baldwin. Turner was sacked three times and pressured constantly, with Synorice Barnes in on 2.5 sacks and five pressures.
“Coach (Don) Velvet, our defensive coordinator, does a great job every week preparing our guys,” Shields said. “I’ve been D-coordinator, and that’s the hardest job, especially against a team like this that’s going to formation you and move guys around. They played lights out.”
Turner even limped off on the final drive of the first half after one of those sacks. He returned on the Hornets’ second possession of the second half and Yulee had its most successful possession, driving 55 yards for a touchdown on his 31-yard pass to Drawdy.
But aside from that and Drawdy’s alert play on the fumble, yards were tough. Five possessions ended with punts and another three on downs, including a fourth-and-10 situation from the Indians 11 at the end of the third quarter when Barnes twice pressured Turner into incompletions, including one on fourth down.
So it was remarkable that Turner was able to move from the Hornets 38 to the Baldwin 26. Facing another fourth down following three successive incompletions, Yulee decided on a 43-yard field goal attempt from Brysin Osgood. But a false start reversed that decision.
On fourth-and-10 from the 31, Turner dropped back and was swarmed. He rolled left and fired incomplete with little more than two minutes remaining.
The Indians were able to run out the clock, with Hitchens capping his performance with three consecutive runs for the final first down.
For the Hornets, the margin for error is basically zero. Yulee hosts Baker County next week. And, while each district champion in a region gets a playoff spot, the next four region teams in the FHSAA’s power rankings get berths as well. The Hornets entered Friday ranked eighth in Class 2S Region 2 while Baker County was fifth.
“It’s all about getting better each and every game,” Drawdy said. “We lost a close one to a really good team. That says a lot about us. Three points. Underdogs coming into the game. Our quarterback went down. I played a little quarterback. We faced a lot of adversity.”
At-large bids might be a thing of the past for Baldwin, which was second in the region in the power rankings. The Indians are close to ending the long title drought.
“We all came prepared. We were just more physical up front,” Barnes said. “On the last play, we gave it our all.
“It feels great. Baldwin’s never won that district title. It would mean everything in the world to me.”
Baldwin 20, Yulee 17
Yulee 3, 0, 7, 7 —17
Baldwin, 0, 7, 7, 6 — 20
Y – Brysin Osgood 20 FG
B – Jalen Hitchens 7 run (Kevin Pardo-Vargas kick)
B – Hitchens 13 run (Pardo-Vargas kick)
Y – Zackary Drawdy 31 pass from Chris Turner (Osgood kick)
Y – Drawdy 60 fumble return (Osgood kick)
B – Cortez Martinez 1 run (kick failed)
Category: Y — B
First downs: 10 — 20
Rushes-yards: 19-10 — 56-346
Passing: 128 — 57
Comp-Att-Int: 14-35-0 — 4-11-2
Fumbles-lost: 0-0 — 1-1
Penalties-Yards: 4-20 — 16-109
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Y: Teonte’ Artis-Croxton 5-24, Coen Brehmer 6-17, Josiah Evans 1-0, Drawdy 2-(-5), Turner 5-(-26). B: Hitchens 28-179, Fareed Coleman 15-84, Martinez 7-33, Andre Stephens 2-32, Octavious Barnes 2-15, Chris Velvet 1-3, Marcus Hamilton 1-0.
PASSING — Y: Chris Turner 13-32-0-120, Zackaray Drawdy 1-3-0-8. B: Hitchens 4-9-1-57, Martinez 0-2-1-0.
RECEIVING — Y: Drawdy 8-86, Evans 5-32, Jye Thompson 1-10. B: Jahad Miller 2-52, Stephens 1-4, Kelvin Brown 1-1.