ST. JOHNS, Fla. – The sight of a 50-yard field goal falling just short and off to the left sent the Creekside sideline into a playoff-style celebration Friday night.
The District 3-4S game did keep the Knights’ playoff hopes alive. But the celebration after the News4Jax Game of the Week was as much a sign of relief in a contest that appeared lost with 1 minutes, 45 seconds left, won just a minute later and then on the verge being lost again as Fleming Island lined up for a last-second kick.
Still, Luke Millinor’s forced fumble, Sean Ashenfelder’s third touchdown pass of the game and a critical sack with 5.5 seconds left allowed Creekside to prevail with a back-and-forth 49-48 victory over the visiting Golden Eagles.
The Knights (4-4, 2-2) had to hold up against all that and an incredible performance from Fleming Island quarterback Cibastian Broughton, who fired five scoring passes and ran for two more, including a 75-yard jaunt to start the second half.
But outstanding nights from Ashenfelder and Kaleb Taylor-Burch, who hauled in 10 passes for 232 yards and two scores, helped keep pace with Broughton. Harrison Garrido added a pair of scores and 173 rushing yards in a night filled with offense.
“Man, it was just full of emotions,” said Ashenfelder, who passed for 294 yards and added a touchdown on the ground. “You think you lost the game and, right back to it. You’ve got to go win the game.”
The game seemed lost when Creekside, trailing 48-42, failed on its second fourth down attempt in the final 3:30 of the game. With less than two minutes left, Ashenfelder’s pass was picked off by Tacori Allen. With the ball at its own 35, and the Knights down to two timeouts, Eagles coach Chad Parker emphasized ball security.
But on the first play, Millinor fired through and rocked Tyler Beverly, who fumbled the ball. Cole Long pounced on it, and Creekside was 31 yards from the end zone.
Millinor was not trying to strip the ball. He just wanted to make contact and hope for the best.
“I saw the hole open up,” the junior linebacker said. “I was ready for it. I was just trying to hit him real hard and hope for the best. I love the way it worked out. It’s a big moment.”
It was big because, after three runs from Nate Black, Ashenfelder dropped back and hit Eros Taufer, who shrugged off a defender and stretched across the goal line for the touchdown. Cooper Maurer’s seventh conversion of the game gave the Knights a one-point lead over the Eagles (2-6, 0-3) with little more than 40 seconds remaining.
That still seemed like a lot of time for Broughton, who ran for 162 yards and passed for 215. He was a magician in the pocket, directing traffic, waiting for his receivers to come open and then taking off and squeezing through small openings in the defense. His 75-yard pass to a wide-open De’mhir Jackson gave his team the 48-42 lead with 3:16 left, the third consecutive score in the quarter for Fleming Island.
In three plays, he led his team from the 47 to Creekside’s 26. But the Knights’ fifth sack of the night threw him back to the 33. Broughton had tried to extend the play but was hauled down.
“We knew we needed to be about the 20 to 25 to have a shot,” Parker said. “We knew we were just outside of (kicker Parker Sirdevan’s) range. We were hoping to get rid of the ball.
“But I’m not mad at the quarterback. You saw it — the holding the ball, moving around and improvising is what makes him so special. So, he was a playmaker trying to make plays. I’m not going to fault him for being a competitor. Would you like to see him throw it away? Yeah, but I’m not going to fault him for trying to make a play.”
Special teams had been erratic for the Eagles in the game. Creekside had put on pressure on the kick teams, and after the final Fleming Island touchdown, a bad snap cost the team the point-after and left the lead at six.
Sirdevan’s 50-yard attempt came up just short and a little to the left. The Knights could collectively breathe again.
“You never know what you’re going to get on a Friday night,” Creekside coach Sean McIntyre said. “Coach Parker and his staff did a great job, and his kids were ready to play for 48 minutes. It was a good football game, and it came down to the last snap. It was a fun Friday night.”
More fun for McIntyre and Co. because their postseason hopes stay intact. The Knights, ranked 10th in the News4JAX Super 10 rankings, entered the weekend in the ninth spot in Region 1 in the FHSAA’s power rankings. Four district champions per region make the playoffs followed by the remaining four best teams in the power rankings.
But one of the most difficult schedules in the region has kept Creekside in the mix. It’s not easy ahead, either, with Atlantic Coast and Ponte Vedra ahead.
“We’re in position to make the playoffs, which is what we wanted,” Long said. “This was an important game for us to keep us in it.”
They had a long wait to get to the end, though. Broughton was a handful, and the Knights were not able to grab their first lead until almost four minutes were gone in the second half. Creekside then broke ahead with a 42-28 lead a little more than a minute into the fourth.
But Broughton led his team to three consecutive scores — two via the pass and one on the ground — setting up the final frantic minutes.
“We executed really well tonight,” McIntyre said. “We’ve got to execute better next week, but I’m proud of our resolve as a program.”
Creekside 49, Fleming Island 48
Fleming Island, 7, 7, 14, 20 — 48
Creekside, 0, 14, 21, 14 — 49
FI — Daevean Boykin 12 pass from Cibastian Broughton (Parker Sirdevan kick)
C — Kaleb Taylor-Burch 49 pass from Sean Ashenfelder (Cooper Maurer kick)
FI — Boykin 12 pass from Broughton (Sirdevan kick)
C — Harrison Garrido 8 run (Maurer kick)
FI — Broughton 75 run (kick failed)
C — Nate Black 1 run (Maurer kick)
C — Taylor-Burch 45 pass from Ashenfelder (Maurer kick)
FI — Boykin 16 pass from Broughton (Tyler Beverly run)
C — Garrido 15 run (Maurer kick)
C — Ashenfleder 2 run (Maurer kick)
FI — Trace Burney 12 pass from Broughton (Sirdevan kick)
FI — Broughton 19 run (Sirdevan kick)
FI — De’mhir Jackson 75 pass from Broughton (pass failed)
C — Eros Taufer 19 pass from Ashenfelder (Maurer kick)
Category: FI — C
First downs: 22 — 24
Rushes-yards: 36-234 — 46-228
Passing: 215 — 294
Comp-Att-Int: 18-29-0 — 16-27-1
Fumbles-lost: 1-1 — 1-1
Penalties-Yards: 11-88 — 7-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — FI: Broughton 22-162, Beverly 8-49, Jackson 5-17, Kaylib Singleton 1-6. C: Garrido 27-173, Ashenfelder 13-34, Black 6-21.
PASSING — FI: Broughton 18-29-0-215. C: Ashenfelder 16-27-1-294.
RECEIVING — FI: Jackson 1-75, Boykin 8-62, Trace Burney 6-45, Singleton 2-21, Beverly 1-12. C: Taylor-Burch 10-232, Taufer 1-19, Tyce Donnelly 1-17, Ashton Reynolds 1-11, Cooper Dixon 1-8, Garrido 1-8, Oscar Earle 1-(-1).