GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Two touchdowns and 136 yards rushing by Clay High running back Lavaris Roberts were not enough as the Blue Devils fell 26-24 to visiting Tocoi Creek in a dramatic non-district contest on September 13.
“We had our chances to win,” said a disappointed Clay head coach Kyle Kennard after the game. “We just made too many mistakes out there at critical moments.”
Ironically, Tocoi Creek turned the tables on the Blue Devils after last year's game-winning field goal by Blue Devil kicker Ethan Bellemare.
Jack Tsoukalis, the Toros’ freshman kicker, drilled the game-winning 23-yard field goal with 2:21 left in the game, redemption for an extra point he had missed earlier in the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils took the ensuing kickoff and moved as close as the Tocoi Creek 26-yard line, but a deep throw on fourth down fell incomplete among three Toros and two Clay receivers with 0:56 remaining.
The Blue Devils fall to 1-3 on the season.
The game started with a break in favor of the hosts. Toros return man Davian Garcia tried to field Ethan Bellemare’s short, high kickoff on a bounce, but the ball kicked off the ground right into his shins and right back toward the oncoming Clay coverage team. Garcia had the first chance to recover it, but the ball squirted away from him toward Blue Devil Kade Williamson, who fell on it at the 27-yard line. Clay converted the turnover into a 3-0 lead. Quarterback Landon Martin connected with Daylen Brown for a first down on a slant pattern, leading to a 29-yard field goal by Bellemare two and a half minutes into the game.
The Blue Devils’ fast start continued on their next possession, a 66-yard march in eight plays. The big play was a 46-yard deep slant from Martin to Brown, who at 6’2”, 185 pounds proved to be a matchup nightmare for the Toros. On third and goal from the 7, Brown took his man inside, leaving no one on the outside to stop fullback Donovan Davis, who slipped out of the backfield into the left flat. Martin led him perfectly, and Davis, a sophomore, landed in the end zone after being upended by Tocoi Creek safety Jayden Arnold. Bellemare’s extra point gave the Blue Devils a 10-0 lead with 3:19 remaining in the first quarter.
Three Clay miscues allowed the Toros to dominate the second quarter. First, a punt snap sailed over the 6’3” Bellemare’s head. Bellemare scrambled back to retrieve the ball, but by the time he did, he was engulfed by three Toros. The botched punt lost 26 yards and gave Tocoi Creek the ball at the one-yard line. Three running plays went nowhere, but on fourth down Devin Woods cradled a low throw from Ryan Killmer in the end zone. Tsoukalis’ PAT pulled the Toros within 10-7.
The Blue Devils turned the ball over on their next two possessions. After driving to the Toros’ 30-yard line, Landon Martin targeted Brown on a fly pattern, but Tocoi Creek safety Arnold intercepted the ball as he fell out of bounds at the three-yard line. The Toros got out of their end on a 62-yard pass from Killmer to tight end Zander Erasmus up the seam, which led to a 31-yard field goal from Tsoukalis that tied the game.
Clay started their next possession in Toros territory, but Brown lost a fumble on the second play after catching a pass seven yards downfield. Killmer converted a fourth down with a short pass to Erasmus and converted a third down with a 10-yard pass to Bryton Baker. Erasmus covered the final 12 yards, easily pulling in Killmer’s arching spiral behind Clay’s Aaron Stacy. Tsoukalis added the extra point to give the Toros a 17-10 lead heading into the intermission.
“The first half we turned the ball over three times,” said Kennard, counting the botched punt as a turnover. “We are not going to beat nobody doing that.”
Clay received the second-half kickoff and turned to Roberts to regain control. After gaining just 26 yards on six carries in the first half, the 5’9” scatback gained 110 yards on 10 carries over the final two quarters. The senior carried four times for 43 yards as the Blue Devils took half of the third quarter to march 65 yards and tie the score. On third and one from the 13-yard line, the senior ran right, found a crease, then broke back to his left and sprinted into the end zone.
“He is quick and shifty. He can make you miss inside the hole or outside in the open field,” Kennard said of Roberts. “We creased him a couple of times and he did a good job.”
After stopping the Toros on downs at their own 22-yard line, Roberts again led Clay to paydirt. He ripped off runs of 18 and 22 yards to get the Blue Devils to the 25-yard line. From there, he shot through a hole in the middle and sped untouched to the end zone to put Clay back on top. Bellemare’s extra point gave the Blue Devils a 24-17 lead late in the third quarter.
The Toros responded with a quick 70-yard drive. From the Clay 46-yard line, junior Chase McNeill, a running/slot receiver who had not touched the ball all night, took a handoff on a jet sweep, rounded the corner, and sprinted up the left sideline to the end zone. Tsoukalis pushed his extra point attempt wide right, so Clay retained a 24-23 lead with 10:06 remaining.
Tocoi Creek forced a Clay punt and got the ball back at their own 20. Clay’s Stacy gained penetration and tackled McNeill for a loss on second down, but drew a 15-yard penalty for giving a shove to a Toros lineman as he got up. Two plays later, Killmer found Blake Warner all alone on a post pattern for 36 yards. Four running plays later, Tsoukalis drilled his game-winner.
“Those are the plays that I am talking about,” Kennard said, referring to Stacy’s penalty. “It would have been third and seven and we just gave them a first down. Next play they hit a pass over the top, and now they are in field goal range.”
Clay’s final chance started with a good field position as Brown returned the kickoff to the Blue Devils 45-yard line. A 27-yard run by Roberts and a nine-yard throw from Martin to Brown gave the Blue Devils a first down at the 27-yard line. But on third and nine from the 26, Tocoi’s Warner blitzed from his left outside linebacker position and crushed Martin for a nine-yard loss.
“It's third down and we are in field goal range, and we give up a sack,” said Kennard, who said that the play had been designed for Martin to throw a deep ball to Antonio Thomas, who was making a double move on his pattern. “It takes us out of field goal range and we got to go for it on fourth and 20.”
The final Martin pass was broken up, and the Toros ran the remaining 50 seconds off the clock with two kneel-downs.
Brown led all receivers with seven catches for 97 yards. Martin finished with 15 completions on 23 throws for 141 yards for the Class 4A Blue Devils, who host First Coast on September 20.
“We are going through some tough times right now, but I got to figure out a way to keep us up, keep us going, keep us together,” said Kennard. “I think we will come back.”
Killmer completed 14 of 26 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns for Class 6A Tocoi Creek. The Toros, who improved to 3-1, have a bye week before entertaining Bartram Trail in their first District 3-6A game on September 27. Their freshman kicker said he was not nervous about the game-winning field goal.
“I was not nervous, but I knew if it came down to me again, I had to make it,” the 5’7”, 130-pound Tsoukalis said.