PALM COAST - Entering Friday the Clay Blue Devils were ranked ninth in the FHSAA Regional Playoff Rankings, the first team out of the eight-team bracket. A win on the road at Matanzas would not only help Clay’s playoff wild-card prospects, it would also set up a winner-take-all all-state championship with St. Augustine at home this Friday.

Clay set the tone early, recovering an onside kick on the opening kickoff. On 4th and 10 at the Matanzas 30-yard line, Merrick Rapoza found Payton Dykas for a 15-yard gain to keep the drive going. Moments later, Rapoza capped off a 13-play 53-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. That possession chewed 4:54 off the clock, a trend that would continue through the evening. Clay Coach Kyle Kennard said of his team’s start “Our kids come to play, they played hard tonight.”

Two plays into the Pirate's first series, Chandler Thomas intercepted a Dakwon Evans pass to give the Blue Devils the ball again. Clay turned the ball over on downs and Matanzas went three and out. The teams then traded punts before the Pirates recovered a Rapoza fumble. Matanzas ended the quarter with the ball trailing Clay 7-0.

Ninety seconds into the second quarter, Landon Grover kicked a 28-yard field goal for Matanzas cutting the Blue Devils lead to 7-3. After a Clay punt Pirate quarterback Dakwon Evans hit his 6’ 3” 240 Lb tight-end Daniel DeFalco on a post for a 69-yard TD pass. On the point after attempt a bad snap forced holder Cole Hash to run the fire drill floating a pass to Braden Russell for 2 points, giving Matanzas an 11-7 advantage with 9:06 remaining in the quarter. Clay was forced to punt, and Matanzas turned it over on downs. With 6:10 left, Rapoza went to work finding Payton Dykas for two more of his 10 catches on the night, a 15-yard 3rd down grab followed by a 30-yarder on the next play. Immediately after, Rapoza toted the rock 4 yards for his second score of the night giving Clay a 14-11 lead they took into the half.

Clay had the ball exactly fifteen minutes in the first half and opened the 3rd quarter with a 4-minute drive that stalled at the Matanzas 38. Five plays later, Dakwon Evans hit WR Andre Andrews on a screen pass which after a few broken tackles turned into a 49-yard touchdown putting the Pirates back on top 18-14 with 6:57 left in the third. After another Clay punt Pirate coach Matt Forrest went deep into the playbook and dialed up a throwback pass to TE DeFalco who found Andrews 30 yards downfield in the endzone to make it 24-14. Clay would take a 5-minute 37-second drive into the fourth quarter where it would end on an incomplete pass on 4th and 19.

Down 24-14 with 4 minutes to go, Landon Chadwick completed 4 passes and drove the Devils down the field setting up Rapoza for his third touchdown of the game to bring Clay within 3, but the Pirates converted a 4th and 2 to run out the clock and end the game with 24-21. Coach Matt Forrest lamented “That was two teams that were scratching and crawling and trying to do everything they could to find a way to win.”

Merrick Rapoza completed 14 of 27 passes for 124 yards, rushed for 33 yards and even caught a pass. Landon Chadwick was 11 for 19 passing for 81 yards. On his quarterbacks Kennard, “They’re prepared every week and are going to give it everything they got.” Payton Dykas finished with 10 catches for 116 yards. The Pirates did not throw his way once on defense.

Clay held the ball for 32 minutes running an incredible 77 plays to finish with 205 yards passing, 84 yards rushing. The Pirates had a few deep passes, but QB Dakwon Evans finished just 6 for 18 passing. Forrest added, “A lot of the things we weren’t doing right were a result of Clay’s defense, they were playing hard and defending us well.”

The Pirates improve to 6-2 and set their sights on hosting a playoff game next month. They play Menendez, on Friday. Clay is now 4-4 and will likely need wins against St. Augustine on Friday and Oakleaf on November 3 to have a chance at a wild-card berth.