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Indians capture #2 seed for region playoff
The Seminole County Indians made their return to the gridiron after
a week off. On the slate was the Randolph-Clay Red Devils in a matchup with the winner to host the region crossover
game on November 6. The home field of the Red Devils, known as 'The Pit', was the site of this clash of class A football
teams and the Devils homecoming. The SCHS Green Machine provided the pre-game National Athem and took their place in
the stands at the west end of the stadium. After the coin toss was decided, the Indians received the opening kickoff
and the competition was underway. The Devils defense stuffed the middle and forced the Indian punt team to take the
field. The snap missed the mark and punter Antwan Buggs was forced to fall on the ball turning it over to the hosts
on the Indian 15 yard line. A penalty moved the ball even closer to the Indian goal line and three plays later the Devils
drew first blood when running back Willie Brown took it in from the 1 yard line. The extra point attempt sailed wide
left and the Devils took a 6-0 early lead. The Indians next possession led to another Buggs punt attempt. This
time he got the kick off and pinned the Devils deep in their own territory. On second down the Indian defensive front
nailed the running back popping the ball out with the Indians recovering the ball on the Randolph-Clay 17 yard line.
Dee Virgin then took the ball off the left side and scooted into the end zone knotting up the score. Jeffery Croom came
on and converted the extra point attempt to give the Indians all the lead they would need, 7-6. The Red Devils took
over and wound up kicking the ball back to the Indians with the clock winding down in the first quarter. The Seminole
squad began their drive on their own 4 yard line but Buggs gave them plenty of breathing room with a 44 yard run bringing
the Indians near midfield to continue their march towards paydirt. Buggs then showed off his arm strength launching
a 46 yard strike to Owen Parks setting up the Indians with a first and goal to go from the Red Devil 2 yard line. Two
rushes later, Buggs called his own number and walked into the end zone to extend the Indian lead. Croom added his 2nd
PAT of the evening and the Indians were up 14-6 less than two minutes into the second period. The Devils put together
an 8 play drive ending with a turnover on downs at the Indian 22 where Buggs and company took over. A 78 yard drive,
carried mostly by the legs of sophomore tailback Chris Brown, ground out 6 minutes of clock before producing another Indian
score. This time senior fullback Tamichael Fedd powered through the final 5 yards and with Croom adding another perfect
extra point kick gave the Indians a comfortable 21-6 lead at the 1:58 mark of the 2nd quarter. With Randolph-Clay quarterback
Joshua McFather attempting to move the Devils down the field, Norris Kimble jumped the receivers route and intercepted the
errant pass. With 40 seconds left in the half, the Indians put the ball on the ground giving it right back to the Devils.
Three plays later, with the Devils on the move, Seminole County's interception season leader Rickelle Wilson snagged his 4th
pick of the year and returned the ball to the Devil 27 yard line with 17 ticks remaining in the half. Buggs, the freshman
quarterback, made a brilliant decision stepping up in the pocket to avoid the Randolph-Clay pass rush and tossed the ball
to a leaping Chris Brown who came down in the end zone for another 6 points. Jeffery Croom extended his perfect PAT
streak to 4 in a row for the night setting the lead at 28-6 heading into the halftime intermission.
The Seminole County
Green Machine and the SCHS varsity cheerleaders, both a driving force behind keeping the fans as well as our boys on the field
fired up throughout the season, enjoyed a well deserved break as the Randolph-Clay homecoming activities took center stage
on the field. Once the homecoming king and queen were crowned, the field cleared to make way for the second half of
this important sub-region contest.
The Red Devils took the second half kickoff and the teams proceeded to trade punts.
During Seminole County's second offensive drive of the 2nd half, the Indians drove into Red Devil territory. With the
Indians facing a 4th down from the Devil 20 yard line, the RC defender may have served his team better by batting the Antwan
Buggs pass to the ground, but instincts took over and he made the interception landing on his own 2 yard line. One play
later, with their backfield starting in their own end zone, the Indian defensive front led by Dezmond Wright got penetration
and tackled the Devil running back in the end zone for a safety with 40 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. The Red Devils
kicked the ball from their own 20 yard line and the Indians ate up nearly 8 minutes of clock before turning the ball over
on downs with just under 5 minutes remaining in the contest. With the RC offense deep in their own territory again,
the Indian defense stiffened forcing a punt attempt. The Devil punter was 5 yards deep in his own end zone when an Indian
defender broke through blocking the punt and the ball tumbled out of the end zone giving the Indians a second safety and closing
out the scoring with 3 minutes left to play. The Indians received the free kick again and played a mixture of 2nd stringers
to run the remaining time off of the clock preserving the victory.
The win lifts the Indian record to 7-2 (3-1) giving
them the #2 seed in the west side sub-region and the right to host the #3 seed from the east. The loss puts the Randolph-Clay
record at 2-7 (2-2) and sets them as the #3 seed. The Indian offense tallied up 264 yards rushing with Chris Brown leading
with 86 yards, Antwan Buggs with 83 yards and Barren Rambo adding 54 yards. Buggs was 4 of 12 passing for 101 yards
and one interception. The Seminole defense limited the Red Devils to 65 total yards of offense, all of them coming on
the ground. Both teams lost one fumble each and the Indian defense had two interceptions, one by Norris Kimble and the
other by Rickelle Wilson.
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