The Nease Panthers lose State Championship

Yesterday, was a tough day for Nease football fans in their third consecutive State Championship appearance. The 13-1 Panthers lost 23-15 to a very fast Booker T. Washington Tornadoes team, who is #4 in the nation, in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. That was only Nease's second loss this year, which makes it even harder. Nease has only lost 12 games in a span of five seasons. Last year, there only loss was to Tampa Plant, 25-21 in the State Championship, and that was difficult, but this year it was worse. With a lot of the team back, with 35 seniors, it was there time, but they couldn't get the job done for a second year in a row.

In the first half, Booker T. showed why they are ranked #4 in the nation, putting up over 300 yards and scoring 23 points, and if anything, it was because of their speed. The fastest team Nease has seen in a while and that proved why Nease lost the game. Booker T. took a 9-0 lead after a safety of Nease quarterback Ted Stachitas, but Nease got back into it when the defense held and Nease drove the ball down the field to make it 9-7. Then, the speed came. The Tornadoes tried all day in getting the ball to their playmakers in space and they were successful in doing that. The Nease defense let up two big plays on two drives which set up two TD's for Booker T., which extended its lead to 23-7, which was the score at the half. In the second half, Nease took the ball first, and started driving a little bit until a Stachitas pass was intercepted. It seemed bleak, then, for Nease. The defense bended, but didn't break and forced a missed field goal. Nease took thne ball, and started to do what they were expecting to do. Stachitas hooked up with wide receiver Patrick Barker for 42 yards, and then, ran a end around to score. Nease went for two after the TD. Stachitas rolled to his right and appeared to get sack, but before he was tackle, somehow he threw the ball out of his hands and was caught. That brought the score to 23-15 with still time in the 3rd quarter. Nease gain all the momentum in the world, but got even more after Nease kicker Zack Cooper kicked a surprise onside kick, and was recovered by the Panthers. Then, Nease knew that this was their best shot to tie the game up. They drove inside the 20, but had to settle for a field goal, which was missed by Andrew Barker. That took a lot out of the Panthers who had the momentum. The defense, though held the Tornadoes scoreless the entire second half, and also gave the offense one more chance late in the 4th quarter. But again, the offense could not do anything against the speed of the Tornadoes defense. Then Nease decided to punt it away. The defense then appeared to stop their offense, but on 3rd down, there was a penalty on the Tornadoes, which actually helped them, because they had still two more downs, and ultimately ran out the clock with those downs. Booker T. had won 23-15 and secured their first State Championship. The Nease fans at the game were so quiet, emotional, and speechless after the defeat because they really thought that this was a game they could win against the #4 team in the country, and they almost.

Personally, this really hurts for me. Being on the team, and knowing how good we have been all season, and then going to Orlando for two days and being so confident as a team, it hurts really bad to lose this game. We expected to win and we should have one, but that wasn't the outcome. Still Nease Panther football had another amazing season that just fell short of another Championship, but this team will always be remembered for being great.