Is St. Cloud a playoff team? They'll find out Friday night at 6
Daniel Elizando’s potential game-winning field goal with two seconds remaining sailed wide right as Ridge Community High held on for a 27-25 win over St. Cloud (5-5) on Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs, who came into the game eighth in the most recent 7A, Region 3 rankings, now wait until Friday to see if they hold onto the region’s final playoff spot.
Tohopekaliga (5-4) and Olympia (4-6) are currently ranked ninth and 10th; the Tigers have a game against East River Thursday night; Olympia has concluded its schedule.
“We had a chance to solidify our playoff position and unfortunately we didn’t quite get it done,” St. Cloud head coach Mike Short said of the game added after original Week 10 opponent Miami TRU-Prep backed out of the game. “It puts in a wait-and-see mode, and I am hopeful our head-to-head win against Tohopekaliga will keep us in the last playoff spot, but you never know with the computer rankings.”
Should St. Cloud make the playoffs, they would open on the road Nov. 15 against Palm Beach Central (8-1).
Although they trailed for most of the game, the Bulldogs put themselves in position to win at the end. Leading by two, Ridge got the ball back with 7:08 remaining and went on a time-consuming 11-play drive. But with just under two minutes remaining, the St. Cloud defense pried the ball loose from running back Chop Black and Lance Millman recovered on the St. Cloud 15.
Senior quarterback Logan King then went to work -- hitting TJ Griffin for passes of 27 and 24 yards. After a Ridge injury, St. Cloud was late getting to the line after officials started the clock. A sack of King followed and a draw play to Griffin only gained eight yards as St. Cloud was forced to take its final timeout before missing the kick.
“I was hoping we could get one more play off and try to get a little closer,” Short said. “But they ran the clock after an injury and we should have been on the ball ready to snap it. Daniel definitely has the leg to make that kick, unfortunately it just missed.”
The teams traded touchdowns early, with Lavonski Tubbs scoring on a 2-yard run and St. Cloud countering on a 20-ypass from King to Alex Springs on a fourth down play. An Elizando 28-yard field goal gave St. Cloud the lead, but another short Tubbs run put the Bolts up for good, 13-9. Elizando connected again from 37 to cut the gap to 13-12 before the half.
Tubbs made it 20-12 with a 20-yard run in the third quarter but St. Cloud countered again as King found Stacy Taylor on an 18-yard scoring pass. Tubbs answered with a 50-yard touchdown run to push the lead back to eight, 27-19.
Josiah Cotto’s kickoff return gave the Bulldogs the ball at midfield. King hit Springs for 23 yards and one play later Griffin scored on a 24-yard scoring pass to make it 27-19 with 7:08 remaining. Although a two-point conversion would have tied it, St. Cloud elected to try the PAT with sailed wide right.
“There was still a lot of time on the clock and the thought at the time was we didn’t want to chase points. They put together a big drive, but we still came up with the stop and got into a position to win the game,” Short said.
Tubbs was the key for Ridge with 241 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 33 carries and a 54-yard kickoff return.
“When we got their game film, I knew he was going to be a handful,” Short said of speedy but powerful junior. “It seems like we needed three or four defenders to get him on the ground. He’s the real deal.”
St. Cloud was led offensively by its big three in seniors King, Springs and Griffin. King completed 18 of 37 for 321 yards. Springs caught five for 110 yards and a score and had a 71-yard run; Griffin caught nine passes for 148 yards and added 38 yards rushing.
“If that ends up being the last game of their careers, they all came up big tonight,” Short added. “Alex Springs has been hampered with a leg injury for a month and still made big play after big play. I’m really proud of the effort all those guys gave tonight.”
