Harmony will move on to Monday's Class 4A Region 3 flag football semifinals after surviving a late scare from a county rival in Wednesday's regional quarterfinal.
The Longhorns (14-4) led Celebration (14-4), 27-7 in the fourth quarter before holding on to win, 27-20. Kenzie James and Jada Bloodworth each picked off a pair of passes, taking the pressure off of senior quarterback Martha Edwards to do her work.
The next test for Harmony looms large: a meeting Monday at Wellington (13-1), the No. 1 team in the state across all classes in the FHSAA rankings.
4A Region 3 is home to three of the top 15 ranked teams in the FHSAA's rankings: Fort Pierce Central (3rd) and Palm Beach Gardens (15th) along with Wellington. Harmony, despite being ranked 24th among all of the state's 386 squads, was the fourth-best in the region. Wellington's lone loss this year was to 3A Seminole Ridge -- the No. 2 ranked team in the state. Fort Pierce Central only lost to Palm Beach Gardens.
Gateway, in Class 2A, hosted a playoff game for the first time Wednesday, but the Panthers' playoff stay was short. Despite a furious comeback, GHS fell to Hillsborough, 12-6.
The Panthers (11-6) trailed 12-0 at the half; Terrier quarterback Nydia Sepulveda's 21-yard touchdown run through tacklers looked to hold up; she'd hook up with Jayda Hardwick on a 10-yard TD pass right before the half.
It wasn't until the fourth quarter that Gateway began digging out of its hole. Patricia Rodriguez hit Evana Rivera on three separate passes of 30 yards, and while the first two drives ended on fourth down, Gateway cashed in on the third with three minutes left when she scored on a one-yard run. The Panthers then forced a Hillsborough punt and got the ball back with 50 seconds left. Still some 30 yards from the goal line with five seconds left, Rodriguez hit Ashlynn Day over the middle, and the speedy freshman broke a tackle before free safety Anaja Griffin pulled her flag five yards from the goal line.
"I love how the girls fought until the end. If we could have finished just one more drive ... " GHS Coach Travis Hill said. "And hey, last year we lost to Brandon in the playoffs, beat them in the district final. We get all our key players back next year, so who knows."
