- April 19, 2024
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It wasn’t their most desirable start, but, according to his postgame speech, head coach Tommy Moody was pleased with how the young Flagler Palm Coast Bulldogs (2-4, 0-1) finished in their 17-8 win over the Palatka Panthers Friday, Oct. 9, in Palatka.
“That’s what it’s about,” he said. “We finished the game, and I think we made a lot of mistakes, but they fought through it and finished. That’s what we want to see, especially with a young team to gel together. That’s been our goal.”
The Bulldogs constantly found themselves in Palatka’s territory throughout most of the first half, but penalty after penalty and two missed field goals led to zero points. It wasn’t until a fourth-and-goal, at the six-yard line, where FPC felt compared to go for it after those missed field goals, where Que’Shaun Byrd, who was the only first-half offense, broke a couple of tackles on his way to the end zone to give FPC its first score and lead.
Just before halftime, the Bulldogs marched back down the field and inside Palatka’s 10-yard line, but they weren’t able to capitalize on any down, so they settled for a Chase Hydrick 14-yard field goal to go up 10-0 at halftime.
Coming out of the break, Palatka completed a 35-yard bomb down the field, but De’Andre Armstrong made a touchdown-saving tackle at FPC’s 15-yard line. On third down of that drive, Armstrong, the only potential tackler on the right side of the field, came up with another touchdown-saving tackle that forced Palatka to attempt a field goal, which was blocked.
Palatka received the ball at its one-yard line, and, trying to create room, the Panthers’ quarterback mistakenly found Jimmie Robinson, who returned the interception into Palatka’ red zone. FPC was forced to try a field goal, and it was also blocked.
Palatka scored on its following drive and converted its two-point conversion to pull within two points of the Bulldogs, who played the entire second half without Byrd, who was nursing bruised ribs. Moody decided to allow him to sit rather than put him in jeopardy before district play. Other than its only scoring drive, Palatka had trouble moving the ball the entire game against FPC's defense. The quarterback was often forced into bad decisions and hurried most of his throws, which resulted in incompletions.
As time continued to wind in the fourth quarter, Thomas filed the Bulldogs down field with first-down completions and scrambles until he finally ran in for a 21-yard score that seemed to put the game out of commission.
“I just tried to do whatever I could to help the team,” Thomas said. “If I gotta run the ball, I’ll run it, and if I gotta pass it, I’ll pass it. I just want to help win.”
Before the game, coaches were discussing how they were 0-0 in the second half of the season. Now 1-0, the Bulldogs will look to continue their momentum as they go up against district opponents, Spruce Creek, Friday, Oct. 16, in Port Orange.
“We’re not really rivals, but, every time we play, it’s a good game,” Moody said. “We gotta have a focused week at practice, and we gotta do the same thing we did out here; we gotta finish.”
