West Florida Wins Wild Coastal Classic Rematch

Antwuan Haynes rushed for 170 yards on Saturday - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography

For the second straight year, the West Florida Argonauts took home the Coastal Classic trophy, beating the Florida Tech Panthers on a last-second 44-yard field goal by Austin Williams, sending the visitors home with a 23-21 come-from-behind victory. 

To say this was a wild game is a huge understatement. To say this game had bad officiating calls is also an understatement, but the Panthers and the officials let West Florida hang around, just long enough to give the Argos their second victory over the Panthers in just their second year of existence. 

The final drive was key, but in order to get the full picture, it is best to go play-by-play. Even then, it may not be believed as you sit and read it. 

Florida Tech (3-2, 2-1 GSC) started their last drive with 2:53 left on the clock and Antwuan Haynes who finished the night with 170 yards on the ground got two yards on the first play. Sekai Lindsay ran for 11 yards on the second play, giving the Panthers a first down. Haynes rushed for two more, forcing the Argos to call a timeout with 1:59 to go. After a defensive offsides moved the ball to the 35, Haynes rushed for three yards and a first down, forcing another timeout with 1:52 to go.   

Quarterback Mark Cato, who was brought in late, presumably to finish this game out... ran for two yards. Inexplicably, he ran out of bounds, stopping the clock at the 38-yard line. Obviously, it would have served Cato well to stay in bounds and keep the clock running. 

In hindsight, that's easy to say... but Cato, who was hurt in last week's win over Mississippi College hadn't played in essentially a game and a half, so in the heat of the moment, you can see how that's possible. After Lindsay gained three more yards to the FIT 43, Florida Tech called a timeout with 59.4 seconds left. 

Lindsay rushed for no gain on the next play, as he was stacked up, bringing up a fourth & 5 with six seconds left in the contest. Cato threw the ball up, just looking to run the clock out and he did that... until he didn't. 

The official threw a flag and called Cato for intentional grounding, despite the fact that Romell Guerrier was in the area and that was even eluded to on the ESPN broadcast, by their color commentator. 

The penalty carried with it a loss of down, which didn't really matter on fourth down, but the yardage did. The ball was spotted at the 27 of Florida Tech and gave the Gulf South Conference Special Teams player of the week in Williams, a chance at the game-winning field goal, with one second left. He hit it with ease.

With that, West Florida (3-1, 1-1 GSC) stunned the Panthers and the crowd at Florida Tech Panther Stadium. It was the only time the Argos led the game all night and it was the only time that mattered. 

Florida Tech struck first in this game, with 1:38 to go in the first quarter. Starting quarterback Trent Chmelik put together a nice drive that included an 18-yard pass to Kevin Purlett, getting the Panthers to the UWF 31. He found Robert Foy for 17 yards and finished things off with a nice pass to Corey Lane for 14 yards and the touchdown. 

West Florida answered quickly, on the second play of the ensuing drive, as quarterback Mike Beaudry found Ka' Ron Ashley streaking down the sideline for 76 yards and the tying score. Beaudry only threw for 199 yards on the night, going 12-for-30 with that one touchdown. 

The Panthers carried the next drive into the second quarter and regained the lead, thanks in large part to a 31-yard catch by Guerrier, putting the Panthers at the UWF seven-yard line. Haynes ran for three on the next play and Chmelik finished it off himself, with a three-yard run, giving the Panthers a 14-7 lead, with 13:05 to go in the quarter. 

The flag happy officials called two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on Florida Tech following the touchdown, but they were assessed on the kickoff. It was a sign of things to come with these officials. 

West Florida went run-heavy on their next possession, calling on Chris Schwarz for six straight carries. He got them into field goal range and Williams kicked a 43-yarder with 9:05 to go, making it a 14-10 game. Florida Tech defender Yawn Coleman made a great play on third down knocking the ball away from the receiver in the end zone, forcing that field goal. 

After each team was forced to punt on their next possession, Florida Tech got the ball back with 1:42 to go in the half. Chmelik was intercepted by Andre Duncombe on the first play from scrimmage, setting the Argos up at the six-yard line.  

The Panthers defense stood tall, forcing a field goal from Williams after a four-play drive that saw West Florida lose two yards. The 25-yard field goal made it a 14-13 game. 

Florida Tech started the second half with the ball and relied heavily on Haynes, who got eight carries on a 13-play, 75-yard drive that took 6:45 off the clock and ended with Haynes scoring on a one-yard run, giving the Panthers a 21-13 lead. 

The Argos got a gift on their next drive when on third & 6 at their own 36, Adonis Davis of Florida Tech was flagged for a personal foul, giving UWF a first down on what would have been fourth down. Later in the drive, Darius Goodman was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and on the heels of that, the Florida coaches were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Those two penalties put the ball at the five-yard line and it was easy from there, as West Florida scored two plays later on a Schwarz one-yard run. That made the score 21-20. 

The officials were not done being part of this game. With 5:21 to go in the contest, Florida Tech defensive juggernaut Joe Jackson was called for targeting on Beaudry, who took off on a quarterback keeper. The referee said Jackson hit him after he was down, but that was incorrect, as Beaudry was just starting to be brought down from behind. Jackson was in a tough position and may have gotten him with the crown of his helmet, but that is not what was called. 

Again, the ESPN analyst said, he was not down and that it was a tough call. That's two key calls in this game that the analyst was very clear on his feelings, which makes this loss that much harder to swallow for Florida Tech. The key to this call, even though it did not result in points for West Florida, Jackson is now out for the first half of the Panthers game next Saturday, at North Alabama. 

That is where the Panthers focus will have to be now. This game against West Florida is in the rear-view and even though they got some good individual performances from Chmelik (13-for-21 127 yards 1 TD 1 INT and 62 yards rushing) and Haynes 31 carries for 170, 1 TD), it just wasn't enough. 

Defensively, the Panthers did force their first turnover of the season, an interception by J.T Hassell on the first West Florida drive of the night.

With as tough as the Gulf South Conference is, especially considering that in three weeks the Panthers have to host West Alabama and then travel to Valdosta State the following week, this is the murderer's row of their 2017 schedule, there is no time to dwell on this game. 

Coach Steve Englehart is certainly moving past this game, as he was not available to the media for post-game interviews and it is hard to blame him. 

For more info: West Florida @ Florida Tech Box Score | ESPN 3 Broadcast 

The game against West Alabama on Saturday will kick off at 7:00 p.m. Join Jerry Durney and Paul Van Scott for the call on FloridaTechSports.com and WFIT.org. 

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