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Fort White running back Dakota Fisher runs past a Taylor County tackler on Saturday. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)
PERRY – Unable to get its ground game on track for most of the season opener, Fort White stuck with it Saturday morning.
That stubbornness paid off for the Indians when they needed it most at Dorsett Stadium as they rallied for a 19-13 win behind a fourth-quarter scoring run from Dakota Fisher.
“We found a way to make the plays that count,” FWHS coach Demetric Jackson said.
Trailing 13-12 early in the fourth quarter of the season opener, which was postponed Friday night at halftime due to weather with FWHS up 12-7, the Indians finally put a complete drive together.
Taking over at its own 45 with 10:49 remaining, the Indians overcame three early penalties on the drive with Jayden Jackson finding Tafari Moe over the middle for a 20-yard pickup on 3rd-and-9 to get the drive going and into Taylor County territory.
After an earlier drive stalled deep in the Bulldogs' half of the field, Fort White wasn't going to be denied again.
“We wanted to have more physicality and kept going and kept pushing through adversity,” said Fisher, who rushed for 23 yards on nine carries Saturday after gaining 92 yards on 19 carries Friday night. “We kept going. Man vs. kids.
“Gotta win. We didn't come out here for nothing. Gotta win.”
Armed with the new set of downs on the TCHS side of the field, the Indians turned to the ground game that had struggled against Taylor County’s blitzing defensive scheme. Maliki Clark picked up four yards and after a pair of incomplete passes, Jackson scrambled for seven on 4th-and-6 to move the chains again with a targeting penalty tacked on to move the Indians to the TCHS 12.
“It's that guessing defense,” Demetric Jackson said. “They just said, 'We're going to blitz you. We're going to get to you before you get it off.' That's what they were doing and it caused some problems.”
The Indians (1-0) opened the game in the I-formation but Jackson fumbled an early snap followed by a miscommunication, leading to Fort White moving out of the power formation.
However, with the game on the line, they went back to it to finish out the game.
“We went a little power, smash-mouth football and got the win,” he said. “I was just like, 'This has got to work.' We made some plays.”
That came from both Jayden Jackson and Fisher, the senior transfer from Chiefland.
He didn't disappoint.
After runs of four and three yards, Fisher powered his way into the end zone on a 3rd-and-2 run from the Bulldogs 5-yard line with 6:52 left for the game-winning score.
“It felt great,” Fisher said. “I've been there a couple times but it felt great today.”
With the lead back in hand, the Indians' defense stiffened as it had most of the game.
Following a completion to Zakari Jackson for six yards on first down, Taylor County quarterback Rhyan Hamilton ran for three on second down. However, his next two passes fell incomplete with linebacker Lecosta Byrd knocking down Taylor County’s last offensive snap.
The Bulldogs (0-1), who had just 56 yards Friday, had just 45 yards Saturday with 26 of those coming on a Hamilton touchdown pass with 2:55 left in the third quarter to put Taylor up 13-12.
That came on the first play after Jackson was sacked and fumbled.
“Jayden's got to take care of the ball,” Demetric Jackson said. “When he's running, he's running loose with the ball. He just has to take care of the ball. He'll learn from that.”
The Indians missed a chance to get themselves some breathing room early in the third quarter when Jackson connected with Moe down the visiting sideline for a 51-yard catch and run to move the ball to Taylor County’s 33. Jackson completed 6 of 12 passes for 99 yards in the second half to finish the opener with 171 yards on 14-of-26 passing.
The drive stalled there, though, as Jackson's 4rth-down scramble was stopped a yard short of a first down.
UP NEXT
Fort White travels to Jefferson County on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Tigers are 0-1 after falling 32-20 to Hamilton County in their opener Friday night.