Seahawks Clip Sharks 13-8 in Defensive Battle

Despite being a defensive siege, the Seahawks hit the biggest offensive play of the game right when they needed it. The defense took care of the rest.

The Seahawk defense carried the team on a night where the offense played, “tight” and had several miscues; including bobbled snaps and procedure penalties. The defense limited Nature Coast to under 70 yards of total offense. The Sharks only completed two passes for 12 yards. Star Shark running back Matthew Breida was stuffed outright, only gaining 24 yards on 15 carries - a 1.6 yard average.

Senior defensive lineman Ben Shin and senior linebacker Nick Morrison both had tremendous games, Morrison ringing up double-digit tackles. Senior 300-pound center Nate McCool was brought into the goal-line defense to clog up the middle. It worked.

“That was the first time we used Nate in that situation,” said head coach Bill Browning. “I think that was our first goal-line stand of the year, too.”

Breida did score the Sharks’ only touchdown but it took them six tries from inside the five-yard line.

The Seahawks stopped them on third and fourth-and-goal from the one-foot line. Sunlake took over but senior quarterback Cameron Stoltz fumbled the ball and Nature Coast got a fresh set of downs on the goal line and punched it in. They capped it with a two-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead with 7:43 left in the game.

Browning recalled what he told his team after making a goal-line stand only to give up the lead, two plays later.

"I told them there’s still a lot of time left, we gotta finish the game,” he said.

“Keep believing.”

That’s when the stars aligned, well almost. On the Hawks’ next drive, senior Jerome Samuels made a statement with a well-blocked run over the left side. One Shark defender went low and Samuels hurdled him and collided with two other defenders before notching a 15-yard run, the longest of the game.

A penalty pushed Sunlake back but on second down Stoltz hit senior Rashaud Daniels down the sideline for a big completion but Daniels was out of bounds. The Seahawks called a timeout and went after the same play on third-and-long but this time Daniels was double covered and the ball was batted down.

The Seahawks punted and senior punter Joe Young hit a beauty that pinned Nature Coast on their own seven-yard line. The Seahawk defense did their job and forced a three-and-out.

The Seahawks undefeated record hung in the balance on the next drive as they set up at their own 40-yard line with 3:30 left in the game.

“I knew I was gonna make a big play. I was begging coach Browning to call my number,” said Daniels. “I knew at that moment, I had it in me to make a big play.”

On the first snap the Seahawks went deep sideline to Daniels who beat the coverage, hauled it in and took it into the endzone for a game-winning, 60-yard touchdown score.

“I almost kissed Rashaud when he came off the field,” said Stoltz.

It was redemption for Stoltz who had an off night before lacing that bomb right into Daniels’ hands.

“This was the most adversity I’ve had to face this year so far,” said Stoltz.

Stoltz threw his first two interceptions of the year and struggled with getting the snap and controlling the ball but his 14-yard touchdown run in the first half and 60-yarder to Daniels was all the offensive lift the Seahawks needed.

Here’s a quarter-by-quarter breakdown:

1^st quarter:

• Aaron Poole picks off a Stoltz pass and sets up Nature Coast near midfield but the Seahawks defense forces a fumble to get it right back.
• Stoltz picks his way through the Shark defense for a 14-yard touchdown run. 7-0.
• Daniels picks off a Thomas Carney pass to extinguish a Shark drive.

2^nd quarter:

• Sharks miss a golden opportunity when the ball is swatted from Stoltz’s hand and recovered by the Sharks but is ruled an incomplete pass.
• Seahawks recover another fumble with time running out in the half.
• Seahawks bounce a field goal off the upright. Still 7-0 at halftime.

3^rd quarter:

• Sunlake punter Joe Young buries Nature Coast on their own seven yard line.
• Jeremy Williams of Nature Coast picks of a Stoltz pass to setup the Sharks at the Seahawk 14 yard line.

4^th quarter:

• Seahawks stop two runs from the one-foot line and force a turnover on downs.
• Stoltz fumbles and gives it right back to Nature Coast.
• Breida punches it in and gets the ensuing two-point conversion to make it 8-7.
• Stoltz hits Daniels for a 60-yard touchdown. The conversion fails but the 13-8 lead stands.

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