By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Escambia County High School (ECHS) football coach Vincent Harris doesn’t usually second-guess himself. But the third-year Blue Devils mentor sure wishes he could redo what turned out to be the key play in a 14-13 setback to Satsuma last Friday, October 18.
Harris said the one-point difference — the result of the Gators blocking an attempted third-quarter extra-point kick — might have been averted had he just gone with his gut instinct.
“Something told me I should have gone for two, played for the win,” he said of the blocked kick. “But if we had made that kick and tied the game, we would have gone into overtime, and anything can happen in overtime.”
The Class 4A, Region 1 setback, which left ECHS with a 0-6 region record and a 2-7 overall mark, came before a huge homecoming crowd that reportedly filled stadium stands and lined the fence up and down the ECHS side of the field.
“The homecoming crowd was amazing,” Harris said. “But the people here have supported us all year. They couldn’t have been better.”
The Gators had gotten on the board first, driving 74 yards to score despite a determined effort from the Blue Devils defense. Included was Mirio Crenshaw’s interception that thwarted a Satsuma drive late in the second period.
ECHS got its first points when Jamarion Robinson connected with Cali McCants for a 10-yard touchdown toss in the second quarter. Isaac Manzano split the uprights with his PAT kick, and the 7-7 score stood, although a Blue Devils fumble fueled another Gators drive that took them into ECHS territory as the first-half clock expired.
The Blue Devils defense stood even taller after that.
Cleo Bolar picked off a Satsuma pass in the third quarter and returned it to the Gators 5-yard line. Devontae “Tai” Henderson danced into the end zone two plays later to make it a one-point contest, but the TD was to mark the final time the score changed, as the Gators rushed through to get a hand on the kick and alter its course.
“I thought our defense really clamped down on them in the second half,” Harris said.
But it was the Satsuma defense that would ultimately determine the outcome. A Gators interception just outside the ECHS Red Zone, the visiting team’s second pick of the night, set up the winning score and magnified the significance of the PAT attempt blocked earlier.
The ECHS coach singled out three players — Henderson, McCants and Marrion Hooks — as offensive leaders on the night.
“Devontae (Tai) and Cali really played well,” he said. “And Marrion has been very selfless all year. A receiver likes to catch the ball and run, but he has done a good job of blocking when that’s what our plays called for him to do.”
Harris, who was proud of the team’s overall effort, pointed out that ECHS plays in probably the toughest and most unpredictable Class 4A league in the state.
“Like I said before, 4A’s Region 1 is like the Southeastern Conference,” he explained. “Anybody can beat anybody else on any given day. I’m proud of how hard our kids played. They’ve done that all season, down to the bitter end.”
The ECHS coach also hinted that the Satsuma team might have benefited from some “home cooking.”
“We fought Satsuma, and we fought the referees,” he said. “We had numerous plays called back, and it’s hard to get anything going when that happens.”
ECHS will close out the 2024 season this Friday, October 25, with a non-region home game against Class 3A power Hillcrest-Evergreen.
“It’ll be another tough one,” Harris said. “Hillcrest has a good football team, but I think our guys will play hard until the end.”
News photos by Ditto Gorme