VERO BEACH — Thursday night’s highly anticipated match-up between the Vero Beach Fighting Indians and the Ft. Pierce Central Cobras lived up to everyone’s expectations. The teams paralleled each other in many ways.
Both teams entered the game ranked in the Associated Press Top 10 poll. Vero Beach was No. 7 in Class 8A and Fort Pierce Central was No. 7 in Class 7A. Both teams were returning key players to Thursday’s game after suffering injuries earlier in the season. And both teams touted aggressive stingy defenses that allowed their opponents less than 10 points per game.
“Coming into this game, we knew it was going to be about the team that made the fewest mistakes,” Vero Coach Lenny Jankowski said. “Our team doesn’t like the feeling of losing.”
Defense was the story in the first quarter. Neither team could find pay dirt. Vero punted the ball away twice and Vero quarterback Dalton Stokes threw a pick to the Cobras’ Roody Cleriser with10:31 left in the first quarter.
The Cobras punted three times in the first quarter. Stokes was able to hook up with wide receiver Jamario Lambert on the final play of the first to give Vero solid field position.
With 9:52 to go in the second quarter Vero went for it on Fourth and 1 to keep their drive alive deep in Cobra’s territory. The Fighting Indians fumbled the snap and suffered a Stokes sack that eventually led to a 32-yard field goal by Vero Kicker Carson Dietrich with 8 minutes to go in the second quarter.
Then in the final minute of the second quarter Central’s offense found its spark completing a deep pass to wide receiver Josh Knight that set the Cobras up inside the Vero 5-yard line. All-State running back Marcus Levy carried it in from two yards out with 4.6 seconds to go to give Fort Pierce Central the 7-3 halftime lead.
Vero Beach was able to score twice on the nationally ranked Cobras in the third quarter on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Stokes to wide receiver Javonte Bagley with 6:27 to go and again with 2:17 left on a 38-yard touchdown by running back Jason Pierre that put Vero up 17-7.
Coach Jankowski said he felt confident at that point.
“I felt like when it was 17-7 we could have gone down on the next series and maybe put the game out of reach,” Jankowski said. “But it didn’t happen and there are reasons that it didn’t happen. They have a good football team.”
With 20 seconds left in the third Central attempted a 30-yard field goal after driving the field but it was no good.
Central picked off Stokes for the second time in the game with 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Cobras then scored their first touchdown of the second half on a 3-yard run by Alquan Vickers that brought the Central within three with 7:49 to go in the game.
Vero then went three and out and on the next series the Cobras ran a double reverse that caught the Vero defense off guard and gave the Cobras a first and goal. Ft. Pierce Central retook the lead with 4:43 to go on a 2-yard touchdown.
The Fighting Indians had an opportunity to put the game away on a second and goal with 1:38 to go. Vero’s Will Dawkins lined up in the Thundercat formation but after the direct snap turned into teammate Dravious Wright.
The ball fell to the ground and Central recovered it dashing Vero’s hopes of a last minute win.
“There’s never been one play that ever lost a game,” Jankowski said. “I think our kids played their hearts out and we came up short. It stings and we gotta move forward. I can’t compliment Fort Pierce Central enough.”