South Ft. Myers Defeats Southeast 28-21; Controversial Ref Call on Last Second TD Pass Costs

FT. MYERS, FL--A controversial call by the officials waiving off an apparent last second Southeast touchdown pass to Antonio Ray gave South Ft. Myers a 28-21 come from behind victory over Southeast in the 3A Regional Final playoff game Friday night at Wolf Pack Stadium. South Fort Myers advances to the state semi-finals next Friday against Miami Norland in Miami.  

Southeast falls to South Ft. Myers 28-21 Friday night

Trailing 21-14 and facing a 4th and 10 at its own 31 with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Wolf Pack faked a punt, snapped the ball to the up man, quarterback Dallas Crawford, who connected with Sammy Watkins on a 69-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 21-21. After a three and out by Southeast, Clemson bound Watkins fielded the Seminole punt and raced 60 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

South Ft. Myers took a 14-0 lead capitalizing on two Seminole fumbles which lead to touchdowns. Dallas Crawford threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Luke Smith mid-way through the first quarter after the Wolfpack recovered a fumble on its own 29 yard line. A second ÔNole turnover led to a Crawford 33-yard touchdown pass to Tyrell Blanks.

Southeast answered back with a 73-yard scoring drive capped off by quarterback Dyron Speight’s one yard sneak into the end zone. The ÔNoles tied the game at 14-14 on Speight’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Ray. Speight completed 16 of 28 passes for 193 yards and one touchdown.

The Seminoles drove 80 yards and took a 21-14 lead on Brian Poole’s 1-yard touchdown plunge with 21 seconds left in the third quarter.

Southeast’s defense forced a Wolf Pack fumble on its own 21 yard line. Dustin Clark’s 31-yard field goal attempt missed wide to the right with 5:35 left in the game.

South Ft. Myers tied the game on the fake punt touchdown to Watkins. A holding penalty on Southeast forced the ÔNoles to punt the ball a second time from deep in their end of the field, which gave Sammy Watkins another chance to return it and he took it to the house for the game winning touchdown.

The Seminoles made a last minute drive down the field but Dyron Speight's pass to Antonio Ray in the end zone was called incomplete after the officials conferred.

The loss snaps the Seminoles eight game winning streak. South Fort Myers remains undefeated at 12-0 heading into the state semi-finals Friday night against Miami Norland.

A video post-game recap from South Ft. Myers is posted below. Click here to see the video of the disputed catch in the end zone.