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Narrow Playoff Loss Ends Umatilla Football Season

    While fans of high school football couldn’t have asked for more, fans of Umatilla football certainly had hoped for a better finish to Friday night’s playoff game in Callahan.  Umatilla traveled north to face West Nassau High School, with the teams producing a high scoring, entertaining game that showcased high-level play and a 45-36 West Nassau win.
    The loss, Umatilla’s first this year, ended the Bulldogs’ season.  The loss closes the books on the best Umatilla season since the 1950’s. Umatilla went 10-0 during the regular season, and won a first-round playoff game before losing in the quarterfinals of state football playoffs of the Small School Athletic Association’s Atlantic League Championship.
    West Nassau sports a football complex that rivals some small colleges, complete with artificial turf, college-specification goal posts, and other upgrades like electronic play clock displays.
    Umatilla was unfazed by the environment and West Nassau’s larger, and dozens more, players.  After giving up a touchdown drive to start the game, Umatilla tied the score on the ensuing kickoff when Bryce Norflee returned the kick for a touchdown. On the next West Nassau series, a bad snap on a punt resulted in Umatilla earning a safety and a 9-7 lead.  Umatilla stretched its lead to 15-7 on its next possession when Norflee, lining up at quarterback, rushed for a two-yard touchdown. 
    In the second quarter, Umatilla gave up two scores before Tyler Pounders caught a touchdown pass from Ray Jenkins, putting Umatilla back on top by a score of 22-19.  The half ended with a late West Nassau touchdown, resulting in the Warriors leading 25-22 at halftime.
    In the third quarter, Umatilla pulled ahead again on a long touchdown and two-point conversion that gave Umatilla a 30-25 lead.  That score came with 8:42 to go in the frame and was short lived.  West Nassau needed just 39 seconds to score a touchdown of its own, taking a 33-30 lead.
    Late in the quarter came the key sequence of the game, when Umatilla was stopped on fourth down at the West Nassau one-yard-line.  The Warriors then turned in a 99-yard touchdown drive, which resulted in a 39-30 lead.  Minutes later, a successful fake punt that led to a first down for Umatilla was called back on a penalty.  A second fake punt attempt was unsuccessful, with West Nassau taking over and scoring for a 45-30 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the game.
    The Bulldogs responded 24-yard touchdown pass from Jenkins to Pounders with under three minutes remaining.  A failed two-point attempt on a rush by Norflee left West Nassau nine points ahead.  The Warriors recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock to finish the game.