Sports 25
Ponte Vedra Recorder · October 15, 2015
Sharks lose in OT shootout
heartbreaker Friday night
Jerry Norton
Special to the Recorder
Ponte Vedra’s football game against
Bartram Trail last Friday will be one
the Sharks will remember for a very
long time and not just because they
lost a heartbreaker to the Bears in
overtime 52-51.
It was a memorable game for several
reasons — certainly the Sharks’ tenacity in battling back after trailing by as
many as eleven points on several different occasions is worthy of note.
Add to that, the number of unforgettable plays made under pressure by
Nick Tronti, Jerret Stepp, Marshall Few,
JD Pirris and Quint Boyd in their multiple comeback efforts. It was a game
packed with excitement, probably the
most exciting sporting event in the
Sharks’ history. Unfortunately the thing
that Ponte Vedra will remember most
is how close the Sharks came to winning the game twice in regulation time
after their final, miraculous comeback
with a minute and a half left in the
game.
Four minutes into the fourth quarter, Ponte Vedra trailed the Bears by
ten 41-31. Then Tronti engineered a
62-yard touchdown drive highlighted
by Boyd’s 47-yard pass and run and
Stepp’s end zone catch to cut the
Bears’ lead to 41-38. Stepp earlier had
an 86-yard kickoff return for a Shark
touchdown.
After Bartram’s 37-yard field goal
pushed their lead to six points at
the game’s two-minute mark, Tronti
passed the Sharks into a 44-44 tie with
a magnificent 45-yard touchdown
strike to Marshall Few running along
the back of the Bartram end zone.
Despite trailing for much of the game,
the Sharks needed only the point-afterconversion to walk off with the win.
The unthinkable happened when the
snap on the PAT rolled to the holder
and the kick could not be made.
Still it looked like Tronti had one
more miracle up his sleeve after the
Sharks forced a Bartram punt with just
over 15 seconds on the clock.
The quarterback hit Pirris for 40
yards with the receiver stealing the
ball from the Bear defender.
On the game’s final play in regulation Tronti connected with Few on a
short pass — the front end of a hook
and ladder play — and Few pitched
the ball to Boyd who raced down the
right sideline toward the Bear’s goal
line only to be dragged down from
behind at the two-yard line as time
expired.
Tronti set the stage again for a
Shark victory when he ran a quarterback keeper 10 yards on the first
play of overtime for a touchdown. The
point after kick was good and Ponte
Vedra led 51-44. However, Bartram
wouldn’t be denied. They scored on
a third down pass then went for two
successfully to earn the 52-51 win.
Tronti finished the game with 23
completions on 39 attempts good for
423 yards and three touchdowns. He
also ran for 99 yards and two scores.
Pirris caught 7 passes for 126 yards,
Few 6 for 136 yards and two touchdowns, Boyd 3 for 96 yards, Stepp 5
for 22 yards and a touchdown.
Ponte Vedra meets Bishop Kenny
in a conference game at home Friday
evening at 7 p.m.
Photos by Chris Norton
#84 Jarret Stepp crosses the goal line on his 86-yard kickoff return.
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