By:  J. Daniel Pearson

Merritt Island’s Liam Miller booted three field goals and Courtland Campbell came up with a huge interception in the end zone, as the Mustangs slipped out of St. Cloud with a 26-23 overtime win on Friday night.

The loss, the third straight for St. Cloud (2-3), was a bitter pill to swallow as the Bulldogs rallied from a double digit deficit to take the lead in the game – only to see the Mustangs (4-1) rally in the final minute to tie the game with a Miller field goal and then win it in overtime.

“It was a tough loss to take, but I was extremely proud of the effort our players put in tonight,” St. Cloud coach Mike Short said.  “They fought hard all night and when we held them to a field goal in overtime, I liked our chances.”

In that overtime period, St. Cloud pressured quarterback Kevin Verpaele into an incompletion on first down, held Delvonte Williams to just a four-yard gain on second down and then batted a Verpaele pass down in the end zone to set up Miller’s third field goal of the game.

With St. Cloud starting from the 10, Merritt Island got pressure on St. Cloud quarterback Logan King – forcing him to throw wide while running out of the pocket on the first two plays of OT.  On third down, Merritt Island got pressure up the middle, forcing King to throw before he wanted to.  Campbell intercepted the pass in the middle of the end zone to preserve the win.

“It was disconcerting they were able to get pressure on all three plays by just rushing three and dropping eight.  They weren’t able to do that all night, so I am not sure what happened until I see the film,” Short said.  “We had some guys open, unfortunately Logan was scrambling away from them and didn’t see them.”

The overtime performance ruined an otherwise spectacular performance by King.  

Prior to his overtime possession, he completed 23 of 35 passes for 355 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in regulation.  He threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Alex Springs and then capped off an 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run of his own, as St. Cloud rallied from a 20-9 deficit to take a 23-20 lead at the 7:57 mark of the fourth quarter.

But despite playing extremely well on defense in the second half, St. Cloud allowed the Mustangs to move into field goal position in the final minute. Miller connected from 24-yard out with 55 seconds to tie the game, 23-23.  Merritt Island deserved some credit on the drive as they overcame three holding penalties on the drive.  A 40-yard pass from a Verpaele to Donterrius Robinson turned out to be the key play.

Still several other plays went against St. Cloud and it hurt their chances for a win in the long run.  King connected on a 75-yard pass to Alex Springs on the first play of the game, but they could not finish the drive and had to settle for a 3-0 lead on a 25-yard field goal from Daniel Elizondo.

Instead of leading 7-0, it became an 11-point swing on Merritt Island’s first possession of the game.  Faced with a third and long, the Bulldog defense sacked Verpaele and forced a fumble, but WR Deshaun Thomas picked up the loose ball and carried it 35-yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead.

Merritt Island would extend the lead to 14-3 on a Verpaele touchdown pass to Donterrius Robinson before King led an 80-yard TD march – covering the last 48-yards on a screen pass to TJ Griffin.  Miller would hit field goals of 31 and 44 yards, the last coming in the third quarter to push the lead back to 11 at 20-9.

But Miller would miss on a 31-yard attempt and that bounced off the right upright and that spurred King’s rally that put St. Cloud back in the lead.

Of King’s 355 yards passing, Springs caught 10 for 177 yards, Griffin went five for 85 and Stacy Taylor and Santiago Ochoa each combined for six catches and 66 yards.  Still, St. Cloud managed just eight net yards rushing and with Griffin leaving the game with an injury, St. Cloud had no rushing threat in overtime.

County Scores

Jones 34, Osceola 28 (OT-Thursday)

Merritt Island 26, St. Cloud 23

Viera 48, Tohopekaliga 8

Winter Springs14, Gateway 7

Lake Howell 40, Harmony 18

Haines City 22, Poinciana 6

Freedom-Liberty (No report)+