ORLANDO-For 44 minutes, Raines went toe-to-toe with three time state champion Booker T. Washington, but in the blink of an eye it was all gone.
Down 23-22 with 10 minutes left, Booker T. (9-5) closed out the game with a shocking 21-0 run to capture its fourth straight state title with a 43-23 win over Raines in the Class 4A state title Dec. 5 at the Citrus Bowl.
Following the Raines score, the Vikings had the Tornadoes pinned back in terrible field position at the 8-yard line. Faced with third and 16, Richardson connected with Gustavious Dames, who was left wide open as the safety was nowhere to be found, allowing Dames to outrun the Vikings for a 92-yard touchdown pass, which set a state record for longest pass play.
Despite the blown coverage, the Vikings regrouped, and with the benefit of running into the punter call against the Tornadoes, the Vikings were in great position to tie the game again.
Bishop Bonnett rumbled 29 yards for a first down; however Marcus Decius stripped the ball away and into the hands of Myron Morris, who returned it 81 yards for a score and 36-22 lead with 5:55 left in the game.
On the ensuing Raines play from scrimmage, Augie DeBiase was sacked and stripped of the ball, which was returned by Brandon Tobar 59 yards for another Tornadoes score and 43-22 lead with 5:33 left in the game.
Raines (12-2) drove in the red zone on its final drive of the game but again was stopped as DeBiase’s fourth down pass, intended for Willie Wright, fell incomplete at the 5-yard line with less than four minutes in the game.
After the game ended, Raines immediately began to think about how it dominated the game but troubles in the red zone killed its state title hopes.
“I told the team, ‘Keep your head up. We will get better and come back and try this again,’” Raines head coach Deran Wiley said. “Our goal was always to take that next step, and we did, getting past Bolles and making it here. Now our goal will be to make this an annual trip.”
DeBiase talked about the red zone troubles, which would have given Raines a comfortable lead in the first half.
“As a group we struggled in the red zone. We were missing one of our key lineman, a right tackle who got hurt during the game,” DeBiase said. “I miss some key throws, we miss some key blocks, and penalties killed us too. We drove up and down on them all night. We just couldn’t put it together in the red zone.”
Booker T. Washington head coach Earl Pittman paid Raines compliments after the game.
“They are a great team with great athletes and well coached,” Pittman said. “We saw them in 7-on-7 camps and tournaments in Miami, and he does a great job with them. He promised his team they would beat Bolles, and they did.”
Booker T. served up turnovers on its first two possessions of the game, but Raines couldn’t take advantage of them.
DeBiase and Richardson struggled early on as both threw interceptions on their first possessions of the game.
Raines couldn’t take advantage of the turnover despite having first and goal from the 5-yard line as Patterson hauled in the pass but was out of bounds on fourth down.
Booker T. fumbled on its next possession but again couldn’t score as DeBiase’s pass was picked off the end zone and returned 105 yards back for a Tornadoes’ score and 7-0 lead with 2:24 left in the first quarter.
Bishop Bonnett returned the ensuing kickoff 33 yards to the 38-yard line, which put them in great field possession. Rick Wells’ 9-yard run set up first and goal for the Vikings, however again they couldn’t punch it in and settled for a Patterson 23-yard field goal, cutting the lead to 7-3 two minutes into the second quarter.
After holding the Tornadoes to a three and out, Raines methodically moved down the field with ease behind the running of Alex Rutledge (156 yards on 26 carries, 6 catches for 52 yards) and DeBiase. Back in the red zone again, Rutledge was stuffed at the goal line on fourth and goal, turning the ball over on downs again.
Malik Goodman and Michael Pinckney both picked off Richardson’s passes on consecutive Tornadoes’ drives. Pinckney’s interception set up Ronald Patterson’s (2 catches for 65 yards) 36-yard touchdown pass from DeBiase, which gave Raines a 10-7 lead.
Pinckney also forced a fumble on the net drive as Raines carried all the momentum heading into halftime with a 10-7 lead.
However, it didn’t last too long as return man Willie Wright muffed a punt that Booker T. recovered inside the 10-yard line.
Four plays later, Richardson connected with Trawone Johnson for a 10-yard touchdown pass, giving Booker T. a 14-10 lead with 5:14 left in the third quarter.
Raines answered as Jaquan Holt knocked the ball out of Richardson’s hands and picked off the pass, returning it 9 yards for a score and giving the Vikings a 16-14 lead with less than a minute left in the third.
Booker T. answered back six plays later as Richardson hit Darrius Scott on a 46-yard touchdown pass to the Tornadoes, putting them back ahead 22-16 just a minute into the fourth quarter.
Raines answered again three plays later when DeBiase (18 of 31 for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns) hit Dalvin Storey (2 catches for 46 yards) for a 25-yard score, putting Raines back ahead 23-22 with 10:19 left in the game.
Pinckney (7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 INT), JaQuan Bailey (7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 3 QB hurries), Dedrick Mims (4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 1 QB hurry), Jaquan Holt (3 tackles, 1 INT), Will Westbrook (2 tackles, 1 INT) led the Vikings defense.
The way Raines dominated them early on and had nothing to show for it was frustrating.
“We didn’t finish our assignments, and when one of the linemen went down, we had to switch them out, and they abused us,” University of Miami commit Michael Pinckney said. “It was there for us to get, and we gave it to them. They didn’t take it from us. All I can do is come back next year and help these guys get back here and finish this. I will do whatever it takes.”
Booker T Washington 43, Raines 23
Scoring
1st
W-Marquis Decius 100-yard interception return (Jose Borregales kick)
2nd
R-Ronald Patterson 25-yard field
R-Ronald Patterson 36-yard pass from Auggie DeBiase (Patterson kick)
3rd
W-Trawone Johnson 10-yard pass from Dan Richardson (Jose Borregales kick)
R-Jacquan Holt 9-yard interception return (Patterson kick)
4th
W-Darrius Scott 46-yard pass from Dan Richardson (Raymond Flanders pass from Richardson)
R-Dalvin Storey 25-yard pass from Auggie DeBiase (Patterson kick)
W-Gustavious Dames 92-yard pass from Dan Richardson (Darrius Scott from Richardson)
W-Myron Morris 81-yard fumble return (Jose Borregales kick)
W-Braden Tobar 59-yard fumble return (Jose Borregales kick)
State Recap/North Florida/February 2015
Deran Wiley, Augie DeBiase
William M. Raines High School
Jacksonville, Florida
Corey Davis
Raines Falls in Class 4A Thriller
