On the night of Friday, October 5th, the Seminole High School varsity football team was defeated by the Lake Brantley Patriots, 35-20.

The loss drops Seminole to 3-3 on the season, and 1-1 in district play.

Sophomore quarterback Horonadis “New-K” Tillman completed 18 of 34 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns, both to junior receiver Milton Williams.

For the Patriots, junior fullback Deondre Fair rushed for 173 yards and four touchdowns.

The undermanned ‘Noles defense, without senior linebacker Karl Calhoun, stacked the box against the Patriots’ triple option and played an effective first half. After Tillman threw a touchdown to Williams, who avoided several tacklers as he darted down the sideline for a 6-0 lead in the second quarter, the defense was able to capitalize on a Patriots mistake on offense.

Patriots senior quarterback Damon Haecker pitched out into empty space after a miscommunication. Senior tailback/safety Ronnie Moore picked up the ball and sprinted to the end zone, putting Seminole ahead 13-0.

From that point on, the Patriots offense began to click. Before halftime, a long pass by Haecker set up a short touchdown run by Fair. On the first drive of the second half, the Patriots marched down the field and scored another Fair touchdown.

By the end of the third quarter, Seminole trailed 28-13.

A comeback was not out of the question, however. With roughly eight minutes left in the game, Tillman led the ‘Noles down the field and rifled a pass to Williams in the back corner of the end zone to bring the score to 28-20. Later, the defense stopped the Patriots on fourth down, getting the ball back on the Seminole 34 with 4:40 left in the game.

From there, the Patriots defense stepped up, pushing Seminole backwards and forcing the ‘Noles into a long fourth down play to keep the game alive. Tillman scrambled to his right away from pressure before throwing an incompletion, giving the ball back to Lake Brantley. Fair would score on the next drive to clinch the game for the Patriots.

After the loss, Seminole is tied for third in Division 8A District 2 at 1-1, tied with Hagerty and behind Lake Brantley and Lake Mary, who are unbeaten in division play. The top two teams in the six-team division make the state playoffs and have a chance to play for the state championship.

The ‘Noles are back in action October 19th in a district bout with the Lyman Greyhounds.