Jesse Lewis' field goal lifts Vero by Treasure Coast in OT for District 12-4S title

VERO BEACH — The wealth of knowledge both Vero Beach and Treasure Coast have built up over the years knowing what the other would do came to a head Friday night with the District 12-4S title on the line.

On a night where defense shined for both teams, it was execution on special teams that was the difference.

Vero Beach sophomore Jesse Lewis booted a 27-yard field goal in overtime to send his team to a 10-7 overtime victory to bring a shining light to a difficult time for the program.

Starting offensive lineman Dalton Jordan's father Kenny passed away Thursday and as a key to the offensive line for Vero Beach decided that playing would be the best medicine.

"Having my brothers out here, it really creates bonds that I could never imagine, these guys will be with me for the rest of my life," Jordan said of how much it meant to be on the field. "I couldn't thank them more, couldn't thank the coaching staff more, everyone made me feel so welcome and I appreciate all of them."

On the field, Vero Beach had to bounce back from its first loss of the season last week falling 28-21 to Martin County and losing starting quarterback Tyler Aronson in the process.

Aronson, an SMU commit, hit his right throwing hand on a helmet that injured his thumb last week and he was in a cast Friday with his future this year unclear whether he can play again.

Junior Jake Whiteley despite throwing two interceptions for the game threw a critical 26-yard touchdown pass to Florida State commit Vandrevius Jacobs in the second quarter.

On a night of high drama and high emotion, Vero Beach head coach Lenny Jankowski marveled how his team handled adversity to find a way to win.

"Even though you learn something each and every week, after a loss there's an exclamation point after those points of emphasis and I think tonight, we had some things go our way but it was a great team win," Jankowski said. "It was a defensive battle all the way around with a lot of really good players and a lot of great effort."

Vero D slams the door

A week after being unable to get off the field at critical junctures in their 28-21 loss to Martin County, Vero Beach's defensive unit rose to the occasion.

Outside of a 48-yard touchdown run by Treasure Coast's Jamison Davis in the first quarter, the Titans did not have a play gain more than 20 yards all night.

Vero Beach junior linebacker Kevin Pollock had a vital stuff on a fourth and three near midfield on Treasure Coast's first drive of the second half.

The run defense did the job for Vero all evening with standout performances by seniors linebackers Bucky Rojas and Keyshawn Campbell, key plays from Pollock, junior defensive linemen Matthew Bacon and Warren Perry and senior Kezni Brown all added up to keeping Treasure Coast at bay.

Titans miss out in more ways than one

With their playoff prospects much improved after their win last week against Centennial, Treasure Coast had their chance to secure their state playoff spot with a district title win.

On a night in which its defense forced three turnovers, the Titans were unable to cash in outside of Davis' 48-yard dash that came one play after West Virginia commit Corey McIntyre, Jr. recovered a fumble forced by junior Jahari Grant.

Opportunities in the passing game presented itself for Treasure Coast Friday night, but a critical dropped pass in the second quarter that could have resulted in a huge play loomed large with the performance both defenses put together on the night.

The Titans now are in a precarious position with a 3-5 record and a game down south against state power Chaminade-Madonna next Thursday night.

The last FHSAA RPI had the Titans ranked fifth in Region 4-4S this week but the defeat will surely bring Treasure Coast down even with the game coming against one of the state's top 25 teams.

One positive for Treasure Coast in their hopes for an at-large berth was that Centennial, Harmony and Spruce Creek, all of whom are below the Titans in the RPI, also lost Friday across the region.

Nonetheless, the margin for error with another loss next week could make things very dicey for the Titans acoach Irvin Jones, who lamented over what went wrong Friday night more than thinking ahead to what's to come.

"Always a close game when we play Vero, I think we kind of had self-inflicted wounds tonight," Jones said. "Undisciplined stuff at the wrong time that could have helped us. First part of the game, I thought we left two touchdowns on the field. It is what it is. We've just to keep fighting and play next week and hopefully everything turns out for the playoffs."

Supporting cast helps Vero shine

While Jacobs did his usual thing displaying the ball skills and run after the catch ability to hit big plays at times Friday, it was some of Vero Beach's unheralded players that made the difference.

Whiteley has gained valuable experience this season playing in mop-up duty in Vero's lopsided games and forced into the big moment last week after Aronson's injury brought his team back into a game in which they trailed 21-7 at halftime.

Now likely to be counted on to lead the offense for the postseason, Whiteley felt comfortable that he was ready to step up Friday. With the team getting a week off in preparation for the playoffs after 10 straight weeks in action, Whiteley and his teammates can take a breather to prepare how they want to.

"I feel great about it, it gets us time to rest and another week to prepare for who we're going to play (in the playoffs)," Whiteley said.

The victory for Vero Beach all but assures they will have the top seed and home field advantage in Region 4-4S once the postseason begins.

It came down to the right foot of Lewis, who missed a field goal from virtually the same spot in the third quarter.

Jankowski felt in overtime that if the opportunity presented itself for the offense to need just any points if the defense held, he was going to take it with the faith he had in Lewis to get the job done.

"There wasn't a whole lot of thought, we held them, they missed theirs and it was in the back of mind," Jankowski said. "We had the field goal team ready and Jesse's a talented kid. We're dead square in the middle (of the field) and I just felt like, let's go for it. We got it done."

Bryan Cooney is a high school sports reporter at TCPalm, part of the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at bcooney@gannett.com and also on Twitter at @Bryan_Cooney.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Jesse Lewis's field goal in OT sends Vero to District 12-4S title