Wildcats claw back: Baker County edges Baldwin in high school football regional rematch

After two months to process the memories of September, Baker County senior quarterback Blake Mays had two words to describe Friday night.

"Revenge tour," he said.

Baker County fought from two touchdowns and survived a late two-point conversion attempt, edging a stubborn Baldwin squad 31-29 in Friday night's Florida High School Athletic Association Region 2-2S football semifinal.

Baldwin had a chance to tie after Jalen Hitchens' 7-yard touchdown run with 2:15 remaining, but Baker County's Davion Dean broke up a two-point pass to the end zone and the Wildcats — state semifinalists last year in the former Class 5A — kept their season rolling on.

This time, the tables were turned. On Sept. 16, Baldwin (9-3) beat their rivals from U.S. Highway 90 for the first time since 1968. They nearly completed the season sweep, before the Wildcats sparked into life.

A hair-raising night for Baker County coach Kevin Mays, but a winning one.

"I don't like them like that," he said. "We won, but when it comes down to that, those are stressful."

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BAKER COUNTY FINDS NEW LIFE

Down 14-0 with just two and a half minutes before halftime, Baker County (8-4) faced the prospect of entering the locker room in a deep hole. Their fortunes turned on a third-and-10 play, when Blake Mays escaped a sack and lunged for the chains to get the conversion.

That play finally jump-started the Wildcats' engine. Dean broke away for a 38-yard touchdown, and then after a quick three-and-out, Mays shifted to receiver and Jabari Ruise found him in stride for a 51-yard catch-and-run to tie the score at the half.

"I just knew to stay calm and trust my guys," Ruise said. "I knew they were going to get open."

After a surprise onside kick coming back from halftime, Cam Smith (23 carries, 89 yards) and power back Josh Holmes kept the offense moving for Baker County, taking the lead on Mays' 11-yard touchdown run with 1:52 in the third quarter. For all Baldwin's efforts, the visitors never fell behind again.

BALDWIN'S HITCHENS COMES UP BIG

Whenever good things were happening for Baldwin's offense, Hitchens was at the middle of it.

The senior quarterback gained 60 rushing yards on the opening drive, capped with a 3-yard rumble from two-way athlete Cortez Martinez, and finished with 138 yards on 26 carries.

He completed 15 of 26 passes for 174 yards, with King Grant (eight receptions, 73 yards) the leading receiver, and nearly carried the home squad all the way back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Hitchens connected with Jahad Miller on a 26-yard touchdown pass that cut Baker County's lead to one score, then marched 65 yards upfield on the final possession. Baldwin exploited defensive pass interference flags on three consecutive plays before Hitchens zipped into the end zone on a 7-yard run.

But the two-point conversion intended for Miller failed under tight coverage from Dean, and when Baker County's Cedrick Larry pounced on the ensuing onside kick, the challenge of Baldwin, with no timeouts left, faded away.

"No. 11 and 6 [Hitchens and Miller] have kind of carried them all year," Kevin Mays said. "We said we were going to stop them."

WILDCATS' THREE-HEADED QUARTERBACK

For the Wildcats, three quarterbacks were better than one.

Blake Mays started and took most of the snaps, but Dean gained 94 yards on the ground, some of them from the Wildcat formation, and Ruise entered to deliver two key touchdown passes. The second, to Silas Rhoden from 49 yards, opened up a two-score edge.

"The defense that they play, it played into the strengths that [Ruise] has," Kevin Mays said. "He's been a good spot-type player for us this year, and every time I've called him, he's done a good job. It was good to see him do that."

Blake Mays in particular wore a multitude of hats. He rushed for 32 yards, completed four passes, caught two (one in a Steve Young-style pass to himself off a deflection in the line), made five tackles on defense and delivered a 28-yard field goal with 3:32 to go that proved to be the margin of victory.

Next up is a regional final trip to rival Bradford — the same Bradford team that shut out Baker County 21-0 in a lightning-shortened August season opener. Maybe, the Wildcats hope, this revenge tour may not be over just yet.

"We're going to try to get them next week," Blake Mays said, "and hopefully go to the final four."

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX, and sign up for the First Coast Varsity newsletter at https://profile.jacksonville.com/newsletters/first-coast-varsity/.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: FHSAA football playoffs: Baker County tops Baldwin in second round game