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When the final seconds ticked away, Senators players first hugged Joe Reynolds then hoisted the head coach onto their shoulders and carried him in a victory salute.
“I’ve only been trying this for 32 years,” Reynolds said of achieving an unblemished regular-season mark. “You know, I started in 1976, and that’s after playing in ’69, ’70 and ’71. That’s 35 years of being a part of it and trying to get to 10-0.
“In 1979, we lost the first game then won 10 in a row, but that’s not as special as this is.”
With the outcome never in doubt – Fletcher led 24-0 at the half – in the waning moments of the fourth quarter Reynolds allowed himself to bask in the glow of what his team accomplished.
“I was maybe more relieved than anything as time was running down,” he said. “I think now, 15 minutes later, I’m more emotional. It’s sinking in. It’s major.
“I always tell my players, from day one, the happiest time in their lives is going to be when they graduate from high school. And that’s always our focus. If you play football, if you play basketball, if you play sports, the most important thing is to graduate from high school.
“But I’m going to tell you the truth, this is pretty close. I may have to amend my speech to say, ‘The happiest time in your life will be if you go 10-0 then graduate high school.’”
Senators defensive coordinator Kevin Brown, who played for Fletcher when Reynolds was a coach, said he was enveloped in the magnitude of the moment when the win over Wolfson was in the books.
“I was emotional about this because I’m 48 and I’ve spent 26 years of my life here,” Brown said. “My whole life, I’ve been around Fletcher football. As a kid, growing up in Palm Valley, we used to come up here on Friday nights and all I ever wanted to do was play Fletcher football.
“And now I get to be a part of history.”
Brown added that the evening was even more special because several Senators coaches got to celebrate with sons on the team. Reynolds’ son, Zack, is the team’s H-back; Houston Brown is a defensive back; Offensive Coordinator Ricky Medlock’s son, Jake, is the starting QB; running back Mitchell Hester is the son of linebackers coach Ron Hester; and assistant Mike Levine’s son, Aaron, is Fletcher’s placekicker.
THE DECISIVE WIN
As for the nuts and bolts of the milestone win over Wolfson, senior wideout Lamar Scruggs put Fletcher on the board with a 16-yard first-quarter TD catch from Medlock.
The lead was stretched to 17-0 when receiver Deshawn Green hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass and Levine booted a 32-yard field goal.
Medlock bulled in from a yard out to make it 24-0 before the break.
Hester scored three second-half TDs on runs of 1, 5 and 39 yards. The Senators also recorded a safety with a punt block that rolled through the end zone for two more points.
Running back Deschion Baskerville carried the ball 20 times for 153 yards, with Hester gaining 91 on 13 carries.
In the passing department, Medlock connected on 20-of-26 throws for 288 yards and a TD. His favorite target was Scruggs, who grabbed five passes for 100 yards and a score. Green added 86 yards and a touchdown on four catches.
But the game was not without cost to Fletcher as safety Jake Giusti injured his elbow in the final two minutes. He is listed as questionable for Friday night’s first-round playoff game.
And speaking of the postseason, Reynolds said he won’t have much time to savor the 10-0 season with Niceville (8-1) coming to town for the playoff opener.
“This undefeated regular season will feel good for tonight, but then [Saturday] we’ll get the video of Niceville on,” he said.
“They’re about the same team they had last year. They had a bunch of underclassmen last year, so it’s going to be a good one. We’re excited about it. It’s a big chance for us.”
PLAYOFF REMATCH
The Senators and Eagles hooked up in the first round of the 2007 playoffs, when Fletcher made the 330-mile round trip to Niceville, only to drop a 30-13 decision.
It was Fletcher’s first foray into the postseason in two years, and despite the lopsided score, Reynolds said little yellow flags had as much to do with the outcome as the Eagles.
“We played really hard,” he said last November, “but we had a lot of penalties. We had an excessive amount of penalties.”
While officials taxed the Senators for more than 100 yards in that game, Fletcher trailed by only a 21-13 margin with seven minutes remaining.
Backed up deep in their own territory, Medlock was pressured in the end zone and his pass to Baskerville fell incomplete. Officials ruled it intentional grounding and awarded Niceville a safety.
Following the ensuing free kick, the Eagles marched down and sealed the game on a 10-yard touchdown run.
“The memories of Niceville beating us are still in my head,” Jake Medlock said last Friday night. “But it’s going to be different this time. I’m not the same player. I got bigger, I got stronger, I grew five inches, and last year I was slow and fat. Now I’m 6-3 and have some muscle plus a year more experience. So we’re going to take this one.”
SPREAD OFFENSE
It’s not the same Eagles team, either. Last season, head coach John Hicks’ squad was an I-formation, run-oriented team.
The Eagles are still effective on the ground – Roy Finch transferred from Oklahoma where he was the third-ranked running back in the state – but this year they’re mixing it up with a vibrant passing attack.
In nine games, quarterback Rick Whiddon has thrown for 986 yards and nine TDs with six interceptions. Receiver Coby Williams leads Niceville with 25 catches for 593 yards and seven touchdowns.
Finch, the 5-8, 170-pound junior who reportedly has 4.45 speed, has gained 806 yards on 78 carries this season and also sees time as a slot receiver, kick returner and punt returner. Additionally, Finch occasionally lines up at QB.
While Fletcher coaches will seriously begin to game-plan for Niceville and its explosive offense (37 points per game average) this week, the focus last Friday night was on the Senators’ perfect regular season.
“I think it’s a combination of having two strong classes back to back,” Reynolds said by way of evaluating this year’s success. “The junior class is just about as strong as the senior class. And the senior class is as strong a class as we’ve ever had leadership-wise.
“What we would have sometimes is a good senior class, then a good sophomore class. Or a good junior class, and a couple of guys as underclassmen. Just having the top-heavy, leadership-wise, makeup of this team gave us the ability to focus.
“And we were lucky a few times, but you’ve got to have some luck. And we were real good most of the time on offense and defense, and our special teams won a couple of games for us.
“It’s been a perfect year,” Reynolds continued. “A 10-0 year.”