IMG Academy sidesteps an upset bid by St. Frances (Maryland)

Visiting Panthers squander a final minute opportunity to knock off the nation’s second-ranked team

BRADENTON, FLORIDA – IMG Academy and St. Frances (Maryland) have established one of the better rivalries among the country’s national high school football powers, playing almost every year. The pair hooked up again in Florida, on Friday, and like many rivalry battles, the Ascenders and Panthers played a thriller.

St. Frances, trailing 17-14 with 51 seconds to play, forced a turnover on downs at their own 49, to give its offense one last chance to pull off an upset of undefeated IMG (10-0), the nation’s No. 2 team.

The Panthers, however, never got that chance as their first down snap cleared the head of quarterback Michael Van Buren and was recovered by IMG’s David Stone, allowing the Ascenders to run out the clock and secure an undefeated season.

The teams played a scoreless first quarter and it remained that way until IMG broke on top with a 25-yard field goal by junior Joseph Collins with 5:11 to play in the opening half. The Ascenders took a 10-0 lead into the intermission when Jerrick Gibson pulled in a 3-yard TD toss from Jayden Bradford in the final minute of the second quarter.

Late in the third quarter, St. Frances got on the board and pulled within 10-7 on a 2-yard touchdown run by Van Buren.

IMG appeared to put the game out of reach with a 9-yard touchdown run by Anthony Rogers with four minutes to play in the game, but Van Buren rallied the Panthers back within three points with a 12-yard TD pass to James Branch with two minutes to play.

The Panthers then attempted an on-sides kick, which failed, but the St. Frances defense did get the stop, which preceded their costly final miscue.

St. Frances started the season ranked No. 4 in the country, but quickly dropped out of the national rankings after losing their first four games and five of their first six. Of course, most of those losses were to fellow national powers, including Buford (Georgia), Chaminade-Madonna (Florida), St. John Bosco (California) and Mater Dei (California).

The Panthers battled back from that rough start to even their record at 5-5 and had a chance to claim a winning season with a victory at IMG. Instead, St. Frances ended its season at 5-6.