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Written by Jon Gagné /Photo by Rob Thurman   

Patriot seasons ends in 4th overtime  49-48

The dream season for the Pace Patriots came to an end  Friday night in Nease after four overtime periods.  A missed extra point attempt after a high snap ended the dream season for Pace, as the Nease Panthers walked away with a 49-48 win.  Nease will now take on Miami Washington (14-0) in the state 4A title game next week.  Washington beat Seffner Armwood 34-14 Friday night to advance to the title game next Friday in Orlando.

^{Patriot seasons ends in 4th overtime}

The Patriots had to play from behind most of the game, but would not roll over against the Panthers.  After a calm first half, in which Nease took a 15-7 lead the break, both teams opened up their offensive playbooks.  The game came down to the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, when Pace finally put the game out of reach, taking home a are once again in hostile territory tonight with high hopes of keeping their dream season alive.  Pace is in Vedro Beach taking on Nease in a state 4A semifinal clash that will send one of the two teams into the state championship game next week.

Nease got on the scoreboard first tonight with a first quarter field goal, but Pace came back less than a minute later to hit paydirt on a long pass play from quarterback Aaron Munoz to Riley Hawkins to give Pace a 7-3 lead.

Midway through the second quarter, Nease scored their first touchdown of the night but missed the extra point.  Heading towards halftime Nease led, 9-7.

The Panthers increased their lead over Pace in the second quarter after a 30-yard field goal to 12-7.  With time running out in the second, Nease running back Andrew Barnes rolled off a 45 yard run to give Nease the ball inside the Pace 20 with under a minute left in the half.  With six seconds left in the half, Nease added a 36 yard field goal by Andrew Barker to give Nease a 15-7 lead heading into the intermission.

Nease padded their lead in the 3^rd quarter with another touchdown to take a 22-7 lead, but Pace scored during the first four minutes of the 4^th to cut the gap to 22-14.  The big play in the 64-yard drive was a 40-yard pass play from quarterback Aaron Munoz.  Eric Martinez kicked the extra point after a couple of penalties. 

Two plays after the ensuing kick, Pace linebacker James McGrivey intercepted a pass and gave Pace the ball at the Nease 16.  Johnson then took it in from 5 yards out and Pace added a two point conversion to tie the game 22-22 with just under 8 minutes left in regulation.

Nease came right back on their next possession, driving into Pace territory on the kickoff and scoring a touchdown on a 16 yard pass.  The six play, 79 yard drive gave Nease a 29-22 lead with under 6 minutes left.

Pace Quarterback Aaron Munoz then sparked the Patriot offense, hooking up with his favorite receiver, Riley Hawkins on two big plays, and then with the ball deep inside the Nease 20, Munoz hit Tyler Hunt with a touchdown pass to make it 29-28.  Eric Martinez added the conversion and once again the game was tied 29-29 with just two minutes left in regulation.

That’s when the give and take overtime periods came into play, and neither team seemed like they were going to bend.  But in the 4^th overtime, Nease got the ball first and scored quickly to take a 49-42 lead.  Pace, then was faced with a score-or-go-home situation.  But the Patriots scored … only to see the extra point attempt sail wide after a high snap from center.