Fort White defeats Belleview 41-6

When Belleview’s Nick Mills returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, hopes for a much-needed victory over Fort White soared among the Rattlers’ faithful.

Unfortunately, that was the high point of the evening for Belleview, as the Rattlers committed four costly turnovers, three interceptions and a botched snap on a field goal attempt, which visiting Fort White turned into points in a 41-6 win on Friday night.

The victory improved the Indians to 1-1 on the season, while the loss, Belleview’s 11th in a row dating back to last year, dropped the Class 5A Rattlers to 0-2.

“We have to execute better,” said Belleview coach Josh Sigler. “We’re a young team that is learning and improving and we had some key mistakes on defense that turned into big plays. We have to get back to fundamentals and wrap up when we’re tackling instead of trying for big hits.”

Fort White won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Belleview made the Indians pay for that decision as Mills caught the kickoff on his 10-yard line, broke to his left and sped untouched down the left sideline for an exciting 90-yard touchdown. The point after by Brayden Jones was wide left but the Rattlers led 6-0 and had all the early momentum.

Fort White went nowhere on its opening possession and was forced to punt.

Belleview moved down the field as quarterback Derek Snyder completed a couple of passes and a facemask penalty against the Indians gave the Rattlers a first down on the Fort White 43. The drive stalled as a Snyder fourth-down pass fell incomplete.

Fort White marched 52 yards in 12 plays with backup quarterback Gavin Peterson capping the drive with a 9-yard scoring scamper on third down. The extra point by Max Eyjolfsson gave the Indians a 7-6 lead with 2:32 remaining in the first quarter.

After an exchange of punts, Belleview put together a nice drive as Mills ripped off a 26-yard run and running back Keondre Fillmore ran three times to move the ball to the Fort White 9-yard line. The drive stalled and Jones came on to attempt a 27-yard field goal that would give the Rattlers the lead. The snap was dropped and the Indians took over at their 21.

Fort White starting quarterback Jayden Jackson entered the game and made an instant impact by connecting with senior wide receiver Tafari Moe for a 67-yard touchdown pass. The point after made it 14-6 midway through the second quarter

Belleview went three and out on its next possession and had to punt.

Jackson went to work with a 20-yard run and a pair of completions that moved the ball inside the Rattlers’ 15. Jackson scored on a nifty 13-yard scramble to put the Indians up by a score of 21-6. Jackson, who didn’t start for disciplinary reasons, completed five of eight passes for 103 yards and one score. He rushed six times for 64 yards in limited action.

Belleview’s next possession ended when Snyder had a pass intercepted by Fort White defensive back Desean Lally, who returned it to the Rattlers’ 23. Snyder completed eight of 15 passes for 62 yards with a pair of interceptions.

Fort White capitalized on the excellent field position as Jackson broke loose on a 12-yard run and senior Lecosta Byrd powered his way into the end zone from nine yards out to give the Indians a commanding 28-6 lead at the half.

Things didn’t get any better for Belleview in the second half as Fort White scored on its first possession on a 27-yard sweep around left end by Byrd to make it 35-6.

An interception ended the next Belleview possession and Fort White tacked on the final tally of the evening on a 13-yard run by Kiki Neal midway through the third period. With a 41-6 lead, a running clock was used for the rest of the contest.

Belleview will look to earn its first win of the season next Friday night when the Rattlers will travel to Chiefland.