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GAME OF THE WEEK: Returns fuel Port Charlotte win over North Fort Myers

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Port Charlotte junior T.J. Luther returns a kickoff 73 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, one of two kickoffs the Pirates took to the end zone in Friday’s 38-34 win over North Fort Myers.

NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. — Special teams proved the difference for Port Charlotte in a pivotal 38-34 victory Friday over North Fort Myers that gives the Pirates the inside track on the second and final District 6A-10 playoff spot.

Port Charlotte returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and kicked a 46-yard field goal as the Pirates overcame a second-quarter deficit of 14 points and a separate fourth-quarter deficit of 10 in a see-saw battle that was twice delayed by lightning.

“We worked extremely hard on special teams. We changed our special teams this week, and we put all of our horses on it, because we knew that there could be a difference made on special teams,” Port Charlotte head coach Jordan Ingman said.

The work paid off for Pirates special teams coach Chris Drummer and his units, but it didn’t come off without a hitch. North Fort Myers star running back and Florida State commit Zaquandre White opened scoring with a 60-yard punt return, and he had the ball in his hands with a chance to ice the game late.

The Red Knights had a fourth-and-1 at Port Charlotte’s 47 with 2:22 to play, but White stumbled as Joshua Lindstrom tackled him for a loss, turning the ball over on downs to Port Charlotte.

Earnest Harvey scampered 44 yards up the middle three plays later to give the Pirates what proved to be the winning touchdown with 1:21 left.

A frustrated White said he saw “nothing special” when asked after the game if anything Port Charlotte did impressed him.

“We should have won the football game,” White said.

North Fort Myers drove quickly to Port Charlotte’s 25 in the game’s final minute, but T.J. Luther picked off quarterback Ben Pogue at the goal line with 18 seconds left to seal the victory for the Pirates.

Ingman acknowledged it was a “humongous” win for Port Charlotte (5-0, 2-0), which will be favored to win the rest of its district games aside from an Oct. 28 tilt at fellow unbeaten Charlotte. The Red Knights (3-2, 1-1) face long odds to finish either first or second in the district and end a playoff drought that dates to 2006.

It’s a bitter loss for North Fort Myers, which led 34-24 after Pogue, who replaced starting quarterback Nick Perez in the second quarter, went into the end zone on a keeper with 5:15 to play.

Harvey had two game-changing runs from there — one an 80-yard return of the kickoff that followed Pogue’s touchdown, and the other the 44-yard touchdown from scrimmage that gave the Pirates the lead for good.

“A team like that is not going to stay out of the game,” North Fort Myers head coach Earnest Graham said. “Not going to happen. Those guys, they came back and made plays. That’s the team you’ve seen on film all year.”

Port Charlotte had rolled up its first four opponents 151-14, but North Fort Myers gave the Pirates their first real test. The Red Knights offense scored four touchdowns on a Pirates starting defense that hadn’t allowed a point all year.

Port Charlotte junior T.J. Luther returns a kickoff 73 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, one of two kickoffs the Pirates took to the end zone in Friday's 38-34 win over North Fort Myers.
Port Charlotte junior T.J. Luther returns a kickoff 73 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, one of two kickoffs the Pirates took to the end zone in Friday’s 38-34 win over North Fort Myers.

The game would have been a blowout in the Red Knights’ favor if not for the 20 points Port Charlotte got from its kickoff returns and kicker Devyn McCormick. North Fort Myers failed on two extra point attempts, punted short, and couldn’t keep the ball away from Luther — who scored Port Charlotte’s first touchdown on a 73-yard kick return — and Harvey.

“We’d have liked not to get the ball in those two guys’ hands, and both times, we got it into their hands, and those guys split us and took off,” Graham said.

Harvey said he saw “nothing but green grass and a win” as he scored the game’s final touchdown. But he may never have gotten that opportunity if White hadn’t come up short on the previous drive when Graham eschewed the punt and went for the fourth-down conversion.

“He slipped. He just slipped,” Graham said of White’s 1-yard loss on fourth-and-1. “That’s all that happened.”

The sprained left ankle White has nursed the past few weeks wasn’t a factor on the play, Graham said. The coach said Wednesday that the ankle wasn’t 100 percent, but White showed few ill effects, breaking multiple long runs and making Barry Sanders-esque cuts on the field.

Score by quarters

Port Charlotte 0-10-14-14 — 38
Fort Myers 0-21-0-13 — 34

Scoring summary

First Quarter
N/A

Second Quarter
North Fort Myers: Zaquandre White 80-yard punt return (conversion failed) 10:03
Port Charlotte: T.J. Luther 73-yard kickoff return (Devyn McCormick kick) 9:47
North Fort Myers: Fa’Najae Gotay 3-yard run (Ben Pogue run for 2-point conversion) 8:16
North Fort Myers: Pogue 13-yard pass to Garrett Morgan (Ethan Bennett kick) 4:51
Port Charlotte: McCormick 46-yard field goal 0:44

Third Quarter
Port Charlotte: Shawn Campbell 9-yard run (McCormick kick) 7:36
Port Charlotte: Paul Barnes 1-yard run (McCormick kick) 1:28

Fourth quarter
North Fort Myers: Gotay 35-yard run (kick failed) 10:34
North Fort Myers: Ben Pogue 5-yard run (Bennett kick) 5:15
Port Charlotte: Earnest Harvey 80-yard kickoff return (McCormick kick) 5:00
Port Charlotte: Harvey 44-yard run (McCormick kick) 1:21

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