Dunbar football back in state semifinals after game-winning kickoff return

Naples quarterback Jack Melton scored a rushing touchdown with 10.7 seconds left to put Naples in front of Dunbar 10-6 in Friday’s regional championship game. Before the ensuing kickoff, Dunbar corner back Kelby Tyre to a moment to pray.

“I was like God with this kick return, can you help me do something?” Tyre recalled. “And then like He answered my prayer.”

Tyre received the kickoff and thought about pitching it to receiver TJ Abrams.

“The Lehigh week we had pitched it back last time and scored,” Tyre explained. “And then this week, I faked it and they fell for it.”

“He faked me out,” Dunbar quarterback Austin Price said. “I thought he was pitching it back too.”

When the field opened up, Tyre didn’t slow down. He raced past the Naples coverage team to score the game-winning touchdown. Now the Tigers are off to the state semifinal.

“I felt like I was running slow,” Tyre remembered. “And I looked back and nobody was behind me and I kept running because if I slowed down, somebody was going to catch me.”

“Once the middle opened up, I knew he was gone,” Dunbar head coach Sam Brown said. “I mean I saw his knees going up and he went into full track mode right now.”

This playoff run for the Tigers has been thrilling. Each postseason game has come down to the final play. The Tigers rallied down 17 points to beat Fort Myers in the first round. Then, they took out top-seeded Golden Gate in the regional semifinal, thanks to an interception by Hezekiah Jones that sealed the win. And finally, the walk-off win in the regional final against Naples.

“We know until it says 0.0 on the clock the game is never over,” Price said.

“Play the full 48 minutes,” Brown said. “Find a way to win at the end. We just consistently want to keep the game close. And then hopefully at the end we can dig our way out if we’re in a little hole.”

Dunbar turns its attention to undefeated St. Augustine in the state semifinal Friday.

“We can’t have two or three good days of practice,” Price said. “We have to practice great all four days. We can’t take this team lightly at all.”

WINK News will be in St. Augustine with the Tigers and will bring you the highlights and postgame reaction.