Red Dolphins kennel Bulldogs for Super Bowl victory

The Destin Dolphin Red Junior football team throttled the No. 1 seed Freeport Bulldogs 20-6 to win the division in the 2009 Super Bowl in football action at Walton High School Saturday.

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“We’re still grinning from ear to ear,” said Destin Coach Jimmy Fell on Monday. “It was absolutely intense. And it’s a credit to these kids and how hard they worked.

“The game got a little physical on both sides, but we stuck to our game plan.”

The two teams had earned the pool play spot in the playoffs with Freeport (8-0-1) winning their bracket over Niceville and Destin White.

Destin Red (8-1) defeated Panama City and South Walton to set up the final match.

Both teams carried gaudy statistics into the game with Freeport averaging a league best 28 points per game and Destin a close second averaging 26 points per game. Destin sported the league’s best defense allowing only 31 points in nine games with six shut-outs.

Destin received the ball first with Bryce Miller returning the kick to the Destin 37. Destin failed to make a first and had to punt.

On the punt, Freeport’s Devonte Barrington found space on the sideline and ran the ball back 59 yards to the Destin 26 where punter Tyler Gilley saved a TD by knocking him out of bounds.

Destin stiffened with tackles from John Hess, Avery Beidel and Gilley, knocking Freeport back three yards on four plays.

Taking over at the 30, Destin faked a hand-off to Dawson Fletcher and ran the counter to Jacob Edelman who sprinted 49 yards to the Freeport 21. Edelman ran for another six but then Destin was intercepted at the 12-yard line. Freeport was then knocked back to the 5 on a tackle from Hess.

On second down, Destin’s Miller and Hess met Barrington in the end zone on a sweep for a safety and Destin’s first points, 2-0.

Destin received the safety kick with Gilley returning the ball to the 50 where a face mask penalty moved the ball to the Freeport 35. Facing fourth- and-10, Destin moved to a spread formation.

Quarterback Mike McFarlane hit Fletcher on the run from the slot on a fly pattern caught for 14 yards. Fletcher shook off the coverage tackle and ran the rest of the way for the touchdown, untouched for a 8-0 lead. Destin’s PAT was blocked.

“It was the best throw and best catch of the year,” Fell said.

Freeport took the next possession down to the Destin 14 helped by several penalties. But on fourth-and-14, Gilley intercepted the ball as time ran out on the first half.

Freeport began the second half at their own 41 following a short on-sides attempt.

Freeport gained 4 yards on four carries and turned the ball over to Destin at the Destin 35. After trading possessions Destin again set up at the Freeport 49. Fletcher ran up the middle for 3 yards and then set up again in the Power I formation. Faking to Fletcher on play action, the safety bit and McFarlane hit Edelman on a quick out where Edelman sprinted to the sidelines, made two Bulldogs miss at the 5-yard line and scored for a 48 yard reception, 14-0.

With 6:30 left in the fourth, Destin’s Gilley booted an onside kick that was recovered by Hess and Ryan Romair. Destin drove for 23 yards with runs from Fletcher, Edelman, Romair and McFarlane, but on second-and-6 at the Freeport 37 a vicious hit in the secondary caused Fletcher to fumble for the first time this year and Freeport recovered.

The Bulldogs completed two long passes and then scored from the 8 with the Freeport quarterback running it in. Freeport then attempted an on-sides with 5:15 left. The ball was recovered by Miller.

Destin then ran with Edelman and Fletcher to the Freeport 14. Seconds later, Fletcher took the hand-off off tackle and outran the safety into the end zone for a 20-6 score.

Freeport tried to come back with 53 seconds but was intercepted with no time left by Gilley to seal the victory.

“Our defensive line and pressure was phenomenal,” Fell said. “The difference-maker was our defensive coordinator Hal Gilley.”

Fell said that Gilley had watched more than 30 hours of video of the Freeport team.

“He knew all their formations and we shifted right into their strengths,” Fell said. “He was never wrong.”

Destin’s defense was dominant holding Freeport to 7 net yards rushing and just 65 total yards on the game.

Coach Fell had high praise for the 16 kids that made up the league champions. John Hess, Bryce Miller and Blake Douglas were stand-outs on defense along with Avery Biesel and Caleb Preston, who were in the Freeport backfield the whole game. He also cited first-year player Nolan Berry, who replaced injured Dolphins with strong play ,and Cameron May, who once again was flawless at center along with Trent Gissel, Josh Loken, Trey Fell, James Hickens and Blake Douglas on the line.

The Destin offense amassed 214 yards and was led by Jacob Edelman with 110 all-purpose yards on six carries with one TD and Fletcher with 101 yards on 14 carries with two TDs.

The team was coached by Jimmy Fell, Warren Gissel, Hal Gilley and Brad Fletcher and was sponsored by Moneytree ATM.

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SUPER BOWL CHAMPS

(Junior Division)

Avery Biesel (DL)

Blake Douglas (OL,LB)

Bryce Miller (OLB, TE)

Caleb Preston (DL)

Cameron May (C)

Dawson Fletcher (FB, DE)

Jacob Edelman (S, WR)

James Hickens (OL, DL)

John Hess (OLB, OL)

Josh Loken (OL, DL)

Ryan Romair (TB, S)

Trent Gissel (OL, DL)

Trey Fell (MLB, OL)

Tyler Gilley (TB, K, OLB)

Zack Provenza (OL, DL, FB)

Nolan Berry (OL, DL)

Michael McFarlane (QB, DE)