High school football: John Liberal's field goal lifts Lely past North Fort Myers
The Lely High School football team looked nothing like the team that went 2-9 last year when it faced North Fort Myers in its spring game Friday.
Facing a Red Knights team that made it to the Class 6A regional semifinals, the Trojans didn’t back down and put up a strong fight to defeat North Fort Myers 24-21 on a field goal in the final seconds.
“I'm proud of our guys and I've been telling them that since the offseason,” Lely coach Fritz Jacques said. "They got the job tonight tonight and I'm super proud of my boys."
After taking over on downs with 41 seconds left to play, Jonis Dieudonne found Nick Obsaint for a 35-yard gain to put the Trojans in field goal range with five seconds left on the clock.
John Liberal knocked down a 31-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Trojans past the Red Knights.
"John Liberal is an amazing kicker," Jacques said. "He won one last year for us against Mariner and he does it again tonight."
The backfield duo of Jonis Dieudonne and Henderson Francois had a very strong outing for the Trojans.
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The duo combined for 169 rushing yards against the Red Knights' stingy rush defense.
“It was a hard, long fight each quarter for us,” Francois said. "We executed all night and I just love playing alongside him."
Francois led the Trojans’ rushers with 141 yards on 27 carries, while Dieudonne rushed for a touchdown and threw for two more to go along with 134 passing yards.
“I'm proud of myself,” Dieudonne said. "I achieved a lot and I'm ready for the fall."
Chevy Octa hauled in both of Dieudonne’s touchdown passes and finished with 90 receiving yards.
Despite forcing two turnovers and limiting the Red Knights offense to just 13 points in the first half, the Trojans struggled to limit North Fort Myers ground game in the second half.
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Terry Lindsey Jr. shook off a slow start and scored one of his two touchdowns in the second half to help the Red Knights tie the game at 21. The rising junior ran for 113 yards on 16 carries.
“There's a lot of young guys out there and we only had two seniors on defense," Jacques said. "They played fast but we have to get better at tackling. We have to get in that weight room and get stronger."
Dieudonne opened the scoring with a 10-yard TD run after the Trojans to converted twice on third and eight to keep their drive alive.
The Trojans’ defense did a good job keeping the Red Knights out of the end zone with a couple of goal line stops, forcing North to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Ethan Bennett.
Dieudonne found Chevy Octa for a 30-yard touchdown in the second quarter, but shortly after the Trojans extended their lead to 14-3, Lindsey ran 30 yards for a score to pull the Red Knight closer.
Dieudonne and Octa connected once again, this time for a 53-yard touchdown. Octa managed to hold on after bobbling the ball and trotted into the end zone after beating his man.
Bennett knocked down another 23-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to send the Red Knights down 21-13 at break.
After the Trojans went three and out to start the second half, Lindsey struck again with a 35-yard run down the sideline into the end zone.
Jonathan Charles ran a quarterback sneak into the end zone to convert the two-point conversion and tie the game at 21.
The Trojans got a big stop on fourth and three with less than a minute left to play, before Liberal’s heroics gave Lely the victory.
LELY 24, NORTH FORT MYERS 21
NFM 3 11 7 0 – 21
L 7 14 0 3 – 24
First Quarter
L – Jonis Dieudonne 10 run (John Liberal kick), 5:19
NFM – Ethan Bennett 23 FG, 0:00
Second quarter
L – Chevy Octa 30 pass from Jonis Dieudonne (Liberal kick), 7:03
NFM – Terry Lindsey Jr. 30 run (Bennett kick), 6:15
L – Octa 53 pass from Jonis Dieudonne (Liberal kick), 5:15
NFM – Bennett 23 FG, 1:09
Third quarter
NFM – Lindsey Jr. 35 run (Jonathan Charles run), 9:09
Fourth quarter
L – Liberal 31 FG, 0:00