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Fennelly column: Little Goes Right On This Kind Of Night

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 8, 2007

MIAMI - You knew it was going to be a different kind of night when one of the assistant coaches for the other team ran through the Armwood pregame drills talking smack.

Armwood coach Sean Callahan gave his players marching orders as they took the field at Traz Powell Stadium for their Class 4A semifinal with old semifinal pal Miami Washington.

"Stay focused. Don't say a thing."

That's what champions do.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, they didn't say much on the field, either.

A different kind of night.

And so a perfect season ended as imperfectly as it could, in stunning fashion, given Armwood tradition, a resounding 34-14 loss.

It will go down as a 13-1 season.

That didn't go down well Friday night.

"There's one goal," Hawks offensive lineman Matt Patchan said. "Be No. 1."

"That's the only road," quarterback Mywan Jackson said.

Armwood exited early.

An Unexpected End

It was unexpected, even with Washington being ranked as high as fourth in one national prep poll.

It was unexpected because Armwood had beaten Washington three years running from 2003 to 2005, twice en route to state championships. And when the Hawks were done, Plant and wonder quarterback Robert Marve stepped in last season on the way to a title and also knocked off Washington in the semis.

Marve, now at the University of Miami, coming off the final surgery stemming from a serious car accident, spent some time with Armwood players Friday afternoon and even attended the game.

For three quarters.

It wasn't over by then, it just seemed like it.

It had taken Tim Tebow and then Marve to keep Armwood from the state championship in 2005 and 2006.

Friday, it took other things.

It started well enough, very well, in fact, with Hawks defensive lineman Zachori Beasley recovering a fumble on the first snap of the game. Five plays later, Jackson ran 3 yards for a touchdown and it was 7-0 just two minutes in.

Then it went away.

"We just had a few things go wrong," Callahan said.

For one, Jackson only played a half after aggravating the shoulder injury he suffered in last week's playoff win against Plant. He missed the second half.

"It hurt to be out," he said.

But other things went wrong.

The defense got rolled at times. Washington put up 14 points in the first 10 minutes, more points than Armwood had given up in any game this season.

The Hawks seemed flat at times.

They never did find that groove.

"Everybody really wasn't at their peak playing the game," running back Eric Smith said.

A missed tackle turned a short Washington pass into a long touchdown to tie it at 7.

The Hawks coughed it up a few minutes later when Eric Smith lost the ball at his 20 and Washington recovered. A few plays later, the Tornadoes led 14-7. They never trailed again.

There were other things that went wrong: a surprising loss of composure, too many mistakes, penalties, a long Washington pass that set up a third touchdown, then another missed Armwood tackle that turned a short gainer into Washington's fourth score. That was Friday, wrong and wronger.

"It's not easy making your goal be winning it all every season," Callahan said.

"There will be some nights like this."

Callahan: We'll Be Back

And so it ends at 13-1.

It ended with Mywan Jackson watching.

He'll be back next season.

It ends with college coaches, from Miami, LSU and Florida, waiting to console Matt Patchan. The senior's future is bright. His Friday wasn't.

"This is no way for it to end," he said.

It happens sometimes.

Tears happen sometimes.

They happen a lot when it's No. 1 or nothing.

This happens, too:

"We're Armwood," Callahan said. "We'll be back."

He told his kids he was proud of them. He told them walk off with their heads up.

They did.

That, at least, went according to plan.

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