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Domaracki's First-Ever FG Downs Freedom

By GREGG BECNEL

Tribune correspondent

Published: September 20, 2008

Updated: 09/20/2008 12:55 am

TAMPA - Gaither kicker Darren Domaracki couldn't have scripted it any better.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior had never made a field goal in his career until booting a 28-yarder as time expired to give the visiting Cowboys a 17-14 win against Freedom at Freedom Stadium on Friday night.

"I've never made a field goal, let alone a game-winner," Domaracki said. "This is the best feeling in the world. It felt good coming off my foot, so I knew it was down the middle right when I hit it."

The field goal capped Gaither's 10-point rally in the game's final 5:26.

Freedom, which trailed 7-0 at halftime, scored 14 unanswered points in the second half on 9- and 4-yard runs by Sherrod Cunningham (16 carries, 109 yards).

The lead looked as if it would stand as the Cowboys (1-2) had mustered only 21 yards and no first downs in their first three possessions of the second half.

But on its fourth drive, Gaither marched 64 yards in 13 plays to tie it the score at 14 when quarterback Kamren Hawkins (8-for-17, 135 yards) hooked up with Dylan Fisher on a 24-yard scoring pass with 5:26 remaining.

After forcing Freedom (1-1) to punt on its ensuing possesion, the Cowboys took over at their 20-yard line. Facing a third-and-10 from midfield, Hawkins was forced from the pocket and scrambled 35 yards to the 15. After a 4-yard run put the ball in the middle of the field, Domaracki came on for his game-winner.

"The ghosts have awakened," Gaither coach Mark Kantor said. "This was a hard-fought win. Freedom is a much-improved team and Coach Marquel Blackwell has done a great job over there. But this win is huge for us. It gets our energy, our feelings and our emotions going."

The Cowboys opened the game with a 13-play, 93-yard touchdown drive that took 7:38 seconds off the clock. Senior fullback Jorden Cooks (11 carries, 63 yards) capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge on fourth down.

Hawkins kept the drive alive when he connected with Justin Lattimore (five catches, 89 yards) on a 50-yard pass on third-and-23.

The Patriots squandered several scoring chances, failing to score three times from inside the Cowboys' 10-yard line.