With less than two minutes left, Kayoni Briggs returned the Santa Fe football punt to the Dunnellon 40.
It was just the play the Raiders needed down 22-17 to the Tigers…until a yellow flag laid near the 20 yard line.
Holding on Santa Fe.
The penalty moved SFHS back 50 yards, and it was the perfect encapsulation of a frustrating penalty-filled night in Alachua.
The Raiders couldn’t score on the drive that now started from the 10 and fell to Dunnellon in the FHSAA Class 3A-District 5 Championship. The loss puts Santa Fe’s playoff hopes in doubt despite a 6-2 mark and winnable games left vs. Belleview and Weeki Wachee.
Santa Fe struggled with the flu for much of the week, including head coach Earnest Graham. The Florida football legend was quick to not use the bug as an excuse, but the lack of practice showed as the Raiders looked lethargic to start.
Once that finally changed, and Santa Fe scored two unanswered touchdowns to take a 17-10 lead late in the third quarter, Dunnellon used a couple of big plays to retake the lead and shut down the Raiders on offense.
The Tigers host Niceville next Friday, October 23, while the Raiders welcome the Rattlers.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1, Instagram @Ramreporter and Facebook Noah Ram - Reporter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Santa Fe football killed by penalties in district title loss to Dunnellon