ORANGE PARK – In what looked like a battle of final possessions with the Ridgeview High Panthers going toe-to-toe with the Palatka High Panthers and both teams trading scoring drives in the second half, the final outcome was determined by an errant punt snap as Ridgeview lost a 36-30 battle of district 5-5A foes Friday night at Ridgeview High.

“We knew it was going to be a dog fight until the end,” said Ridgeview first year coach Cameron Porch, (0-4). “Our schedule is ridiculous week in and week out. But there is nothing we can do but push forward, and we will. We are obviously getting there.”

Ridgeview led at the half 17-14 off a 30 yard scamper by tailback Jacolbi Sampson, a touchdown pass from Jaden Turner and a 30 yard field goal from Nick McCarter to take the third quarter with enough momentum to think about a first win for coach Cameron Porch.

The momentum lasted all of about a minute into the third quarter as the Ridgeview defense got stuck by a 65 yard scoring pass on third down to put Palatka up 21-17.

“They gave us a good look on a deep ball they hit over the middle twice,” said Porch.

Both teams exchanged four down series before Ridgeview, starting at the Ridgeview 35, got a nifty slant and run pass play from quarterback Tyler Huff to wideout Garrett Barfield, a senior, that got to the Palatka 21 that ignited the Ridgeview offense.

“Garrett played well but he usually does, I don’t think its just the seniors stepping up,” said Porch. “We have a lot of underclassmen that play a ton for us and they needed some experience over these last few games to feel the confidence to put it together.”

From there though, Ridgeview looked like the drive would stall with ineffective runs and penalty flags before Sampson grabbed a 10 yard Huff pass and dove into the end zone from three yards out to put Ridgeview up 24-21 at 3:10 in the third.

Palatka continued to exploit the Ridgeview secondary and got a pass of 24 yards that safety Jake Denny saved from a touchdown with an ankle tackle at the Ridgeview 28.

Palatka would take three runs to score and go ahead 28-24 as the third quarter ended.

Ridgeview was still energized to take the win with just 10:11 left in the game as Huff moved the Panther offense to midfield before taking a hard tackle that put Turner in as a Wildcat quarterback for a few plays. Turner got gains of seven, three and two yards to keep the drive flowing with Jason Concepcion taking a Shotgun snap on third and two and fighting for the crucial first down mark.

Turner returned and took two shots to get into the end zone to put Ridgeview up 30-28 with 7:51 to go. Palatka blocked the PAT kick.

On the next Palatka drive, Ridgeview’s defense came up with play after play with David Plyler nearly picking off a sideline pass before Palatka threw on second down and grabbed a 37 yard gain to the Ridgeview 38 yard line.

Ridgeview defensive tackle Austin Childers came up big twice to thwart Palatka pass attempts before Barfield chased down a fake field goal attempt by Palatka in the Ridgeview red zone to breathe life back on to the Ridgeview bench.

From the Ridgeview 30, Turner and Sampson moved the ball 12 yards in five plays to leave a punt at the 47 as Ridgeview’s final ploy for the win.

Unfortunately, the punt snap sailed over J.J. Odum’s head and was recovered by Palatka at the Ridgeview 32 where a 30 yard pass on first down gave Palatka two plunges before the go-ahead score and a 34-30 lead; 36-30 with a two-point conversion.

“We just have to all be on the same page in order to finish games that we have control of,” said Porch.

A squib kickoff to Barfield put Ridgeview at their own 34 where Palatka intercepted to end the game.

Ridgeview next up travels to 7A-Fleming Island High, who suffered a 10-0 district loss to Bartram Trail on Friday, in a non-district match on September 23. Fleming Island won their season opener over 5A-Clay High, but has struggled to put offensive numbers on the scoreboard with a 3-0 win over Middleburg two weeks ago and the 10-0 loss to Bartram Trail.

“We would love to walk in there and win Friday just like any other week,” said Porch. “I hope we can continue to learn from things we do both good and bad. Fleming is a good football team and we will have to play a great game to beat them.”

In other district 5-5A action, Baker County (3-0, 1-0) beat Menendez (1-3, 0-1) 45-14 and Clay (3-1, 1-0) beat Orange Park (2-1, 0-1) 35-28.