The Vero Beach Indians got by the Miami Palmetto Panthers 45-44 in double overtime in the FHSAA Class 7A state semifinals on Friday night. The contest was held on Billy Livings Field at the Citrus Bowl in Indian River County. The Indians will look to win their first state championship since 1981 and their second state crown in school history next week in Miami.
Miami Palmetto(11-3) struck first to make it 7-0 with nine minutes remaining in the opening quarter. They reached the end zone on a 14-yard touchdown pass.
Vero Beach(14-0) returned the opening kickoff to midfield for their first drive. Efrem White tossed a three-yard touchdown pass to Latravious Woods to even it up 7-7 with five minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Indians leaped to a 14-7 lead with under a minute left in the first. Woods caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from White.
The Panthers tied it 14-14 two minutes into the second quarter. Conneilus Miller Jr. make a 31-yard touchdown reception. Both teams kicked a field goal in the final minute of the second and it was tied 17-17 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Vero Beach made it 24-17 as Hillsman plunged in on a two-yard touchdown run at the nine-minute mark. The Indians increased it to 31-17 when Hillsman rushed in from 11 yards out with seven minutes remaining in the third.
Palmetto quickly answered back and cut the deficit to 31-24 just one minute later. They were able to pull off a 34-yard touchdown pass.
The Indians expanded their lead to 38-24 in the first minute of the final quarter. White connected a four-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Jacobs.
The Panthers cut it to 38-31 on a 15-yard touchdown strike with seven minutes remaining. Palmetto got the ball back midway in the fourth and tied it up 38-38 with under one minute left on a two-yard touchdown run. The game would go into overtime.
Palmetto had the first shot in overtime and missed a field goal. Vero Beach also missed on a field goal for the contest to go into double overtime.
The Indians made it 45-38 when White fired a 10-yard touchdown pass to Hillsman. The Panthers answered back with a one-yard touchdown run to make it 45-44, however they failed on a two-point conversion.