Niceville -- His team down a man and facing the potential uphill climb of overtime in Saturday night's Region 1-4A semifinal against Navarre, Niceville's Connor Davis knew the Eagles needed someone to step up.
Owning up to the senior-leader moniker, he was more than happy to oblige.
Collecting a corner kick that bounced around the right of side of the 18-yard box, Davis beat Navarre keeper Amuia Alford inside the right post in the 77th minute to lift the Eagles to a 1-0 victory at Twin Oaks Park.
"It was a cross and it was an exciting moment because it was the end of the game," Davis said. "It came out to me so I just toe-blowed into bottom right."
The goal came just moments after Jeremy Brown, Niceville's hero in the 2-1 District championship over Navarre last week, was issued a red card for some contact up the left sideline in front of the Eagles' bench that Niceville coach Wes Nelson didn't feel warranted a whistle.
"They saw it different than I saw it," said Nelson, who will have to deal with the loss of Brown Tuesday when the Eagles travel to play the winner of Fleming Island and Forest in the region finals. "I saw two players going after the ball. I think they interpreted it wrong and I was much closer than they were.
"The referees tried to take it out of our hands with a bad call. But our guys didn't hang their heads and they found a way to win. I couldn't be prouder. This is just a very proud moment for me as a coach."
After the loss, Navarre coach Rob Simon wouldn't let his players hang their heads over a match he thought was theirs to lose.
"We outplayed them," he told his players. "There's no reason for anyone here not to hold their head up after that effort."
It was the fourth meeting between the pair of teams, with Niceville ending the season 3-1 against the Raiders.
Davis' late goal lifts Niceville over Navarre, into region finals
Published: Saturday, February 2, 2013 at 23:34 PM.
Niceville -- His team down a man and facing the potential uphill climb of overtime in Saturday night's Region 1-4A semifinal against Navarre, Niceville's Connor Davis knew the Eagles needed someone to step up.
Owning up to the senior-leader moniker, he was more than happy to oblige.
Collecting a corner kick that bounced around the right of side of the 18-yard box, Davis beat Navarre keeper Amuia Alford inside the right post in the 77th minute to lift the Eagles to a 1-0 victory at Twin Oaks Park.
"It was a cross and it was an exciting moment because it was the end of the game," Davis said. "It came out to me so I just toe-blowed into bottom right."
The goal came just moments after Jeremy Brown, Niceville's hero in the 2-1 District championship over Navarre last week, was issued a red card for some contact up the left sideline in front of the Eagles' bench that Niceville coach Wes Nelson didn't feel warranted a whistle.
"They saw it different than I saw it," said Nelson, who will have to deal with the loss of Brown Tuesday when the Eagles travel to play the winner of Fleming Island and Forest in the region finals. "I saw two players going after the ball. I think they interpreted it wrong and I was much closer than they were.
"The referees tried to take it out of our hands with a bad call. But our guys didn't hang their heads and they found a way to win. I couldn't be prouder. This is just a very proud moment for me as a coach."
After the loss, Navarre coach Rob Simon wouldn't let his players hang their heads over a match he thought was theirs to lose.
"We outplayed them," he told his players. "There's no reason for anyone here not to hold their head up after that effort."
It was the fourth meeting between the pair of teams, with Niceville ending the season 3-1 against the Raiders.
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