Small Florida Town Revolts Against High School Football Coach After Shocking End To State Championship

I live in Small Town, USA. Vero Beach, Florida. Ever heard of it? 

It's where the Dodgers used to come for spring training for decades. That's what we're mostly known for, along with country singer Jake Owen, and a really rich island across the bridge called "John's Island." 

You can't afford it. Neither can I. But it exists. 

Anyway, we take our football seriously down here, as small southern towns usually do. The stadium is smack-dab in the middle of town, and it's huge. Every Friday night in the fall, it's an event. It's where people go, and what people do. 

We listen to the game on the radio – Christian FM! – and pay to watch it on TV. Seriously. Vero Beach High School football is what we do down here from Labor Day through Thanksgiving. 

I went to Vero. I played on the football team, and the baseball team. We haven't won a state title since 1981. It's been a ‘thing’ down here for decades. 

Saturday night, the Fighting Indians – yes, we are still the INDIANS! – led Lake Mary, 27-11, in the 7A state final with 12 minutes to play. We led 27-19 with 1:18 left. We had the ball, needing just one first down to break the drought. 

Our offense is filled with D1 recruits, scores about 50 points a game, and had a rusher working on a 200+ yard game Saturday night. We needed 10 yards. 

Somehow, we lost, 28-27. 

That's not the whole story 

So here's the thing. That play went mega-viral Sunday. MEGA. Clay retweeted it. Governor Ron DeSantis retweeted it. I had friends in California tag me in social media posts about it. 

It was all over the internet. Still is. But down here in Vero, that's not what people are talking about. We don't care about the last play. 

What we care about is what happened during the previous Vero possession. That's why folks down here spent all day yesterday sharpening their pitchforks. 

Vero had the ball, needing a first down to ice the game. One minute left. Lake Mary had two timeouts. 

Instead of running a play on any of the next three snaps … head coach Lenny Jankowski chose to kneel all three times. 

First down: knee (timeout)

Second down: knee (timeout)

Third down: knee (clock runs)

Fourth down: Take an intentional safety (!!!) in order to run more time off the clock!

That made it a 27-21 game. We took an eight-point game, and made it a six-point game. Amazing. 

On the ensuing kick, Vero chose to squib it (!!!) instead of kicking deep. Again, don't ask me why. Rain was a factor in all of this. It was raining hard. Why that meant we had to squib it instead of kick it deep, I have no clue. None. Zero. 

Lake Mary took over at Vero's 42, and the rest was history. A Hail Mary from a Notre Dame commit that fell short, only for the receiver to make one of the most head's up plays I've ever seen. 

Argue all you want about the legality of the handoff (forward lateral?), but, again, nobody down here gives a crap about that. There's a saying in high school football – never leave it up to the refs. Well, kickers, too. But, mainly refs. 

Naturally, folks are out for BLOOD right now. 

Vero Beach folks are out for blood

Let's go ahead and check in with some of the comments on this dreary pre-winter Monday:

• Someone tell Vero’s coaches they gotta walk home. There ain’t no bus waiting to take them home. The bus is for the players who gave their all tonight. The coaches need a clown car instead.
• Vero had this in the bag not sure why the coach called some questionable plays.
• Someone with maybe more football knowledge than me, please explain the logic behind that safety!
• 233 rushing yards, wasn’t stopped all night, was too scared to fumble but instead decided to give them 2 points and the ball.
• Learn how to use the clock COACH!
• One first down ices the game and they kneel every down, c’mon man!
• Vero snatched a defeat right out of the jaws of victory.
• Any strategy that intentionally gives the other team a chance to win on one play is a stupid one.
• How does a team go undefeated, score over 40pts a game, make it to the state finals and winning with less then two minutes. The coach tells the QB to lose 7 yards a play instead of getting a first down. Then voluntary takes a safety?

Yeah, that last one really sums it up for me. I just don't get it. I've had 36 hours to think about it, and I'm still as confused as I was Saturday night (listening to the game on the FM radio from my living room like a man, by the way). 

People are furious in my small town today. It's all folks could talk about at church Sunday morning. I've never seen anything like it. 

Every bar and restaurant in town showed this game. It's how we spent our Saturday nights. We had leads of 21-3, 27-11, and 27-19, and blew them all. 

What a disaster. 

Thoughts? Zach.Dean@OutKick.com. 

Fire away!