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Twice, Jeremy Gold called time out, forcing Bilal Farhat to think about the kick he'd have to make to keep Dearborn Fordson High School's season blemish-free. 

A penalty had already nullified one game-winning kick and now, Gold was icing the senior place kicker again, hoping to break his confidence.

It didn't work.

Farhat's 25-yard field goal with 10.7 seconds remaining spelled the difference in a 24-21 victory over Pioneer, which didn't do much to help its cause Friday night with four costly turnovers.

 

 

 

Despite the loss, Pioneer (7-2) advances to the Division I playoffs, knowing a last-second loss to unbeaten Fordson doesn't kill its chances to reaching its ultimate goal.

"We'll be fine," Gold said. "We have everything in front of us still, we're in the playoffs, we're fine."

Two first-half turnovers put Pioneer in a 21-7 hole, forcing the Pioneers to try and rebound against the Tractors – ranked No. 6 in the latest Division I polls.

But two Miles Sorise touchdown passes – first to Ricardo Miller (38 yards) and then to Mark Hugan (23 yards) – erased the deficit by halftime, giving Pioneer plenty of momentum with a full half yet to play.

Sorise, who also connected with Brandis Yarrington on a 31-yard scoring pass, threw for 136 yards while Terrell Moran led the Pioneers on the ground with 119 yards rushing on 16 carries. 

But Pioneer squandered a pair of prime scoring chances in the second half, turning the ball over twice deep in Fordson territory. A fumble inside the Fordson 20-yard line killed what began as a promising Pioneer drive set up by a blocked punt early in the third quarter.

Then, after reaching the Fordson 17-yard line late in the third quarter, Sorise was picked off at the goal line on the first play of the fourth quarter, killing off another Pioneer opportunity.

The Pioneers wouldn't make another serious run at the end zone the rest of the night. 

Fordson regained possession with 3:32 remaining and drove to the Pioneer 1-yard line with 13.2 seconds remaining. An illegal procedure penalty moved the Tractors (9-0) back, but Farhat didn't let any of the distractions get to him.

Farhat spoke to no one, thinking about a dream his special teams coach told him he had in which Farhat won the game with a late field goal. 

"(The two Pioneer timeouts) didn't throw me off because all of my teammates and coaches were behind me," Farhat said. "You just have to keep your focus, stay in your own head and keep your composure."

Farhat's field goal left the Pioneer with one final chance. But starting at their own 20-yard line, Pioneer's final gasp was quickly snuffed out by Fordson, sending the Pioneers to only their second loss of the season.

"It was anyone's ball game and they got the breaks," Gold said. "They turned the ball over, we turned the ball over, we moved it, they moved it and unfortunately, they got the last break at the end." 

Pioneer must recover quickly, beginning the post-season next week. And while the Pioneer's hopes of handing Fordson its first loss didn't pan out Friday night, Gold understands his team may see the Tractors again.

And Gold says his team will be ready.

"We're going to tell them to stay positive," he said. "We have nothing to hang our heads about and so we just need to focus on the next week going into the playoffs."