Nation Ford lacrosse beats JL Mann in thrilling finish to advance to 5A state title game
One stop.
That’s all the Nation Ford boys lacrosse team — after building a 7-0 lead in the first half and then doing everything it could to hold off JL Mann’s furious comeback in the second — needed to win the Class 5A Upper State championship game on Tuesday night in Fort Mill.
One last stop in the game’s last 45 seconds.
Down the game’s final stretch, Nation Ford was up, 8-7. But JL Mann had possession and momentum. The time dwindled from 45 to 30 to 10 seconds. The Patriots probed the Nation Ford defense until it couldn’t wait anymore — and then, without any other options, a JL Mann forward attacked on the right side and tried to pass to a teammate cutting across the front of the goal.
And then it happened. The Nation Ford stop came: That JL Mann pass was intercepted by Nation Ford junior goalie Owen Collette, and he then launched that ball as high and as far away from Nation Ford’s defensive half as possible — and the celebration began.
Final score: 8-7.
Nation Ford had won the 5A Upper State title and had advanced to the 5A state championship game.
“My adrenaline was pumping,” senior attack/midfielder Tyler Demarco said postgame. He scored three of his team’s eight goals on Tuesday night. But in the game’s final minute, he and the rest of his attacking unit was on the sideline, having to trust their defense to make that last stop.
“Words can’t even describe how close of a game that was, and to finally have come out on top, it was really amazing,” Demarco said. “It felt amazing. I couldn’t ask anything better from our defense and our goalie.”
With the win, the Falcons (19-0, 6-0 Region 3-5A) are heading to the program’s second all-time state championship game appearance and are looking for their first boys lacrosse state championship in school history. They’ll play Lower State champion and perennial power Wando on Saturday afternoon in Irmo.
“It’s exciting,” Nation Ford head coach Cory Turner said postgame. “It’s my second year here. We’re a very young team. I mean, we have five seniors total. To see that we can get to states is just an amazing accomplishment on their part. Everybody was kind of looking to next year, and it’s like, ‘Why wait until next year when we can go this year?’
“So let’s do that, and let’s make something happen.”
Nation Ford got off to a hot start and needed every bit of it to sustain its season on Tuesday night. The Falcons scored the game’s first seven goals — courtesy of Ashton Tauzin, Owen Ameo (2), Luke Letterhos (2) and Demarco (2).
The last Nation Ford goal of the half came with 1:56 left in the second quarter. It was scored by Ameo, who cut middle, made a tough catch while getting hit and — while fading left and away from the goal — one-hopped a beautiful shot into the upper right corner of the net. It was the kind of goal that felt debilitating for an opponent. The kind of goal that felt final.
But JL Mann, the reigning state champions, wouldn’t be vanquished easily.
The Patriots responded by scoring right before the end of the second quarter to avoid entering halftime scoreless and then scored the next four goals to pull the game’s margin to 7-5.
Nation Ford’s Demarco, again, notched a clutch goal with 19.6 seconds left in the third to make it 8-5 (and to earn a hat trick), but JL Mann’s Kevin Miller and Jaxson Lovelace responded once more and each scored in the game’s fourth quarter to make it 8-7 with 4:55 left in the game.
And then ensued a fast, physical, exciting final act to a great game. There were fouls. A few turnovers. And then there was Nation Ford’s last stop — one that ended in NaFo’s goalie Collette chucking the ball into a cloudy sky and the entire Nation Ford team rushing to meet its “Dirty Bird” student section that had supported them all night.
“At the end of the game, our guys ran over there to give them a thank-you,” Turner said. “And to let them know that they’re a big part of this. It’s not myself, or a player, it’s the whole community. And the whole community came out to help us tonight.”
Nation Ford, with the win, is adding to the city of Fort Mill’s robust lacrosse legacy. On the boys’ side alone, the NaFo and Fort Mill High programs have now combined for eight state championship bids since the South Carolina High School League started hosting lacrosse state playoffs in the 2009-10 school year. (Fort Mill won titles in 2011, 2014 and 2019.)
Nation Ford hopes to add two more accolades to its town’s lacrosse history on Saturday — a perfect season and a state championship.
“We’ve won three games in the playoffs,” Turner said. “So now, I’m thinking we’ve gotten over the big hump. You know, we’ve had an undefeated season, which was hard once we got up to about 13-0 because you know everybody wants to knock you off. And to get through this game was just incredible.
“Now we can push everything to the middle of the table and let it all hang out. We can get a little crazy, do some things we may not have shown all season and just see what happens. I’m really, really excited for this opportunity. The kids deserve it all.”
Fort Mill girls fall in Upper State finals
In other high school lacrosse news, the Fort Mill girls fell to Riverside, 12-9, at home in the Upper State championship game on Monday night.
The Yellow Jackets hung tough for much of the game — leading at halftime 5-4 and even at one point tying the contest at 9-9 late in the second half. (Lydia Laney and Xan Hill scored three goals each.)
But Riverside, the defending state champion, ultimately proved to be too much.
“We battled back and did not give up,” Fort Mill head coach Kirsten Terry told The Herald after the game. “That kind of effort says a lot about the resilience, determination and character of this team.”
The future, by all indications, is bright for Fort Mill. The Jackets finished 9-8 overall. They were 6-0 in the region and were unbeaten in region play for the third year in a row — and two of their top-three scorers and two of their top-three playmakers (assists) return to lead the team next year, too.
“We had great leadership and contributions on the field from our seniors,” Terry said, adding, “We have an excellent group of players returning for next year.”
Sam Copeland contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 11:08 PM.
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