DOVER Dover made its last home game of 2012 a memorable — and winning -- one as Felipe Bravo did it again.
Twice.
Bravo kicked a 32-yard field goal with one second left in regulation to tie the game at 24, then booted a 22-yarder in overtime as Dover rallied to defeat Granville 27-24 in a Division III regional quarterfinal football instant classic at Crater Stadium on Saturday.
It was the second week in a row Bravo hit the game-winner after he drilled a 39-yard field goal in Dover’s 38-35 win over New Philadelphia.
Dover improved to 9-2 and will play Poland Seminary on Saturday at InfoCision Field at Green High.
Poland was a 38-0 winner over Marlington on Saturday night.
Granville ended its season at 9-2.
“That was a great football game,” said Dover head coach Dan Ifft. “The last two weeks they’ve played as exciting of football I as I could ask for. I’m just amazed at what young people can do when they don’t give up.”
Dover’s Demetrius Farmer was a force on both defense and offense as he racked up 17 tackles and four sacks — and scored three rushing touchdowns.
“They were a really a really athletic team,” said Farmer. “We wanted to bottle him up (Granville quarterback David Fraley), get pressure on him and take him down. He’s a great player.”
Bravo, who got knocked down in Dover’s regional soccer title loss to Bexley earlier Saturday, missed a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter, but nailed his kicks at crunch time.
“I was really nervous because I missed the first one,” admitted Bravo. “I was a little sore, but it wasn’t enough to make me miss. After I made the one in regulation, I felt fine going to the one in overtime.”
It looked like Dover would lose its first playoff game at home since 2003 after Fraley hit Brock Hill with a 7-yard scoring toss with just 36 seconds left in regulation to give the Blue Aces a 24-21 lead.
With no timeouts, Fraley took Granville down the field in the blink of a eye.
But the Tornadoes had just enough time and quarterback Mason Mamarella took advantage with just 32 seconds remaining and no timeouts as well.
“He’s (Fraley) a great player who makes plays, but we’ve got one of those, too,” said Ifft.
Mamarella, who was 23-of-45 passing for 268 yards with no touchdowns and one interception, hit Trey Wallick and Jake Dummermuth before finding Cory Contini on a 19-yard connection on a fourth-and-3 play.
Contini’s one-handed grab got Dover to the Granville 16 with just six seconds left, and Bravo’s kick sent the game into overtime with one tick to spare.
“I didn’t have any doubts,” said Mamarella. “I believe in this team so much.”
Contini caught 13 balls for 156 yards and Wallick added seven catches for 76.
“I just tried to make plays,” said Contini. “We thought we could get some stuff over the middle. All that matters is we won and we’re moving on.”
In the overtime, Dover won the toss and went on defense first.
Granville opened with a 2-yard run and an incomplete pass. A 16-yard sandwich sack by Farmer and Luke Filippi took the Blue Aces out of field-goal range. A fourth-down pass by Fraley fell incomplete. Then, it was the Tornadoes’ turn.
After a 12-man on the field penalty by Granville, Dover started the drive at the 15. Runs by Farmer and Ala Morris, who picked up a big first down, moved the ball to the 4 to set up the Dover kicker.
And Bravo booted the ball with authority through the uprights to send Dover to Week 12.
“He crushed both of those kicks,” said Ifft. “We wanted to run the ball in that situation. If we scored a touchdown great, but we knew Felipe could make it.”
In addition to Farmer’s 17 tackles, Morris and Aaronn Sergent recorded 11 tackles and Mick Fishel added 10 tackles.
Mamarella had 47 yards rushing on 17 carries and Farmer added 34 yards on 13 attempts.
