The second-seeded Seahawks rallied to defeat College of Idaho 36-27 as Coach Myles Russ returned to the sidelines.
WEST PALM BEACH — Head coach Myles Russ made his comeback. And so did his Keiser football juggernaut.
With their ailing head coach back on the sidelines after dealing with a life-threatening nerve disease, Keiser’s unbeaten football team continued its playoff roll with a 36-27 defeat of the College of Idaho in the NAIA semifinals on Dec. 13.
But not until rallying from a 21-9 halftime deficit with four second-half touchdowns in a dogfight at Keiser Football Field.
With Russ donning headphones and doing most of the head-coaching duties, the Seahawks moved one victory from their second NAIA championship in three years.
When the second-seeded Seahawks (12-0) face unbeaten and top-seeded Grandview (Iowa) in the NAIA championship game on Dec. 20, Russ will take the flight to Fort Worth, Texas.
“I will be there,’’ Russ said in his post-game news conference. “Absolutely. That was part of the plan - get back to the semifinals, win and go to Texas together. We leave on Thursday, but I still want us to celebrate a bit.’’
The game is a rematch of last year’s championship game won by Grandview. It is the fourth straight NAIA finals appearance for the West Palm Beach superpower.
Russ battled back. His team battled back.
“Everybody looks at me and thinks it’s easy peasy,’’ Russ said afterward. “I still have sensations with numbness in the hands and legs. I have progressed a lot and way ahead of the game. People don’t understand where I was at 2 1/2 weeks ago when I had to learn to walk again. I had a walker in the hospital.’’
On his coach’s show Friday, Russ, who had missed the regular-season finale and first playoff game, revealed he’s been recovering from Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a life-threatening nerve ailment that can take one year to get back to full strength and can cause paralysis.
Russ had planned to sit on the team bench when he got fatigued, but he held up well, spending most of the time on his feet.
Russ admitted he “wasn’t as involved’ and didn’t do as much with the team in the morning prep because his “wife was protecting me.’’ But Russ stepped up at game time.
’I always allow our coordinators to do what they need to do,’’ Russ said. “My job is to advise what I see. During the game I was doing everything normal. That’s why this continues to roll. I allow the coordinators to do their thing.’’
Senior QB Shea Spencer responsible for 5 touchdowns
The star was senior quarterback Shea Spencer, who notched five touchdowns – a career-high three rushing.
“To have Coach Russ in the building, you always knew he’s there,’’ said Spencer, who threw for 353 yards. “He’s humble and quiet but his character, charisma and being gritty is the definition of weathering the storm. That’s what we did today. We weathered the storm.’’
On his coach’s show, Russ said of GBS, “It effects your nerves. “I still have a load ahead of me with recovery. But I’m so blessed to be back with the team this week and be their leader as we go out to the semifinals.’’
On his show, Russ, who has been with Keiser’s program since its inception eight years ago, delivered more details about his journey.
He said he was hospitalized nearly five weeks ago and diagnosed with GBS. He said the condition “affected my breathing.’. He added he was “incubated for five straight days’’ and kept in ICU for 2½ weeks.
Peter Davila, the defensive coordinator, had been acting head coach in the regular-season finale and the second-round 44-16 win over Southeastern. Keiser won on a forfeit in the quarterfinals as Marion (Indiana) was forced to drop out because of an ineligible player.
”I was out five weeks but only missed two games,’’ Russ said after the semifinal win. “It’s crazy.
“Everything we teach our players is something I have to endure now,’’ said Russ on Friday's show. “The things I get on our team about as in how are you going to deal with adversity, being patient and not allow things to be in vain and learn from, those are things what I’m doing right now.’’
As his team did in Saturday’s rally.
“I’m so proud of this team,’’ Russ said. “I loved how this team works through adversity. Got up nine on us at half. I was excited. I always talk about who will be the calm when adversity hits. They did a great job.’’
Russ returned to parts of practice this past week. “It’s a blessing for me to be here,’’ Russ said. “I missed them so much.’’
Keiser scored on its first possession after elusive quarterback Spencer cocked his arm in a fake, then rushed for a 21-yard touchdown. Spencer’s 37-yard scamper with 14:26 left put Keiser up for good at 22-21.
Spencer knew he’d have to step up running.
“I said earlier this week I have to use my legs,’’ Spencer said. “They man match everything and don’t have a man for me. I knew I had to use my legs but I didn’t know that much.’’
After the initial fireworks, Keiser didn’t score on its next five possessions entering halftime and trailed 21-9. Multiple halftime speeches centered on facing adversity.
Trailing 9-0, College of Idaho scored three straight first-half touchdowns – including two long touchdown passes from quarterback Caden Young to Torey Watkins. The 6-foot-3 Young finished the trifecta by running it in from 65 yards out, shredding through a suddenly less-confident Keiser defense.
“We definitely need to execute more of our plays because our plays were definitely there,’’ said receiver Dallas Desouza of Cardinal Newman fame. “We had a different mindset to spread out their defense.’’
Keiser scored on the opening possession of the second half by driving 79 yards, punctuated by Spencer’s 2-yard quarterback draw.
College of Idaho staged a late rally to make it 29-27 but Keiser broke up a potential tying 2-point conversion pass.
Keiser surged ahead as Desouza scored on a 44-yard catch-and-run.
“Our coach coming back, we had a spark even when he was gone,’’ said Desouza, motivated by his alma-mater’s state title two days earlier. “We had a chip on our shoulder. It felt good for him to be back on the sidelines, seeing his face and smile. It brought the energy.’’
Receiver Maurico Porcha hauled in a 54-yard TD catch to make it 36-27 and star defensive end Tai Lologo sealed it with a sack on fourth down in Keiser territory with 3:40 left.
The defensive star was Forest Hill graduate Malik Razz, who had a key interception. “It was great to have him back’’ Razz said. “Our goal is to always to be national champions. That’s why coach puts it on the end of our slides (film). Finish it.’’
It’s now onto Grandview in the heart of Texas.
“They have a very well-coached team and very physical on both sides of the ball,’’ Russ said. “We worked hard after that game (last year), working for this moment. They’re the No. 1 team and have to take it from them.’’
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: NAIA football final will pit Keiser vs. Grandview in a repeat of 2024
Category: General Sports
