GAINESVILLE — Chandler Staton watched his 56-yard, game-winning kick drop just inches short of the crossbar -- and was still all smiles on Saturday afternoon.
Welcome to the FCA East-West All-Star Football game, where the third installment of the contest provided some memorable moments on the field but meant so much more than a final score for the players involved.
"This was awesome to be part of this whole thing," said Staton, a senior at Gainesville High. "I'd made kicks of 62 yards in practice before and 49 in games, so I had a pretty good shot at it. And this was just a fun day."
The East held off the West 11-10 at Riverside Military's Maginnis Field, using a touchdown run from Riverside's Kaseem Duke and two-point conversion run from East Hall's Jiel Vargas to manufacture the winning score.
Vargas took a pitch from Flowery Branch's Cortez Davis to notch the winning points, diving into the end zone to take the lead.
"It was great to come out and finish up my high school career like this and just get one last 'W'," Vargas said. "We had so much fun, even just during the week building up to this, being with each other."
The late touchdown overturned a stout performance from the West, that included a 13-yard touchdown pass from Lakeview's Thaddeus Webb to Commerce's J'Varius Wood -- normally Region 8-A foes. Meanwhile, Staton also booted a 45-yard field goal to help the West to a 10-3 third quarter lead. Staton also completed a kick during a halftime charity event to help one local youth earn $2,500.
Riverside's Jordan Ainslie got the scoring going with a 16-yard field goal with just seconds remaining in the first quarter, as the East took a 3-0 lead.
