ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREP EXTRA : Savanna Runs Out of Chances : Football: After a wild finish, Kennedy manages to escape with 8-6 victory.

Savanna shot itself in the foot--three times in a row--Friday night and that let Kennedy escape with an 8-6 nonleague football victory that ended in a frenzy at Glover Stadium.

Kennedy took an 8-0 lead late in the third quarter in an otherwise snoozer of a game that produced three fumbles, 166 yards in penalties and few heroes.

The Fighting Irish, who struggled to gain 105 yards in total offense, grabbed the lead on Brad Sabol’s 28-yard interception return of a Brandon Warden pass intended for Savanna wide receiver Jason Smith with 1:35 left in the third quarter.

Then Brad Sabol passed to his brother, Garrett, for a two-yard conversion.

Savanna marched to the Kennedy 19-yard line on the next series, but Kennedy’s Jack Tucker stopped the drive by sacking Warden.

Savanna countered, ending a 12-play Kennedy march with a sack of quarterback Tom Haas.

That finally got the Rebels’ attack in gear.

Running back Eric Shine gaining 47 yards of a 53-yard, seven-play drive, capping the team’s only scoring drive with a 12-yard touchdown run up the middle with 56 seconds left.

Playing without a timeout, Savanna lined up for a two-point conversion of its own. But an unidentified lineman moved his foot, and the Rebels were whistled for illegal motion. That put the ball back at the seven-yard line.

Warden, seemingly unfazed by the penalty, then passed into the back of the end zone to wide receiver Richard Caballero. It looked as if Caballero had at least one foot inbounds. But Caballero was ruled to have caught the ball with both feet beyond the back of the end zone.

The Rebels still had life, though.

Savanna’s onside kick try failed, but Haas fumbled the ensuing snap with 25 seconds left at the Kennedy 30. The Rebels recovered and raced their offense onto the field.

Eight seconds elapsed before Savanna could get a play off, however, and instead of a pass, Shine raced around left end for seven yards. He was stopped short of the sideline and a first down. As the clock ticked down to seven seconds, Rebel Coach Fred DiPalma sent his field goal team racing onto the field. But in the mad scramble to set up, the Rebels couldn’t get the snap off.

DiPalma was his own worst critic after the game.

“That was a stupid mistake on my part,” DiPalma said. “I don’t know what I was thinking. That’s a long field goal for any kicker.”

Kennedy running back Darin Martineau carried 14 times for only 28 yards. Shine, who rushed 21 times, gained 149 yards, accounting for about twice as much offense as his teammates combined.