Although the Key West High football team still has one more game to play tonight, it has already been a season filled with its share of ups and downs for the Conchs.

Let's start with the high points.

After falling to Marathon for the first two times ever over the last two seasons, Key West snapped its losing skid against the Dolphins with a 17-10 Week Four win in Marathon in a game that certainly places among the best in the series history. With hard hits and big plays routinely made on both sides of the ball, the game came down to a big interception by the Conchs' Jycorae Mason with under a minute to go that set off a celebration on the Key West sideline and in the visitor's stands.

The victory over the Dolphins secured the county championship for the Conchs for the first time in three years, and a 29-0 win over Solid Rock Christian the following week gave the team its first 4-0 start since 1989.

That wasn't the only history made this season for Key West, which saw a few school records go down this season as well.

Quarterback Stephen Jones, who has 1,138 passing yards this season and eight touchdowns through the air, set a couple of new passing marks in his senior campaign. Jones surpassed the single-season record of 1,014 yards set in 1984 by Joey Gandolfo and later shattered the old mark for career passing yards, 1,838 set by Robert James from 1971-73. Jones is currently tied for the single-season completions record, as his 79 matches John Jackson's record 1986 season.

Jones broke the career passing mark last month in a 35-13 loss to South Dade, during which Clive Georges hauled in seven catches for 152 yards to break the single-game receiving record of 129 set in 1977 by Carlton Howard.

The news this season wasn't always good, however.

A lightning storm forced the cancellation of the first game of the season, a scheduled matchup against Class 6A Homestead, an old Key West rival. Versatile athletes Clinton McCoy and Andre Drew went down with season-ending injuries, and senior Phillip Young, who had been a three-way starter and played multiple positions, was dismissed from the team prior to last week's postseason play-in game against Miami Jackson, which ended in a 35-0 Key West loss.

Despite last week's setback, which kept them out of the playoffs for the fifth straight season, the Conchs (5-3) still have plenty to play for in their season finale tonight against visiting Miami Ferguson. Not only is it homecoming, but a win would secure the best record since 2004 and end the season on a positive note following that 4-0 start.

With several players returning and still looking to snap that postseason skid, a quality win over a playoff-bound 6A opponent could go a long way toward building that confidence for next season.

Assistant Sports Editor Willis Jacobson's column appears exclusively each Friday in The Citizen. He can be reached at 305-292-7777, Ext. 223, or at wjacobson@keysnews.com.