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Life, let alone football, rarely offers second chances as sweet as the one that stared down Mike O’Regan on Friday.

The Lely senior quarterback, roughly two minutes after misfiring on a fourth-down pass that might have put his team in an 0-2 hole, found redemption in streaking wideout Dado Michel.

This time, O’Regan didn’t flinch.

Their 29-yard hookup, on a fourth-and-8 from South Fort Myers’ 29-yard line with 11 minutes to go, sealed a 17-14 nailbiter over the frisky Wolfpack, giving Trojans coach Steve Pricer his first win after 31 years as an assistant.

"It’s been too many years to think about that," Pricer countered afterward. "This was about the kids. I’m so happy for the them."

In particular, O’Regan, who shone (10-of-26, 111 yards, 2 TDs) a week after missing on several "little things" — Pricer’s words — in the Week 1 home loss to Barron Collier.

The senior seemed to make all the right decisions in his seventh career start, even if it was as simple as making a smooth handoff to Fortin Faustin, who ran for a game-high 147 yards on a workman’s-like 25 carries. In particular, though, he was impressive on the second fourth-down try, the memory of his incompletion on a fourth-and-6 from South’s 15 still painfully fresh between his earpads.

"We knew that play would probably be open," O’Regan said of the go-ahead scoring pass to Michel. "I had him crossing on a slant and he caught it in traffic pretty well. It was a pretty long play, but I knew he caught it."

Lely (1-1) found itself in that position thanks to its defense, which recorded five sacks (three by senior Louga Isme) and forced two turnovers in spite of another strong performance from South Fort Myers’ freshman sensation Dallas Crawford.

The ninth-grader, making his first start under center after splitting time last week with junior Chad Vanderbosch, went 11-for-25 for 172 yards passing, including a 57-yard bomb to Brad Rucker (4 catches, 81 yards) to give the Wolfpack a 7-3 halftime lead. He added 15 rushes for 35 yards, 16 of them coming on a fourth-and-17 scamper that came up a yard short to seal Pricer’s first career win with under two minutes left.

He was the unquestioned bright spot on a night that saw the Wolfpack come up empty in three trips to the red zone, two of them on rare missed field goals (from 23 and 27 yards) from David Kittinger, one of Lee County’s surest kickers.

The Wolfpack (1-1) did see the return of last year’s leading rusher, Jimmy Jean, who missed the season opener with an Achilles injury, but he had just two carries for 2 yards, the last of which resulted in a fumble that set up O’Regan’s heroics.

"Offensively we did not execute and make the plays we needed to," said South coach Grant Redhead, who fell to 1-4 all-time against Collier County opponents and 0-3 all-time in Naples. "We put our defense in a hole twice and that’s how they scored twice. We have to be more mentally focused, but our kids did play hard against a good team and they didn’t quit. This game will do wonders for us when we get to district play."

Wonders were reserved for the home team on Friday, though.

A week after squandering a second half lead on this field to the Cougars, Pricer praised his group for not wilting in a similar situation.

Just four plays after O’Regan’s 6-yard scoring toss to Justo Vasquez erased that 7-3 deficit, South silenced a boisterous home crowd on Ed Dorris’ 59-yard end around down the right side.

O’Regan said the team was dejected, sure, when their first try at a response, the failed fourth-down gamble, came up empty in the third quarter, but Jean lost that carry and Pricer’s offense made good on another opportunity.

"There was a lot of pressure on (O’Regan) and he really rose to the occasion," Pricer said. "Boy, it was an exciting game. Jerrod Ackley, our defensive coordinator and his coaches, they worked so hard and put in so many hours. I’m so proud. They really deserve this win. Those kids played their hearts out."