Poinciana and Gateway coaches and officials honored Jeff Mathis, a former coach for both teams, who passed away earlier this year. PHOTO/KEN JACKSON
Chance Frazier caught a pair of touchdown passes and Will Nezius ran for two more as Poinciana won a battle of county rivals against Gateway, 28-13, on Friday.
The game started solemnly as Jeff Mathis, who was a head coach at Poinciana in 2013-14 and more recently an assistant at Gateway before passing away earlier this year, was remembered. Coaches and administrators wore commemorative T-shirts in Mathis' honor.
It was also a reunion of sorts, as Gateway assistants Henry Miller and Laderrien Wilson played with PHS Coach Taron Mallard at Bethune-Cookman University. Mallard and GHS assistant Isaiah Wharton played against each other here in Osceola County.
The win made Poinciana bowl eligible with three games left: next week's Battle of the Boulevard rivalry at Liberty (where the Eagles hope to make it three straight), hosting Timber Creek and playing Auburndale on Nov. 7 in a make-up from last week's hurricane. Then, a potential bowl game against the likes of Windermere.
"I was worried about us being rusty after not playing for two weeks," Mallard said. "We had a good week. I'm happy we got the win, and I think we have a real chance to finish up strong."
The Eagles (5-2) took the upper hand in the "Mathis Bowl" on their first two possessions. After forcing a Gateway punt, Poinciana went 67 yards in 10 plays an nearly five minutes, and Frazier punctuated it with a 12-yard touchdown catch from senior passer Cameron Brown.
Ernest Nunn got the Eagles the ball back with an interception and return to the Gateway 31. Frazier's 27-yard catch set up Will Nezius' 4-yard scoring run with 35 seconds left in the first quarter.
The score remained 14-0 until Frazier caught his second TD pass, an 8-yarder on a crossing route in the flat, on the final play of the third quarter. The Panthers (3-5) responded with a 60-yard scoring drive and a Josh Fuller 6-yard TD run to make it 21-7 with 6:13 left in the game before Nezius scored his other touchdown from 1 yard out four minutes later.
Nezius caried 20 times for 115 yards and his two scores. Brown was 13-for-20 passing for 178 yards.
Fuller carried 13 times for 67 yards, and caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from Nydrell Thigpen on a halfback option pass. Prior to that late play, the Eagles held Gateway to 105 yards. The Panthers have a bye next week.
