Harmony 41, The Villages 14
Coach Don Simon’s return to the Harmony sideline was not particularly smooth sailing, but at least it didn’t count.
Harmony allowed five long touchdown plays and turned the ball over five times in a 41-14 exhibition loss to The Villages Charter in Friday’s Kickoff Classic exhibition as Simon – Harmony winningest all-time coach – returned to the sidelines after serving two years as Athletic Director at Tohopekaliga.
“Nothing really surprised me tonight. I knew we were going to be playing an extremely talented team and I knew we would be playing a bunch of young players. When you do that, mistakes are going to happen. Let’s just call it growing pains and we will see what we can do to get better for our opener (next Friday at Windermere).”
Forced into third and long a number of times in the first half, Villages quarterback Ja’dence Kennedy rolled out of trouble and fired touchdown passes for 57, 34 and 33 yards.
“We put some good pressure on him and made him throw on the run, but he put them on target,” Simon noted. “We had some breakdowns on a couple of long plays in the first half, but give him (Kennedy) some credit too. He is a terrific, athletic QB who is going to make a lot of plays this season.”
Harmony cut the gap to 34-14 midway through the third quarter with two defensive touchdowns. Roberto Rodriguez returned an interception 45 yards for a score and Adrian Diaz blocked and recovered a punt for a touchdown.
Game Notes: Charter was late arriving to the game, resulting in a 40-minute delay and a 7:40 kickoff…Campus power went off in the third quarter resulting in another 25-minute delay, much like it did in 2022 during the Brass Bugle game against St. Cloud … Positives for the Longhorns included a 47-yard run by Scott Hilliard and a 48-yard completion between Landon Hayes and Bryce Berry.
University 28, Liberty 14
New-ish Chargers Coach Janko Beras (he took over late last season as an interim) saw some things in Friday’s Kickoff Classic against University to believe Liberty will have some success in 2025.
Liberty fell, 28-14, but Beras said he saw “flashes” of ability and competitiveness that he liked.
“But we had issues with the snap and turnovers, and I look at the scoreboard and that feels like the difference,” the coach said.
Getting good center snaps proved tough at first, affecting three of Liberty’s first five snaps, and helped University romp out to a 21-0 lead three plays into the second quarter. After that the Chargers showed ability to move the ball, rushing 42 times for 332 yards, led by quarterback Dylan Kennedy (20 carries, 141 yards out of the option) and tailback Rashad Robinson (11-115)
Liberty came out of halftime and pieced together a 12-play, 70-yard drive that took seven minutes. Jaiden Swopes gained chunks on runs of 15 and 19 yards and fullback Curtis Ray scored on a one-yard plunge. Gregory Stambaugh added the PAT. The Chargers then forced a fourth-down stop, but the chance to make it a one-score game dissolved when the Cougars grabbed another bad snap scooped and scored on the recovery to make it 28-7.
In the fourth quarter, Kennedy scored on a 58-yard run, and Xavier Cobb snared an interception.
“I’m proud of plenty of things the kids did tonight,” Beras said. “They’re young, and they have to learn to earn (a winning result).
The Chargers open the season by traveling to the second-year Innovation Bulls next Friday.
