City of Life, Osceola County's lone eight-man football program, clinched a Sunshine State Athletic Conference playoff spot last week.
So Friday, the goal was to let it all hang out for Senior Night, and those Warriors seniors -- all five of them on a roster of two-dozen -- made plays in a 52-14 romp over Real Life Christian at Hickory Tree Park in St. Cloud to move to 7-2 on the season.
It was a 22-14 game less than a minute before halftime, but senior Ryko Fonseca caught a 15-yard pass from junior quarterback David Buggs, and then Buggs hit tight end Franklyn Pache on a 75-yard scoring strike on the first play after halftime.
The Warriors ran four second-half plays: Pache's catch, a 16-yard run by Anthony Felix, admirably playing Senior Night on an injured knee, and Buggs touchdown runs of 74 and 66 yards. Buggs threw for 245 yards on just 5-of-7 passing, and rushed six times for 159 yards.
Seniors Connor Szasz and Delwin Rivera also scored on first-half runs, and Niko Laquea had a sack.
Coach Robert Trost played and coached at public schools Gateway and St. Cloud, recognizes the talent on his team.
"David's ability and X's and O's IQ is clear," he said.
Eight-man football is just that, played with three fewer players than traditional football, to allow smaller schools with a smaller pool of players to still play the game. There are three offensive linemen instead of five, and teams use one fewer receiver or lineman. Defenses are allowed three down linemen. The field is 40 yards wide instead of 53.
The SSAC features 'A' and 'B' brackets, and City of Life played for the state championship last year before moving up to the 'A' side this year. The Warriors have clinched a playoff spot, and will know after its season finale at Vero Beach Masters Academy if they host a playoff game the following week.
Trost said the program plans to graduate to full 11-man football next year.
"We're growing the athletic program here as a whole, so that's going to happen. A lot of our talent this year is the junior class. We'll still be in the SSAC, playing teams like Lake Highland Prep, (Oviedo) Master's Academy, Faith Christian, Orlando Christian Prep. We started a JV program, so our future is bright."
