See all the scores, Week 1 matchups to open the regular season next week
Friday night was time for high school football teams to finally go against someone wearing a different colored uniform.
While the Kickoff Classics this week are preseason games and don't count for or against team records, it doesn't mean the intensity level isn't higher than high.
That was on display at Gannarelli Field in St. Cloud, where the Bulldogs took to its new synthetic turf field and dominated new school Innovation, 45-0, scoring all the points in the first half.
“The plan was to play the varsity for three quarters and then restart the game in the fourth quarter and for both teams to just use junior varsity kids in that final period,” said Bulldogs Coach Mike Short. “We knew they were a very young team but we had no idea they had no seniors on their roster and only seven juniors and were starting eight freshmen. If we had known that we would have adjusted the game’s format.”
St. Cloud needed just one play to take a 7-0. Senior quarterback Logan King completed a shovel pass to Alex Springs, who raced around right end, broke one tackle and went 75 yards for a score.
Bryce Williams then snared the first of two interceptions to set up a Cameron Dalton's 15-yard run to make it 14-0. Daniel Elizondo booted a 21-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter for a 17-0 lead. Elizondo also hit all six of his extra points and reached the end zone on several kickoffs in his St. Cloud debut.
King also connected on a 50-yard scoring play to Owen Sullivan and a 7-yard scoring strike to Josiah Cotto. He finished the game 10 for 16 for 218 yards and no interceptions. Michael Cuyler accounted for St. Cloud’s other score on a 14-yard run.
Defensively, St. Cloud recorded four interceptions, five tackles-for-loss and two quarterback sacks in the first half to limit Innovation to just six yards of total offense in the first half on 25 plays. Short played reserves in the final four minutes of the second quarter and all of the third and his defense still only gave up 46 yards in the varsity portion of the game – 36 of which came on the final two plays of the period.
“Without question our defensive front was a huge question mark entering fall camp,” Short noted. “I thought they played really well tonight, getting after the quarterback and exerting pressure. It made it easier for the guys on the backside to make some plays.”
Celebration (21-12 over Colonial) and Poinciana (48-0 over Cypress Creek, also were winners Friday. They will play each other at Mike La Rosa Field next week with new head coaches.
Osceola County's other teams got an idea of what they need to work on going into the season. For example, Tohopekaliga had 205 yards of offense at halftime at its game at Timber Creek, but the Tigers fell, 41-14.
Prolific quarterback Sabby Meassick threw for 289 yards, but uncharacteristically, no touchdowns. A deft slant pass over the middle to Tony Brown for 25 yards set up Jaxson Hardnett's 2-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter that made it 17-7. But the Wolves' answer was a 85-yard touchdown pass from Devin Dicko to Hanoj Williams on 3rd-and-15.
The Tigers executed an onside kick to start the third quarter, and went 60 yards in eight plays. Chris Charity ran it in from 2 yards out to make it 24-14. But while Toho did move the ball on the night, their lack of success on 4th down (1-for-4) hurt the consistency.
"This showed we have a lot of work to do," Tigers Coach Anthony Paradiso said. "We're young at the skill positions around Sabby. I hope tonight they've learned they have to get much better."
Friday's scores:
St. Cloud 45, Innovation 0
Celebration 21, Colonial 12
Liberty 20, University 12
Poinciana 48, Cypress Creek 0
Timber Creek 41, Tohopekaliga 14
Bishop Moore 21, Osceola 20
The Villages 16, Harmony 9
Windermere 35, Gateway 0
Week 1: Aug. 23
All games 7 p.m.
Poinciana at Celebration
Treasure Coast at Osceola
Freedom at St. Cloud
Space Coast at Gateway
Windermere at Harmony
Liberty at Innovation
Tohopekaliga at Melbourne
