Nova Lakes' first-ever regular-season varsity snap, against Palm Bay. (Photo/Ken Jackson)
Years from now, Nova Lakes High School fans, family, friends, players and parents won’t recall the 41-7 score against Palm Bay in Friday’s first-ever regular-season varsity football game.
They’ll just remember they were there when it finally kicked off after a 50-minute lightning delay.
Among the “firsts in school history”:
After the Rattlers picked up their inaugural first down via a penalty, Angelo Daddona gained the first won in the “normal” way on a seven-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.
On the first drive, Dedonna carried on Nova’s first running play. The first pass was a completion, from Joshua Rodriguez to Jaden Dionisi.
On defense, lineman Jeremiah Johnson-Wallace tallied the team’s first tackle for loss. Proving some beast-like tendencies, he picked up the second, then the third, on the Rattlers’ second defensive possession.
And then, in the second half, Dadonna put Nova Lakes on the scoreboard for the first time with a rushing touchdown, showing the promise that the next game could bring.
That game, next week, is at Liberty, which took one on the chin against Harmony. The Longhorns, in Coach Tyler Anderson’s regular-season return to the Longhorn sideline, dominated in all phases of the game in a 61-0 shutout. It tied the largest margin of victory in school history with a 68-7 win over St. Cloud on Oct. 27, 2006.
Quarterbacks Lucas Haddad (three) and Cooper Halquist (two, to Ben Nurmi and Burke Wilson) combined for five touchdown passes, and the special teams recovered three muffed punts and returned another one when Kane Dow brought one back 40 yards to open the second-half scoring.
The defense has now pitched shutouts against Liberty and in the Kickoff Classic against Freedom (46-0).
“The defense is doing what it’s supposed to do, and it’s great to have guys making those kind of plays early in the season,” said Coach Tyler Anderson, who is back after being the first Longhorns coach from 2004-07. “On offense I’m pleased with the progression of what we’re putting in, but there’s going to be more we’ll have to do better if we want to be a really good team.”
The Longhorns will go for a 2-0 record in Lakeland next week against Victory Christian (0-1), a 44-12 loser to Melbourne Central Catholic Friday.
