By STEVE JACKSON
Four of the five South Shore football schools registered wins last Friday night. Unbeaten Lennard and 2-2 Spoto both overwhelmed opponents. Sumner and East Bay both hit late field goals to claim victories and go 2-2. Riverview, now 1-3, was walloped up in Plant City by the powerful Raiders.
Three of the five have home games this Friday evening. Lennard is highly favored to run its season to 5-0 in Ruskin versus another cream puff in 0-3 Leto. The Riverview Sharks are a decided underdog with visiting Newsome. Spoto is hoping to outscore 3-1 Chamberlain, coming to town from Tampa. Meanwhile, East Bay hits the Tampa road to face one of the best 0-4 teams in the area in the Blake Yellow Jackets. Sumner at 2-2 also visits Tampa, looking for its third straight win with a competitive 2-2 Plant High Panthers.
Coach KB Belton’s high-flying Lennard Longhorns cruised to its fourth straight win of the season, bashing hapless Gateway of Ft. Myers 41-6 in Ruskin last Friday. The Horns were led by junior quarterback Jacob Mobley who passed for 274 yards and four TDs. Mobley has 12 passing TDs already this season. All four of the Horns starting receivers caught TD passes. Topping the receiver corps was junior London Green with seven receptions for 113 yards. Junior Keishawn Pestano, senior Keon Brown and senior Elijah Marcelin also snared Mobley TD tosses. Lennard senior running back Gavin Fields complemented the offense. Fields churned 134 yards on 14 carries and rumbled for two TDs for his third straight 100-yard game. Senior place kicker Aiden Gibbons hit 3 of 3 PATS and Mobley ran for a 2-point conversion.
Lennard’s tough defense also stood tall against the weak Gateway Eagles visitors, forcing a running clock in the third quarter. Safety sophomore Mekhi Williams stole another interception, his fifth of the year, breaking the Lennard single-season interception record. Junior Dorian Burns also collected an interception from his safety position. Contributing to the tackling job on defense were junior Nazir Pierre, 10; sophomore Sta’shawn Gage, eight; junior Kaleab Sanders, seven; senior Jamarie Clark, seven; and junior Thomas Shine, six.
Spoto, under Coach Keith Chattin, also enjoyed a cupcake, smashing 0-4 King High 57-0 behind its talented offensive trio of Z’orey Cotton, Nathan Richardson and Jesse Harden. The sleek senior Cotton carried the pigskin only six times but gained 281 yards with his longest run of 92 yards and scored four TDs. Junior quarterback Richardson hit 5 of 8 passes for 216 yards and a pair of TDs. The sure-handed junior Harden hauled in three of those passes for 175 yards and two TDs. Harden also grabbed two interceptions. Senior running back Jaedyn Cartwright chipped in with 48 yards on five rushes.
Defensively, Spoto stymied King, holding the Lions to only 6 yards on seven rushing attempts. King added 121 yards through the air. Spartans stalwarts on defense included senior Xavier Ortiz in on eight tackles and junior Nasier Foster six tackles, including two sacks. Senior defensive lineman Zakai Anthony scored a TD as well as participated in six tackles.
Meanwhile, over on Big Bend Road, the East Bay Indians of Coach Mike Gottman found enough offense and nipped Bloomingdale 13-10. “I’m proud of our players,” said Coach Gottman after the crucial win, which makes East Bay 2-2.
EB field goal kicker junior Jaxson Farchione knocked home a 22-yard three pointer to provide the margin for the slim win. Farchione also put the Indians on the scoreboard early with a 21-yarder in the first quarter to make it 3-0. EB’s Carlos Lemon scored on a 30-yard pass play from quarterback Rocco Boyd in the 2nd quarter to push the Indians ahead 10-7, prior to Bloomingdale’s knotting the clash 10-10 with a field goal in the third quarter.
Stat-wise, East Bay garnered 93 yards passing and 142 yards on the ground. Indians QB Boyd hit 8 of 12 and the lone TD. Running back Tommy Rieger banged out 59 tough yards on 12 carries and returned two punts for 106 yards, including one for 90 yards. Limiting the Bulls on defense for the Indians was junior Jowell Amador, participating in six tackles. Also holding the line for EB were seniors Nicholas Wilson, in on five tackles and registering two sacks, and Justin Cornish participating in four tackles.
Coach Tony Rodriquez took his Riverview Sharks to Plant City, where the Raiders swamped the Sharks 54-7. The home team returned the opening kickoff 89 yards to jump out front. It was all downhill from there for Riverview.
Sharks running back Isaiah Washington dashed 70 yards for a score, and Andrew Lee accumulated 70 yards rushing on seven carries as the Sharks managed 146 yards on the ground. Washington added 133 yards on kick returns. Sharks quarterbacks senior Rod Mack and sophomore Aidan Airgood could only muster 4 of 8 passing for 31 passing yards. Julian Arthurs grabbed three passes for 23 yards, but it was not nearly enough to stay with the offensive dynamics of Plant City and its star QB Chris Denson. Riverview also turned over the ball four times. Sharks placekicker Warren Shriver hit the only Riverview PAT of the night.
Sumner bounced back in a big way, edging Newsome 17-14 as Coach George Selvie’s defense set the tone. (See Sumner article and photos by Francis Fedor in this week’s print and in digital version at ObserverNews.net.)