By FRANCIS FEDOR
Lennard Longhorns (7-0) 24 Plant City Raiders (5-2) 0
The Longhorns remained undefeated, moving to 7-0 on the season, with another definitive win over the Plant City Raiders, who were undefeated before traveling to Sumner last week. The team continues to hang zeroes up on the scoreboard for the opponents, moving their streak of shutouts to four and only giving up 19 points on the season. The Longhorns are having a fun season in Ruskin and only have three games remaining before the playoffs open. Lennard remains tied with Palmetto with two wins each at the top of the 6A District 11 standings, and the teams will meet in Ruskin on Oct. 24.
Lennard wasted no time getting on the board with a 50-yard pass from QB Jacob Mobley to Al’quan Smith. Mobley now holds the passing record, eclipsing 2021 graduate Gavin Henley. That TD was all the Longhorns needed, but Mobley completed a 20-yard pass to London Green, and Zain Lateef tacked on a field goal for a 17-0 halftime lead. RB Robert Gibbons scored the Longhorns final TD to seal the victory. Mobley had another efficient game on offense, tossing for 186 yards. Ronnie Wilson chewed up the clock, rushing for 102 yards on 23 carries. Senior London Green finished with 104 yards receiving. Kicker Lateef is ranked third in Florida with 34 PATs, thanks to the prolific Longhorn TD scoring offense.
Lennard football/Tim Mabins Jr. Photo
Longhorn senior Jaiden Jones celebrates a defense play during the Lennard win over Plant City on Oct. 3.
The defense has been a stone wall this season. Three different players came up with interceptions, including Bryce Herald, who returned his pick for 48 yards, setting up the Longhorns with great field position. Charles Mcdaniel and Chayse Brown also had one INT each. Five different players combined for nine sacks and had the Raider QB on his heels all night. Devin Barnette and Jaxon Earl each had 2.5 sacks to lead the defense.
Up Next:
The KB Belton led Longhorns have a break in their schedule before heading south one exit on I-75 to play a district match-up against Parrish Community (5-1 with its only loss to Palmetto) on Oct. 17. They play a big game the following week, Oct. 24, in Ruskin, with Palmetto making the trip north for back-to-back district match-ups against Palmetto. Both teams have two district wins.
Spoto Spartans (4-3) 49 Freedom Patriots (1-5) 0
The Spartans caught a break in the schedule with Freedom coming to Gibsonton to play Spoto and took advantage of it for another South Shore shutout, moving to 4-3 on the season and handing the Patriots their fifth loss.
The Spoto Spartans got out of the gate early, putting up 34 points before the teams hit halftime. Senior Jesse Harden is ranked sixth in Florida in kickoff return yardage at just over 47 yards per return. Harden is always a threat to give the offense great field position to start its work.
The defense pitched a shutout, and Johnny Harris and Zackari Cole led the charge with a QB sack each. Harris had four tackles and Cole disrupted the Freedom offense with three tackles. Nasir Foster led all Spartans with six total tackles.
Spoto bounced back nicely with the home win after the loss to TB Tech the previous week.
Up Next:
The Spartans end their three-game homestand on Oct. 10 with a district match-up, welcoming struggling Leto, before heading back out on the road for two games after a week off. Spoto will look to get its first district win against Leto before heading into another district match-up against South Shore rival East Bay in Gibsonton on Oct. 24. The Indians are atop the district standings with one win. Spoto travels into Tampa to play winless Sickle Gryphons on Oct. 31 to wrap up its regular season and, hopefully, gain an opportunity for playoff action.
Francis Fedor Photo
Lennard senior QB Jacob Mobley has passed 2021 graduate Gavin Henley for the top spot on the Longhorns all-time passing yards list.
East Bay Indians (4-3) 27 Wharton Wildcats (4-3) 24
East Bay rallied in the fourth quarter to emerge with a victory over Wharton on Friday night and remains tied with Tampa Bay Tech in the 5A District 8 standings. The win is a good strength of schedule win as Wharton’s only other losses have come at the hands of Tampa Bay Tech and South Shore rival Sumner.
East Bay and Wharton went to halftime with the Indians holding a 14-10 lead. It was the Wildcats that seized the momentum coming out of halftime and used two rushing TDs to take a 24-14 lead, making the home crowd a bit uneasy. But East Bay was not going to make it easy and scored the next two TDs to take the lead for good and send Wharton back to the bus disappointed.
Richard McClary had a relatively quiet night at QB, completing one TD and also throwing an interception. Omar Germany saw time at QB and completed five of only six passes, but one went for a TD, and he finished with 132 yards for the game. Darion Thomas was the recipient of both TDs and piled up 180 yards of offense. Junior Trey Alexander rushed for 91 yards and two TDs.
Junior Malik Boyd and senior Jowell Amador, and a host of other defenders, were all over the field locking down the defense. Boyd led all tacklers with eight total and Amador followed with seven. Gaven Milton added a sack for the defense.
Lennard football/Tim Mabins Jr. Photo
Lennard junior Ian Malone draws a beat on the Plant City Raider QB in win on Oct. 3.
Up Next:
East Bay faces a tough test on the road against Tampa Bay Tech in a district match-up game that will leave one of the teams a district win ahead of the other. The DeAndra Simmons led Indians close their season against two South Shore rivals. The first is another road game, at Riverview on Oct. 17, and they finish at home vs. Spoto in a district match-up on Oct. 24. That game could determine which team goes to the playoffs, pending the outcome of the Tampa Bay Tech match-up.
Riverview Sharks (3-3) Bye Week
Riverview did not play on Oct. 3 as it had an open week on its schedule to rest up before making a relatively long trip to play the Bartow Yellow Jackets. The Sharks close out their season with two road games. The first is just a short trip to Bloomingdale to play the Bulls, a district opponent, on Oct. 24 and the team closes its regular season schedule at Armwood, which is having a strong season; it is ranked at 11 in Florida for MaxPreps (#1 FHSAA) and sits atop the FHSAA rankings.
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