A roundup of Manatee and Sarasota high school football games played Friday, Sept. 18.
Friday, Sept. 18
Riverview 49, Manatee 47
Receiver Deionne Holloway celebrated in the end zone with 26.5 seconds left in the game. After catching quarterback Nolan Downes’ 22-yard pass, Holloway gave Manatee one last chance to tie the game for the fifth time. All the Hurricanes needed was a successful 2-point try.
But as Downes stepped back, throwing right to a moving tight end, Brennen Gunter, the ball fell in front of the goal line. No tie. No overtime. Rams win.
Riverview outlasted Manatee 49-47 at the Ram Bowl on Friday, Sept. 18. It was another high-scoring battle between the two teams, who combined for 105 points last season in Riverview’s 63-42 win.
“We’ve been in some tough games,” Riverview head
coach Mark Cristiani said. “When you go back to our Kickoff Classic against Port Charlotte, played a tough game with Palmetto also at the end. I was glad the kids found a way to win and get it done at the end. It was great.”
Quarterback Logan Carrillo echoed the sentiment.
"It was a great statement win," he said. "We did a good job competing against them."
Both teams scored on every drive during the first half except one. To open the first quarter, after running backs Justin Flores and Michael Peterson drove the Rams downfield, Peterson ran eight yards for the score.
In two minutes, Manatee (3-2) responded. Running back Caedon White ran 34 yards to the Riverview 23. Then, the Hurricanes inched to the 10 before Downes completed a 10-yard pass to receiver Deno Dalacas.
Both teams traded scores from there. Flores scored from 3 yards out. Then, White broke several tackles for a 34-yard score. Riverview (4-1) responded with one second left in the quarter behind a 1-yard run from Peterson.
Entering the second quarter, Riverview led 21-14.
"The O-line really got it done tonight," Cristiani said. "That's five guys, and a lot of people don't know their names. they're young, and a couple of seniors in that group, but they are a really, really proud group. They work very hard. Hats off to the O-line. Hats off to the running backs."
Dalacas caught Downes 11-yard pass for his second touchdown. And when it seemed like Manatee’s defense would get a stop, Carrillo completed a 43-yard touchdown pass to receiver Ashton Clough on 4th-and-10.
On Manatee’s next drive, safety Gabarre Farlin had an interception, returning it to Riverview 42. Led by Peterson, Riverview took a 35-28 lead at halftime after Peterson scored from 3 yards out.
To open the half, Manatee got a stop, leading to a touchdown from receiver Tavares Powell, who caught a 12-yard pass from Downes.
But Flores responded again, pushing Riverview downfield until he found the end zone on a 5-yard run. Leading 42-35, White scored once more, but Riverview blocked the extra point attempt.
So, when Flores got one last touchdown, and Holloway mustered one last answer, the Hurricanes needed two more points.
But the ball dropped. And as the time wound down, Riverview players celebrated the field. Cristiani couldn't finish his postgame speech before players chimed in.
"We put these kids through difficult situations for time like that," Cristiani said. "They responsed really, really well. I'm proud of the heart they displayed. It was a tough game."
In its Kickoff Classic game, Riverview was within a touchdown. Against Palmetto in Week 3, the Rams almost overcame a 21 point deficit, but they couldn't make the last play.
Riverview found a way to win a close one.
Manatee takeaways
Caedon White continues to dominate. White had at least 34 carries on Friday, rushing for over 260 yards and three touchdowns. Before Friday, White had 80 carries for 683 yards and 12 touchdowns. He is averaging over 180 yards per game.
Another close one. Manatee lost to Tampa Plant 33-26 in Week 1, coming within a touchdown against on the road. The Hurricanes were a catch away from a potential overtime test against Riverview. With a young quarterback and several new pieces, the Hurricanes have shown that they're a team with to contend with as their offense continues to mesh.
What's next? Manatee faces Sumner — ranked 33rd in Florida, according to MaxPreps — in Week 6. Sumner is 3-2, coming off a 43-6 to Armwood, which is a top-25 team in the state.
Riverview takeaways
Logan Carrillo is a "lesson." For the last two seasons, Carrillo has been a backup quarterback, waiting his turn to start for the Rams. "He's exactly who I knew he was," Cristiani said. "It's really a lesson to all these quarterbacks who are so insistent on transferring. I've known who Logan Carrillo was for the last two years. He's a great football player. He was a great football player last year. And he stayed and he didn't transfer. He didn't take the easy way out. Carrillo said he battled a lot of decisions and temptations from outside schools. "I just stayed grounded, and I stayed consistent with my work ethic. I knew it was going to pay off in the end." Carrillo finished 9-of-14 on Friday, passing for over 150 yards and one touchdown. Before Friday, he had 1,103 yards and 14 touchdowns, completing 64.6 percent of his passes.
Peterson and Flores lead the night. Before Friday, the two running backs combined for 457 yards and six touchdowns on 88 carries. Against Manatee, Peterson and Flores had three touchdowns each. They combined for 37 carries and over 250 yards.
What's next? Riverview will play district foe Lehigh in Week 6. Lehigh is 0-4, and will be coming off a bye.
— Emma Moon
Braden River 37, North Port 6
NORTH PORT — Braden River came into Friday night's game with North Port believing it could be successful running the ball against the Bobcats' defense.
"We came in with the idea that we could run the ball and we wanted to establish that," Pirates' coach Rick Farmer said. "After that first series, we kind of got rid of some of the butterflies and we were able to do that."
Led by David Louis, Braden River marched down to the 1 yard line on its opening drive before having to settle for a 22 yard field goal by Wyatt Wittman.
On their next possession, Louis took a handoff on the first play and burst up the middle for a 58 yard touchdown run to make it 9-0 after a blocked PAT.
That gave Louis 100 yards rushing before the first quarter was over. Meanwhile, quarterback Louisen Desinor completed his first two passes of the game in the second quarter, a 26 yard toss to Marquis Koonce and a 25 yard hookup with Jackson Schlabach to set up a 1 yard run by Ben Pham to increase the lead to 16-0 with 8:27 to go in the second quarter.
But that's when the game got away from the Bobcats as a fumble on the first play following the kickoff gave the Pirates the ball at the North Port 18. Louis scored from 2 yards out to make it 23-0. A blocked punt travelled only nine yards, setting the Pirates up at the Bobcats 32 on their next possession. Desinor and Koonce teamed up on a 25 yard scoring pass moments later, and the quarterback finished the first half with a 23 yard TD run with 27 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 37-0 at halftime, ushering in a running clock for the second half.
In the second half, quarterback Cameron Wilson led a 14 play, 97 yard drive to get the Bobcats on the board. Sajeev Johnson scored on a 4 yard run with 7:30 to play.
Braden River finished the game with 246 yards on the ground, led by Louis with 137 yards on 10 carries. Desinor was 7 for 12 through for 115 passing yards. He ran for 26 more. North Port had just 25 yards of offense in the first half and finished the game with 121. Wilson had 47 yards rushing and 36 yards passing.
Braden River takeaways
Offensive line leads the way. After the spring game, Farmer said the offensive line would be a key reason for the team's success in the fall, and that was the case on Friday.
"The offensive line is doing an amazing job," Farmer said. "We've got some younger guys there too, so I'm really proud of how those younger guys have come along and how those older guys that we have right now are helping them. Whether it be making calls or just communicating with them for them to come together as one unit. So I'm really proud of them, they've done an amazing job."
The defense completely handcuffed the Bobcats in the first half. "The defense did a great job," Farmer said. "I know that they're a little disappointed that they didn't get the shutout, but they did a great job in the first half. The staff prepared really well and they played hard. We've just got to make sure that every guy that steps in is ready to go, so the expectation is that the second team is ready to go."
The Pirates are 4-0 for the first time since 2021. That team won its first six games before losing. But things will get a lot tougher for Braden River when it visits Cardinal Mooney next week.
— Bruce Robins
Palmetto 38, Naples 28
The Palmetto Tigers overwhelmed Naples early and hung on later to defeat the Golden Eagles, 38-28, on Friday, Sept. 18, at Harllee Stadium.
The Tigers (4-1) held a 28-0 lead with 9:43 still remaining in the second quarter before the Golden Eagles (2-3) knew what hit them.
Palmetto senior quarterback Matthew Hennesey, who entered the game with 10 TD passes and a 67 percent completion percentage, threw scoring strikes on his first two passes. The first one came on a broken play that turned into a 24-yard TD to Jok Harris. His next heave covered 23 yards with Maurice Carter getting the touchdown.
The Tigers kept pounding away as senior Shane Partridge scored on a 7-yard run for a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Senior Ashton Kelly scored on a 7-yard TD run for a 28-0 margin early in the second period.
“We came out firing on all cylinders,” Palmetto head coach Eric Sanders said. “Pass, run, pass, run. Everybody was executing. I’m very proud of our guys coming out like that.”
The Golden Eagles final got their run-heavy veer offense in motion when sophomore JJ Exantus busted loose for a 46-yard touchdown run midway through the second stanza. Naples got a second TD in the period on a 19-yard scoring run by top rusher Jevan Raphael
The Tigers got another TD on a 70-yard burst from Kelly and a 27-yard field goal by Brandin Gallaway to build a 38-14 halftime lead.
However, the second half was all Golden Eagles. They held Palmetto scoreless and scored twice as they chewed up the clock. Raphael scored again and quarterback Devin Dunford scored from a yard out.
“This was a regional type atmosphere playing this kind of team,” Naples head coach Rick Martin said. “It was a long road trip and all that kind of stuff. It’s a hostile environment and you have a great team on the other side.”
The Tigers make the short trip to Parrish Community next Friday, Sept. 25, to play their first Class 5A-District 10 game of the season. The Golden Eagles take a 1-0 Class 4A-District 12 record into their second district matchup of the year next Friday when they host Estero High.
“Naples High has been around for a long time and they are very good at what they do,” Sanders said. “We scheduled them for a reason. We need to play tough teams in tough games.”
Palmetto takeaways
Lots of good hands people for the Tigers. As good as Hennesey is at throwing the pigskin, he still needs people who can catch it. In addition to Harris and Carter, Hennesey also connected with senior tight Ace Luther and junior wide receiver Sirdarrean Allen against the Golden Eagles. The Tigers have plenty of speed and depth at the position.
Ballhawks on defense. The Tigers recovered three Naples fumbles in the first half that all led to touchdowns. Carter Robinson, Jermiah Patterson and Ryan Cotton all jumped on the mistakes made by the Golden Eagles to set up Palmetto TDs.
— Jim Brockman
Out-of-Door 50, Sarasota Christian 21
ODA (5-0) defeated Sarasota Christian (4-2) 50-21 at home on Friday, Sept. 18.
“After coming off a bye week last week, we were a little rusty,” ODA head coach Robert Hollway said. “After shaking off the rust, we got things going in the second half. I have so much respect for Jacob (Spenn) and Sarasota Christian, but just being able to pull away with a win against our rivals was quite amazing, even though we have a lot to clean up on when we play IMG Academy next week.”
“Although we lost and couldn’t capitalize on the game, there were some positives,” Sarasota Christian head coach Jacob Spenn said. “It was a tough game and Robert and Out of Door are a well-coached team. I felt like we did well in the trenches, but they got us by a lot of weight."
The first quarter started in favor of the Thunder as sophomore Dominic Reddick got an interception to set up a touchdown opportunity for senior quarterback Jaxon Lawhun to hit an open pass to junior tight end Beau Tack for a 57-yard touchdown. Two minutes later, Lawhun found junior receiver Brayden Ogle for another 57-yard touchdown to make it 14-0.
The Blazers eventually got on the board in the second quarter when sophomore quarterback Tait Zeltwanger found his older brother, senior Cale Zeltwanger for 30 yards to make it 14-7 before the half ended.
As the third quarter commenced, the Thunder continued to pressure T. Zeltwanger following a combined sack from seniors Bryce Briones and Mark Barre. This set up another chance for Lawhun to hit Ogle for his second touchdown catch of the game. Sarasota Christian tried to rally as Tait Zeltwanger found junior Noah Spenn for a 12-yard touchdown, but Out of Door responded when senior Cam Yates rushed in for a five-yard touchdown run.
Going into the fourth quarter, following a Blazers’ turnover on downs, Yates rushed 37 yards for his second touchdown of the game before Reddick caught another interception to set up a 15-yard touchdown catch. The Thunder then scored one more time as junior Nathan Williams ran for an 88-yard touchdown to make it 50-14 and invoke the running clock. Tait Zeltwanger scored the final touchdown for the Blazers as he ran in for 80 yards before the Thunder sealed the win.
Out of Door takeaways
Lawhun lays it all out. Lawhun completed eight of his 12 passes for 218 yards with four touchdowns. He also ran once for five yards.
Reddick’s defense show. While Reddick was limited to three catches for 38 yards and two touchdowns, his defense played the vital role in the game as he had two interceptions.
Williams and Yates’ running rises. Williams and Yates lead the way in rushing for the Thunder in the backfield for a combined 170 yards and three touchdowns. Williams rushed eight times for 99 yards with one touchdown, Yates rushed nine times for 71 yards and two touchdowns.
Sarasota Christian takeaways
Zeltwangers unite. Both Tate and Cale Zeltwanger proved to be the offensive leaders for the Blazers. Tate completed 12 of his 34 passes for 170 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, while Cale made three catches for 76 yards and one touchdown.
Spenn shows off. Noah Spenn would be the overall leader in receiving for the Blazers as he caught six catches for 62 yards with one touchdown.
Costly penalties. Apart from the two interceptions, penalties played a big part against the Blazers. They would finish with seven penalties
— Pat Clines
Sarasota 48, Parrish Community 7
Hawthorne 50, Bayshore 15
Bradenton Christian 60, Lake Mary Prep 12
Saint Stephen's 45, Seven Rivers 0
Dunnellon 14, Lakewood Ranch 13
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Football Week 5: Riverview, Braden River, ODA, Palmetto among winners
