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A roundup of Southwest Florida high school football games played Thursday, Oct. 18 and Friday, Oct. 18.
THURSDAY
Cypress Lake 34, Island Coast 22
Things couldn’t have started much worse for the host Panthers in Thursday’s District 3A-13 showdown against the Gators.
Cypress Lake lost a fumble on its first offensive play, gift-wrapping a touchdown for Island Coast less than a minute into the game.
The message on the Panthers’ sidelines from head coach Joey Mendes? Just keep playing.
“It’s football; you’re going to have mistakes,” he said. “You’ve just got to move on.”
Cypress Lake did just that and took full advantage of Island Coast’s mistakes. The Panthers scored 24 points off of five Island Coast turnovers, including two interception returns for touchdowns.
With the victory, Cypress Lake (3-5, 2-0) took a huge step toward securing its first district championship since 2019.
Senior Chartrael Jenkins scored on a pair of short touchdown runs for the Panthers and added an interception. Senior quarterback Zeke Dube-Garrett passed for 122 yards and one score in the victory.
Senior running back Gervaris Leaphart rushed 32 times for 159 yards and three touchdowns for the Gators.
Island Coast takeaways
1. Turnovers too much to overcome. Wearing down the Panthers’ defense behind a steady diet of punishing Leaphart runs looked to be the Gators’ offensive formula at the game’s outset. Indeed, Island Coast ran 35 plays in the opening half, compared to just 23 for Cypress Lake. But the Panthers held an 18-14 lead at the break, thanks in part to sophomore Kamarien McKay’s 65-yard interception return for a touchdown. The Gators committed three more turnovers in the second half, derailing their comeback attempt.
2. Leaphart was a workhorse. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound running back punished Cypress Lake defenders all…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/week-9-roundup-cypress-lake-042947459.html
Author : Naples Daily News
Publish date : 2024-10-18 04:29:47
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