GAME BALLS: Drama plentiful for area teams during wild Week 5

We have finally reached the midway point of a soggy, lightning-struck high school football season.

It has been a half-season of wild numbers and stirring victories, as well as surprising outcomes and tough setbacks. This past Friday was no different as we saw Port Charlotte lose for the second consecutive week, something that hasn’t happened since September 2021, while DeSoto County snapped a 14-game losing streak.

North Port traveled to Key West and suffered a bizarre fate. Venice won yet another blazing shootout with a top-tier opponent. Charlotte took on its first loss of the season at the hand of its oldest rival and Lemon Bay discovered just how many injuries are too many in a defeat at surging North Fort Myers.

See what we’re talking about? So much seems to happen each week that it’s almost too difficult to keep up with it all. But that’s what Game Balls are for.

Let’s get things started with the week’s most-pleasing development:

DESOTO COUNTY

Cliff Lohrey had been tracking Bayshore this season with growing concern. While the Bruins, under first-year coach Ace Sanders, had yet to score a point in their first four games, Lohrey could see rapid improvement taking place week to week.

Would DeSoto County run into Bayshore at the wrong time? Would a 14-game losing streak continue to grow?

DeSoto County 29, Bayshore 26.

“They hadn’t scored a point and their kids could have very easily just hung their heads,” Lohrey said of Bayshore. “So I’m glad we came out on the right side of it. It’s cool to see in high school football that the kids still have the grit and the kids still fight.”

It was a game of wildly shifting momentum. DeSoto County (1-3) scored the game’s first 13 points on a Rylan Unruh run and a scoop-and-score by Bulldogs linebacker Tyler Powers.

Bayshore (0-5) stormed back with 20 unanswered points before halftime. When Unruh punched it in again to make it 20-19 in the third quarter, Lohrey opted to go for a two-point conversion and the lead, rather than a tie.

“I tell our kids when we’re in our position, there’s a difference between playing not to lose versus playing to win,” Lohrey said. “If I’m going to preach that, then at some point you actually have to put it into play.”

Unruh got the conversion and DeSoto County nosed ahead 21-20. The key to the conversion was Unruh getting the Bruins to jump offsides before the first attempt, moving the ball half the distance to the goal to make the attempt easier.

Store away that little tidbit.

A botched punt attempt by DeSoto in the fourth quarter staked the Bruins to a possession that started at the Bulldogs’ 1-yard line. They scored to move ahead, 26-21, with four minutes to play.

DeSoto had all of its timeouts, so Lohrey kept the playbook open for a methodical drive. Still, the Bulldogs found themselves facing a 4th-and-4 situation at one point.

Unruh got the Bruins to jump offsides again, converting the fourth down and keeping the drive alive. Soon after, Unruh ripped off a 26-yard run and in short order, DeSoto regained the lead, 27-26. The Bulldogs converted another two-point play in case the Bruins had a field goal kicker, but didn’t have to worry about it after recovering a fumble the ensuing kickoff.

“But that’s the play of the game,” Lohrey said of Unruh getting the Bruins to jump. “We just kept plugging along and we’re able to get them to jump again. That sounds stupid, right? But it’s the play of the game.”

It has been a season of progression for the Bulldogs. After getting blanked by Okeechobee, they scored 19 in a loss to Avon Park and 21 in a defeat at George Jenkins, so the 29 points represents another step forward.

If not for losing the 19-point lead against Avon Park, DeSoto might be 2-2 right now. While George Jenkins defeated the Bulldogs 41-21, there’s an alternate universe where the beginning of that game turns that result on its ear. Unruh intercepted a pass on George Jenkins’ first possession and the Bulldogs drove down field, only to fumble right as they were going in for a score. Had the Bulldogs converted there, what’s to say the game’s momentum might remain with DeSoto?

“We could easily be 2-2 or 3-1 if a couple of things go our way, but I’m proud of our kids because they’re fighting,” Lohrey said. “You know, especially after last season, it’s really easy when things don’t go your way to quit. Kids are not nearly as experienced as us adults when it comes to that.

“But they needed to finally get a win,” Lohrey continued. “As an adult, as a coach, you can only see improvement for so long, but kids, they’re only going to see the bottom line. They needed to get one.”

DeSoto travels to North Port this week.

NORTH PORT

Woof.

We’re still trying to determine if we have the right penalty count on North Port following the Bobcats’ frustrating 33-21 loss at Key West.

While many of the 22 penalties North Port suffered were offset by a Conch flag, the Bobcats still lost a whopping 140 yards to the little, yellow hankies.

Half of the penalties were some sort of conduct flag, be it a personal foul, unsportsmanlike conduct or a sideline infraction by the North Port coaching staff. Most came during a key gain or a momentum-shifting play, making the foul especially flummoxing.

Case in point: With the game tied at 21-21, North Port (2-3) appeared to pull off a fake punt for a first down. In stepped the officials, who ruled there were penalties on both teams during the play, resulting in a replay of the down. With their gambit spent, North Port had no choice but to punt. Key West went down and scored on the ensuing possession, aided along the way by another costly North Port personal foul that turned a third down into a first down in the red zone.

While North Port definitely earned the majority of its flags, that’s not to say the Conchs (3-2) were playing like saints. Often, North Port was caught in retaliation – that old chestnut about how the referees never see the first punch – which proved especially frustrating.

“It was just disappointing,” North Port coach Garon Belser said. “It just got to a point where everyone started getting heated with each other.”

While the outcome was disappointing, there were numerous good things for North Port to take away from the long trip, not the least of which being the Bobcats were absolutely the equals of a Key West team that sat more than 100 spots ahead of them in the MaxPreps rankings.

Kadyn Palmer continued to shine for North Port. He had 13 carries for 136 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown that gave North Port a 21-14 lead. He also caught two passes for 11 yards. Lee Camel caught a touchdown pass for the third consecutive game, this time a nifty 33-yard slant across the middle from quarterback Gino DiBene.

North Port will play host to DeSoto County this Friday.

CHARLOTTE

In a game that Sun Preps sports writer Chuck Ballaro termed “chippy”, the Tarpons suffered their first loss of the year at the hands of their oldest rivals.

How different could it have been had Charlotte not suffered five turnovers? That was bad enough but having three of them come consecutively on three possessions just out of halftime proved backbreaking, even if Fort Myers (5-0) only managed to get one touchdown out of it.

In that dark cloud is a bit of a silver lining. The 42 points look bad, but the Tarpons defense often played well when put into tough situations and the fact Charlotte battled back to make it a 14-point game (35-21) when Fort Myers had been threatening to put a running clock on the Tarpons are all good signs for the remainder of the season.

Individually, Jazzy McDaniel picked up 64 yards on 16 carries while Teagen Lipke balanced out two interceptions with two touchdowns and 123 passing yards. Defensively, Trenton Curliss had another big game with 16 tackles, four for loss, and a sack.

Up next for Charlotte (3-1) is a district-opener at Cape Coral on Friday.

LEMON BAY

Manta Rays or Walking Wounded?

Lemon Bay found itself behind the eight-ball before Friday’s game at North Fort Myers (4-1) ever began, thanks to a rash of injuries. Not the best way to start a contest against a Red Knights squad that seemingly had found its way after injury woes of their own.

Early on in what would become a 28-6 defeat, the Mantas lost Asher Spring, further thinning Lemon Bay (1-3) on both sides of the ball.

Lemon Bay’s lone score came in a familiar fashion – Adam Schwartz delivered another one of his home run balls, this time a 44-yard touchdown run. At the time, the Mantas trailed just 14-6, but they couldn’t build on it.

Schwartz finished with 58 yards on six carries. Caleb Hutcherson had 54 yards on eight totes.

The Mantas will try to get themselves patched up in time for Friday’s district-opener against Island Coast in Englewood.

PORT CHARLOTTE

For the first time this season, an opponent found a way to slow down the high-power Pirates offense.

Despite a size advantage, Port Charlotte found itself overwhelmed by the Lions (4-0), a perennial state title contender.

Pirate spark plugs Ike Perry and Logan Flaherty didn’t make it to game’s end. Perry finished with 99 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Logan Flaherty completed 8 of 12 passes for 38 yards and ran for 43 more.

Justice Becerril had 53 receiving yards, catching passes from Flaherty and Juluis Roach. Serving as Flaherty’s replacement, Roach had 38 passing yards, 63 rushing yards and also made a big play on defense, picking off a pass.

In the end, Port Charlotte (3-2) lost its second consecutive game – albeit against two of the state’s best teams – something that hasn’t happened since Sept. 24, 2021.

The Pirates will try to get right this Friday at home against South Fort Myers.

VENICE

Another week, another wild game for the unbeaten Indians.

This time, it was Brunno Reus winning the game with a 21-yard field goal with 4.9 seconds remaining in a 54-51 victory over visiting Cocoa, a defending state champion.

The Tigers (3-2) had plenty of firepower to keep up with the high-powered Indians (5-0), which forced Venice head coach John Peacock to make the unique decision to attempt four onside kicks in the second half.

The Indians recovered two of the kicks, which proved critical in their effort to keep up with Cocoa gunslinger Brady Hart. The Michigan commit raked the Venice defense for 492 yards and four touchdowns. Making matters worse, Venice lost lead running back Jamarice Wilder to a bruised leg in the first quarter.

Alas, Dorien Irving-Jones was more than up to the task of carrying the Venice ground game. He dented Cocoa for 216 yards on 31 carries and had touchdowns running and catching the ball. Winston Watkins Jr. had a wild game, with touchdowns on the ground and through the air while also interception a pass. Jayce Nixon was the one dealing touchdowns to Jones, Watkins and Ryan Matulevich, finishing the game 17 of 27 passing for 283 yards.

Venice is averaging 57 points per game. What makes that number especially bonkers is the fact it’s coming against a schedule that ranks among the top 10 in the state. And keep in mind, that 54-piece nugget the Indians dropped on Friday came against a nationally ranked team. And it’s not as if Cocoa’s defense is a liability. Playing a stout slate of their own, the most points the Tigers had surrendered this year was 39 in a loss to IMG National, the nation’s No. 6 team as well as Florida’s top-ranked program.

Good luck on Friday, Lehigh. You’ve got next with this juggernaut.