Friday concluded an eventful Week 7 of high school football, with 43 games in five days due to postponements forced by Hurricane Ian.
The main matchup was Cocoa at Seminole in Sanford along with Central Florida Christian Academy, Deltona, Hagerty, Lake Highland Prep and the Tohopekaliga all trying to protect perfect records.
Area No. 9 Lake Minneola (4-1) canceled its Friday game at Fleming Island (3-1) because the Hawks have Monday-Friday games next week due to a postponement.
There will be 12 make-up games involving teams from the area on Monday.
Ratings are from the Sentinel Super 16 unless otherwise noted.
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Quarterback Anthony Benzija threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Ian Miller and Hagerty’s teammates dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage as the Huskies improved to 5-0 on the season with a methodical win over Harmony (3- two).
Hagerty’s 5-0 start is the first in school history.
“I thought our defense played tonight like they have all year,” Hagerty’s coach Steve Mikles said. “Our offense may have struggled a little bit, but a lot of it had to do with Harmony’s defense. They were very good and stopped us twice in the red zone. But our offensive line did a good job, and Anthony made some great passes and ran when he had to.”
It was a 6-0 game through the first 15 minutes after a couple of Hagerty’s drives stalled and the Huskies had to settle for Erwin Eberhardt field goals of 23 and 25 yards.
Harmony responded with Alex Tuyo’s 35-yard field goal and had a chance to get back in the game late in the second quarter when Hagerty fumbled at his own 13-yard line. But Hagerty’s defense held on and Tuyo missed from 30 yards.
Picking up the slack after Harmony’s miss, Benjiza threw to Ian Miller for 23 yards. Another pass drew an interference penalty before Benjiza hit Miller again down the left sideline for a 50-yard touchdown. That gave Hagerty a 13-3 lead at 1:35 of the second quarter.
Then the Huskies forced a quick three-and-out, and Benjiza went 3-for-3 for 58 yards passing on the next drive. That led to Eberhardt’s third field goal of the game and a 16-3 halftime lead.
Hagerty padded his cushion with a 9-play 80-yard drive to start the third period when Jeremiah Williams scored on a 5-yard run.
Hagerty’s defense limited Harmony to just 1 first down and 29 yards on seven possessions in the first half. The Huskies recorded 214 yards of total offense in the first half, including 163 passing yards from Benjiza. He finished the game 11-for-20 for 217 yards and 1 touchdown. He also rushed for 31 yards on 6 carries.
For the third straight game, Harmony failed to score an offensive touchdown. After recovering a fumble in the second quarter, Tyler Emans ran 5 yards to the end zone, only to have the play nullified by a holding penalty. Emans finished with 59 yards on 18 carries. The Longhorns last scored an offensive touchdown in the fourth quarter of the September 3 Celebration game.
“It’s a combination of several factors,” said Harmony’s trainer, Don Simon. “We have a very young offensive line and we’re a team that runs by nature, but we’ve also played three outstanding defenses in back-to-back games.”
BY J. DANIEL PEARSON
DeLand’s high-powered offense dominated Deltona’s defense at Spec Martin Stadium in handing the Wolves (5-1) their first loss of the season.
Javon Ross, a junior who rarely leaves the field, ran wild, scoring 6 total touchdowns for the Bulldogs (3-2). He played running back, receiver and defensive back and rushed for over 200 yards and 5 TDs. He also scored 3 two-point conversions.
Junior quarterback TJ Moore had 1 rushing touchdown and 1 passing touchdown on the rush.
“Wins are hard to come by, so we never turn them down,” DeLand trainer Rick Darlington said. “TJ Moore played strong tonight and Javon Ross scored a lot of points. We’re not going to get that kind of yardage without a great offensive line game.”
Deltona’s offense was also productive but not enough.
“We just have to practice the same way every day,” Darlington added. “We don’t want to practice to get it right, we want to practice so we don’t make mistakes.”
Deltona went 5-0 for the first time in the show’s history, but his record against DeLand isn’t great. The Bulldogs now lead the “Battle for the Bone” rivalry 23-2 and have won the last 10 meetings since the Wolves prevailed in 2007.
By TERRY GILLIAM
In a matchup that featured two standout runners, Romelo Ware stole the show as he led undefeated Lake Highland (5-0) to victory on the road.
Ware gained 260 yards on 23 carries and had 3 touchdowns. His first touchdown came on the first play from scrimmage to start the game well for the Highlanders.
“We needed to be challenged,” Highlanders coach Ben Bullock said. “They gave us attacks. We made a lot of mistakes that we hadn’t made because we hadn’t been pushed down the road. We want to make sure we’re cleaning these things up, but it was good for our guys to be put under pressure tonight.”
Highlanders quarterback Karson Siqueiros-Lasky returned after missing three games with an injury. He completed 12 of 20 passes for 98 yards and kept drives alive.
The win made Lake Highland Prep 16 in a row since last season when they went 11-0 and won the Sunshine State Athletic Conference title.
The Highlanders came in averaging 47.5 points per game.
Windermere Prep, with their standout running back Jackson Bennett, came in with a 39.2 average.
BY CHRIS MARTUCCI
[ Rashad Watson has a big night, No. 7 Apopka tops Olympia ]
11 Lake Mary 36, North Miami Beach 16
The Rams take their record to 4-1 with the victory at home against the Chargers (2-4)’.
Lake Mary led 29-8 with 10 minutes left.
The Rams bounced back after suffering their first loss, 22-21, to rival Lake Brantley two weeks ago.
This long road trip for the Chargers was nothing compared to their trip to the Florida Panhandle to lose to undefeated Niceville and their trip to Georgia to lose to Lowndes County.
Bishop Moore 50, Braden River 27
The host Hornets led 26-7 at halftime and improved to 3-3.
Braden River (3-2), was 9-2 last season and had lost only to the Bradenton Manatee this year.
Tohopekaliga 53, Wesley Chapel 14
The Tigers improved to 5-0 with a winless home win over Wesley Chapel.
Another touchdown pass from freshman phenom Sabby Meassick, the seventh of the night, gave the TIgers a 53-14 lead with 9:14 left in the game. The pitch went to Jayden Oliver and he started the clock via the FHSAA mercy rule (35-point difference after halftime).
Meassick has 31 TD passes at the midpoint of his first full college season. He was a reserve player in the eighth grade at Foundation Academy.
The Tohopekaliga, which is averaging nearly 50 points, added a Monday night home game to its schedule. The Tigers will host Bishop Moore, who also won Friday night.
Mount Dora 42, Pine Ridge 0
Mount Dora led 36-0 at halftime en route to its fourth win against two losses. The Panthers are 0-6.
The visiting Hurricanes recorded their second victory of the week after winning 45-36 against Umatilla on Monday night. Mount Dora senior running back Dante Johnson-Turner scored 6 touchdowns in that game. He had 14 for the season before Friday’s game.
Central Florida Christian Academy 42, St. Edward’s 7
The undefeated CFCA improved to 4-0 with a home win over the Pirates (2-3).
CFCA defeated the Pirates 49-7 last year after losing three previous meetings.
The Eagles aim to play a make-up game at New Smyrna Beach (2-1) on Monday night.
The First Academy 34, Trinity Prep 0
The Royals improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in district play with the win at Trinity Prep (0-6, 0-2).
The Royals bounced back after a Monday night district loss to Orlando Christian Prep.
Check our live scoreboard for updates and final scores for these games.
These games start at 7 pm
St. Cloud (3-2) at Gateway (1-2)
Legacy Charter (3-1) at The Master’s Academy (1-3)
Orangewood Christian (0-4) at Foundation Academy (3-2)
Davenport (1-2) at Poinciana (3-2)
Daytona Beach Padre Lopez (3-2) at Faith Christian (3-2)
Ocala Forest (1-3) at Leesburg (2-4)
Merritt Island (3-2) at Eustis (1-3)
Clearwater American Heritage (1-2) at West Oaks (1-3), 6
Sentinel sports final
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Umatilla (2-3) at Holiday Anclote (1-4)
Keystone Card (2-3) at Cocoa Beach (3-1)
Orange City University (3-2) at Daytona Beach Mainland (3-1)
First Academy-Leesburg (0-6) at Seven Rivers Christian (4-2)
Winter Springs (0-5) at Titusville Astronaut (0-4)
Deltona Trinity Christian (1-3) at Bronson (0-6)
This report was first published in orlandosentinel.com. Buddy Collings, Varsity Content Editor, can be reached by email at [email protected].