After Cocoa beat Satellite 41-7 on Thursday night in a battle of unbeaten teams, things really got going Friday night with a full playoff docket.
Brevard Sports Network traveled to Land O’ Lakes to bring you the game between the Viera Hawks and Sunlake Seahawks. The visitors made it a worthwhile trip, beating Sunlakes 35-0.
Zak Sedaros got Viera on the board early with a touchdown run and an onside kick was recovered by the Hawks, with Caleb Osburn finishing that drive with a touchdown. Just like that, it was 14-0 Viera with 6:52 left in the opening stanza.
Hawks Quarterback CJ Simms 10-yard TD run made it 21-0 with 9:45 left in the second quarter. On the next Viera possession, Judah Knight had three straight runs taking his squad down to the Knight 1st down run to the 15. Cohen Graham-Johnson’s two-yard run would make it 28-0.
Simms only touchdown pass of the night was to Aidan Davis, a 4-yard catch with 1:43 left. The second half was played with a running clock.
Viera played well defensively with Nolan Helton getting an interception, as did Sedaros on the first Seahawks drive of the second half. According to a tweet from Carl Kotala, it was the 14th career INT for Zak Sedaros, which tied him with Jay Boyd for the school record.
Also, a tip of the cap to Johnny Eaton who finished the night with three sacks. Viera is now 3-5 on the year.
BAYSIDE 18, TAMPA JEFFERSON 14
In one of the few upsets of the evening, the Bayside Bears improved to 4-4 with a win over Tampa Jefferson (7-2). Justus Durant’s 75-yard run propelled the Bears to an 11-0 lead. After a 70-yard kickoff return for Tampa Jefferson made it an 11-8 game, Donnie Cullen reeled in a pass from Logan Brabham and led 18-8 at the half.
Tampa Jefferson closed the gap to 18-14 in the third, but the defenses stepped up and neither team scored in the fourth quarter.
EAU GALLIE 26, MERRITT ISLAND 18
The Commodores (5-1) handed Merritt Island their first loss of the season as T.J. Johnson scored on a 60-yard punt return, starting things with a bang. After Brady Denaburg kicked a field goal for the Mustangs, Eau Gallie scored three second-quarter touchdowns to take control.
Commodores quarterback Cade Ross had three touchdown passes in that decisive second quarter, including a 65-yard to Tre Blake and two consecutive TDs to Kameron Blevins.
Denaburg’s only touchdown of the night came on a throw to Darin Myers. Myers also had a touchdown run with 40 seconds left.
AMERICAN HERITAGE 49, PALM BAY 0
The Palm Bay Pirates got their only win of the season last week. Unfortunately, their reward was a meeting with American Heritage in the playoffs. Jerry Dinkins had two touchdown runs in this game for American Heritage who improved to 6-2.
LAKEWOOD 26, ASTRONAUT 13
Undefeated Lakewood (8-0) got out to a 12-0 lead on the Astronaut War Eagles in the first quarter and never looked back. Abreon Torres had two five-yard touchdown runs for Astronaut (5-2) with his second closing the gap to 18-13 in the third quarter.
Unfortunately, a long touchdown pass of 62 yards gave Lakewood the cushion they needed.
WEKIVA 35, MELBOURNE 22
The Bulldogs (2-6) bridged the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter with three unanswered touchdowns, but Wekiva scored twice in a 12-second span to put the game away.
The Mustangs (5-3) led 21-2 at the half but Kaiden Heaney’s pick-6 late in the third got Melbourne charged up. They would get a 25-yard run from Tony Wright 16 seconds into the fourth and just three minutes later, Gavin Rowell would block a punt that was picked up by Chase Smith. He ran it in for the score and Melbourne was in business, leading 22-21.
Chad Davis would answer for the Mustangs with a touchdown run and Amari Thomas would return a fumble for the decisive touchdown just 12 seconds later.
HUDSON 27, SPACE COAST 20
A 20-yard Derrick Edwards III scoop and score got Space Coast (2-5) off to a good start on Friday night. He had a special teams’ return of 60 yards in the third quarter as well, closing the gap to 24-20 but that was as close as the Vipers would get in this one.
HOLY TRINITY 35, FATHER LOPEZ 21
The Holy Trinity Tigers (5-3) used a 21-point second quarter to overpower Father Lopez in a Class 3A game. Davin Wydner had a 2-yard run and threw two touchdown passes in the quarter. The second went to Carlos Estronza with four seconds left in the half.
Jadon Gowins had a 67-yard run in the third quarter.
Other Scores: Hillsborough 31, Heritage 0; Rockledge 2, Desoto County 0 (Forfeit); Trinity Catholic 2, MCC 0 (Forfeit);