The Melbourne Catholic Central Hustlers got a taste of playoff football in 2019, beating Frostproof 30-8 on November 8, before the season ended with a loss to Lakeland Christian in a Class 3A clash that saw the Vikings come away with a 28-21 win. With the loss, the Hustlers finished the season 4-7.
Under head coach Walt Ramsay, the Hustlers got wins over Archbishop McCarthy, Satellite, and Cambridge Christian during the regular season.
Mekhi Love threw for 1,214 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. He was the second-leading rusher on the squad carrying the ball 73 times for 315 yards and three touchdowns. He did have one 100-yard game in the mix.
Tre Blake led the receiving corps for the Hustlers with 45 catches for 642 yards with seven touchdowns. He finished with 1,321 all-purpose yards. He was joined by Tevon Brown, who had 30 catches for 472 yards and five touchdowns. The rest of the receivers had 21 catches combined for 21 catches and 123 yards, but there were only two seniors in the bunch, so there will be some young talent moving up the depth chart.
MCC’s leading rusher was Deandre Blake who carried the ball 195 times for 1,453 yards. He averaged 7.5 yards a carry and scored 15 rushing touchdowns. He finished with 16 touchdowns overall, including a receiving touchdown against Satellite. When all was said and done, Deandre led the team with 1,630 all-purpose yards.
The Hustlers scored 34 touchdowns averaging 112.5 yards receiving and 185.4 yards on the ground.
The defense had five seniors last season, including two that led the team in tackles. With Teddy Brunger and Douglas Olivera graduating, the teams’ top tackler is listed as Tre Blake with 42 tackles and two interceptions on a team that averaged 48.7 tackles, had 18 sacks, and five interceptions as a team. Quincey Mills had three of those sacks to go along with 36 tackles.
Cade LaMontagne was 20-for-23 on extra points last season, leading the Hustlers kicking game.
MCC will be part of the Kickoff Classic, opening the 2020 season on August 14 at Holy Trinity, in their rivalry game. The start time is set for 7:00 p.m. Calvary Christian will provide the opposition in the Hustlers home opener one week later. They will then hit the road for three straight games including Brevard County opponents Astronaut and Titusville. Start times are 7:00 p.m. for those contests.