Jason Lucas
| For the News-Journal
Quick Slant Week 9: The playoff picture is coming into focus
Mainland takes on the “best 2-5 team you’ll ever see” Thursday, and University and DeLand battle for the district championship Friday.
The homecoming crowd at Daytona Stadium saw their Seabreeze Sandcrabs fall behind the Atlantic Sharks 14-3 in the first half before the home team racked up 33 unanswered points to take a 36-14 win on Friday.
Atlantic got the scoring started as quarterback Kwasie Kwaku escaped pressure, ran to his right, and found Preston Kuznof for a 42-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead.
After Seabreeze kicker Drew McNerney connected on a 32-yard field goal to cut into the lead, Kuznof got loose on a 57-yard run down the right sideline for a 14-3 advantage midway through the second quarter.
Sandcrabs QB Hayden Hayes went deep to his right and found WR Landon Smith on a 41-yard bomb to make it 14-10 at halftime.
3 TAKEAWAYS: DeLand beats University, clinches 2nd straight district football title
The Sharks would start the second half with the football, but a fumble from Kwaku was recovered by Seabreeze at the Atlantic 31-yard line. Hayes hit Denali Campbell on a quick pass and the receiver did the rest on a 14-yard touchdown to give the home team its first lead 16-14 with 7:16 left in the third.
After another fumble recovery for Seabreeze, it was a trick play as Campbell found Smith on an end around pass for a 24-14 lead and the Sandcrabs would cruise from there.
Here are three takeaways:
Seabreeze wins in comeback fashion for second straight week
Last week, Seabreeze trailed Pine Ridge 41-20 in the third quarter before a fierce comeback saw the Sandcrabs bring home a 44-41 win. Friday’s win took them to 3-5 overall as they try to claw their way into the playoffs.
“I told the guys at halftime, you gotta fight til it’s over, this is our moment.” Seabreeze head coach Lester Davis said. “We noticed that Atlantic had a lot of guys playing both ways and they were tired.”
The Sandcrabs defense forced back-to-back turnovers to take a four-point halftime deficit and quickly turn it into a 10-point advantage.
“I think we got some really big runs in the second half that definitely made a difference,” said Davis. “Being able to wear them down and control the clock was a big part of this win for us.”
Defense powers Seabreeze comeback
The defense got off to a slow start as Atlantic put up 14 points and grabbed the lead with Kwaku making big plays in the run game and the pass game. When Kuznof scored his second touchdown of the half it looked like the Sharks may run away.
However, Seabreeze’s defense was able to force consecutive fumbles from Kwaku and make big recoveries to setup its offense in plus territory.
“We don’t flinch, we gotta keep playing, we had a good game plan.” said Davis. “I gotta thank my coaching staff for having our guys ready to play this week.”
Next Up
Both teams have huge games next week with big playoff implications. Seabreeze will face a powerful Mainland team that is coming off an appearance in the state championship game last season. The Bucs will have a 24-hour rest advantage having defeated Osceola 22-0 on Thursday.
“Tell Travis Roland to meet me at the 50,” Davis, a former defensive coordinator at Mainland under Roland, joked. “It’s gonna be a big game for us, we know we gotta go face Goliath, but David only needed one rock”.
Mainland won last year’s matchup 51-22 on its way to a state championship game appearance. Seabreeze hasn’t defeated Mainland since November 12, 2010, a string of 12 straight contests.
Atlantic will have to regroup as it will play host to Taylor next Friday. A year ago, Atlantic defeated Taylor 54-12 and it will likely be heavily favored in this game as well. The winner will be declared district champion. Taylor forfeited its game against Keystone Heights due to injuries and roster deficiencies.
2023-10-21 05:37:37
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