BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Bradford High School’s football team fought back from a 10-point deficit and tied the score late in the fourth quarter, but visiting Cocoa drove 62 yards for the winning score, defeating the Tornadoes 17-10 in the Region 2-2A championship game on Nov. 28.
The Tornadoes (11-2) had shut out Cocoa for approximately 37 minutes after the Tigers went up 10-0 in the first quarter, but the three-time defending state champions got an 8-yard touchdown run from Zaylan Chapple with 51 seconds left in the game.
“They made more plays than we did. That’s all,” Bradford Head Coach Jamie Rodgers said.
It was the third time Cocoa (8-4) has defeated Bradford in the postseason in the last four years. The Tigers, who’ve now won 18 consecutive regional championships, will travel to Sarasota to play the number-one team in the state — Cardinal Mooney — in a Dec. 5 state semifinal game.
Cocoa got off to a fast start with O’Kece Battle fielding the opening kickoff at his own 11 and taking it all the way to the Bradford 9-yard line. Javeon Scott had a touchdown run from there on the Tigers’ first offensive play. Keelan Gonzalez added the extra point to put the Tigers up 7-0 just 20 seconds into the game.
A 39-yard Cy Cubbedge punt had Cocoa starting its next series at its own 12. The Tigers picked up first downs on a 7-yard run by Scott, a 5-yard reception by Scott and a 21-yard reception by Zay Hawkins, with Hawkins’ catch putting Cocoa at the Bradford 21. Champ Smith then completed an 11-yard pass to Cayman Varis, setting up first-and-goal at the 10. After a holding penalty backed the Tigers up to the 20, Bradford’s Parviele Lee made a tackle to hold a run play to a 1-yard gain. Tank White caught consecutive passes for a net gain of 9 yards, with the Tornadoes getting tackles from Kingston Booker and Jordan Cason. Gonzalez kicked a 27-yard field goal to put the Tigers up 10-0 with 1:55 remaining in the first quarter.
Two runs by Iyen Addison and a run by Cubbedge resulted in first downs on Bradford’s second offensive series, which began at the Tornadoes’ 18-yard line. The Tornadoes overcame a holding penalty, thanks to catches by Chase Phillips and
Kemontae Nixon, with Nixon’s 12-yard catch putting Bradford at the Cocoa 28. Cubbedge completed a 6-yard pass to Peyton Jones, followed by runs of 1 and 3 yards by Addison, resulting in a first down at the 18. The drive stalled after two incomplete passes and a 6-yard sack. Tyler Sapp set up for a 41-yard field goal, but a bad snap messed up his timing, and the kick was no good with 6:17 to play in the second quarter.
“The botched field goal in the first half — that hurt pretty bad, but hey, that’s football,” Rodgers said.
Cocoa drove past midfield on the following series. An offsides penalty on a fourth-and-1 play gave the Tigers a first down, while Smith completed three passes totaling 26 yards as Cocoa gained a first down at the Bradford 39. A big pass play from Smith to Hawkins would’ve resulted in another first down, but Cocoa was penalized for holding. The Tigers eventually turned the ball over on downs at the 38-yard line.
The Tigers got the ball right back when Bradford’s first play after Cocoa’s failed fourth-down attempt was a fumble. With 1:36 left until halftime, Cocoa began a drive at the Bradford 32. The Tornadoes’ Nate Raymond held Scott to no gain on a first-down run, while Maliki Cobarris made a tackle that limited Scott to a 2-yard gain on a pass play. On third-and-8, Booker’s tackle held Smith to a 2-yard gain. The Tigers sent Gonzalez onto the field for a 45-yard field-goal attempt, which he missed with 9 seconds on the clock.
Cocoa threatened to score on its first possession of the second half, thanks to three 15-yard penalties assessed against Bradford. The third, which was for pass interference, gave the Tigers a first down at the Tornadoes’ 12-yard line. After an incomplete pass, Scott was held to a 2-yard gain by Bradford’s J.J. Hall. Another incomplete pass had the Tigers settling for a 27-yard field-goal attempt, which was no good at the 5:42 mark of the third quarter.
The Tornadoes finally put points on the board with a 10-play, 80-yard drive. It began with a 4-yard run by Addison, followed by a 9-yard pass from Cubbedge to Jones. A 24-yard reception by Phillips moved Bradford to the Cocoa 43. After an incomplete pass, Addison had a 12-yard run for another first down. Cubbedge completed consecutive passes of 8 yards to Jones and 5 yards to Elijah Lawrence, giving the
Tornadoes a first down at the 18. Addison then had three straight carries, with the third resulting in a 5-yard touchdown with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter. Sapp added the PAT to make it a 10-7 game.
Smith, who finished 25 of 35 for 220 yards, connected with Varis on a big pass play for Cocoa on the next series, but Varis fumbled at the Bradford 25-yard line. The Tornadoes’ Jackson Parmeter recovered the loose ball at the 17.
The Tornadoes picked up one first down when the Tigers were penalized for being offsides before two Addison runs totaling 24 yards resulted in another first down at the Cocoa 47. Addison got the ball again for a 3-yard gain, but two incomplete passes forced the Tornadoes to punt.
Cubbedge’s punt had Cocoa’s offense taking the field at its own 17 at the 11:02 mark of the fourth quarter. Smith completed 3 of 4 passes for 15 yards to help the Tigers advance to the 40, but a fifth pass attempt by Smith was picked off by Bradford’s Caiden Carn.
The Tornadoes had the ball at midfield, but punted the ball away after three straight incomplete passes.
Cocoa’s offense went three-and-out as well, with Bradford’s defense forcing the Tigers to punt for the first and only time.
A 24-yard punt had the Tornadoes starting a drive at the Cocoa 43 with seven minutes to play. Addison gained 5 yards on a run to start the drive, but he was then held to no yards on two straight carries. On fourth-and-5, Cubbedge, who finished 15 of 32 for 128 yards, completed a 7-yard pass to Jones for a first down at the 31. Addison, who rushed for 126 yards on 25 carries, had runs of 11 and 3 yards, moving the Tornadoes to the 17. After an incomplete pass, Addison gained 3 yards on a third-down play. On fourth-and-4, Sapp kicked a 31-yard field goal to tie the score at 10-10 with 2:51 to play.
Battle, who had the electrifying return to open the game, received the ensuing kickoff, which he returned 29 yards, setting the Cocoa offense up at its own 38-yard line. Scott gained 18 yards on a pass play and then picked up another 6 yards on a run play. A holding penalty on Bradford gave the Tigers a first down at the Bradford 30, while a 21-yard reception by Hawkins resulted in first-and-goal at the 8. Chapple scored the game-winning touchdown on a run from there. Gonzalez added the PAT to complete the game’s scoring.
“We have to get a stop right there with three minutes left in the game,” Rodgers said. “You’ve got to get a stop there. We just didn’t do it.”
Pass catches by Nixon and Jones gave Bradford a first down at the Cocoa 49, but the game ended on two incomplete passes in the final 11 seconds.
Jones finished as Bradford’s leading receiver with six catches for 55 yards. Phillips had 41 yards on three receptions, while Nixon caught two passes for 20 yards.
Bradford finished with 264 yards to Cocoa’s 302.
The Tigers’ Smith completed 25 of 35 passes for 220 yards.
Rodgers said some of the breaks didn’t fall Bradford’s way, but added, “Sometimes in life, you make your own breaks. They made one more, two more than we did.”
In the past four seasons, Cocoa has scored an average of 40 points per game against fellow Class 2A/2S teams. Only one team during that span has held the Tigers to 20 points or less — Bradford. The Tornadoes have now done that three times when also including the preseason kickoff classic that began this season.
“I’m so proud of our guys and how hard they played,” Rodgers said, adding, “Cocoa’s a national brand. They’re not a state brand. We’ve gone toe to toe with them several times.”
Bradford will say goodbye to several key seniors, but the future outlook is good for the Tornadoes.
“At some point this season, we had five, six, seven freshmen playing big-time minutes,” Rodgers said. “Peyton Jones had probably one of the bigger games of anybody tonight. He’s a ninth-grader. He’s a young cat.
“We’ve got a lot of those. We’ve got a lot of guys coming back.”
The returning players will soon start prepping for 2026.
“We’ll give them a couple of weeks off, and then we’ll start lifting weights again and see what next year holds,” Rodgers said.
