BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Special teams provided a spark for the second straight week as the Bradford High School football team put Cocoa in an unusual situation — having to pull out a victory in the fourth quarter.
In the end, the visiting Tigers took advantage of a late fumble to score with 1:55 remaining and leave Starke with a 31-21 Class 2S state-semifinal game on Dec. 2.
“That’s a really good football program. They’re used to being here,” Bradford Head Coach Jamie Rodgers said of Cocoa, which was making its 16th straight semifinal appearance. “They make deep runs all the time. You’ve got to play your best game. We just didn’t tonight, but that’s OK. We played hard. That’s the most important thing.”
Cocoa (10-3) now plays Florida High (14-0) for the state championship on Friday, Dec. 9.
The Tornadoes (12-2) never led, falling behind 14-0 in the first half, but they tied the game twice. The first time was the result of two special-teams touchdowns, including one by Jametrius “Jip” Pringle who took the opening kickoff of the second half the distance for the second week in a row.
Bradford fell behind 21-14, but evened it up again with a 60-yard scoring drive. It was the first time this season that last year’s Class 4A state runner-up had been involved in a tie in the fourth quarter. Cocoa’s average margin of victory entering the game was 43 points.
“If you’ve got grit, and you’re tough, it might look like you’re out of it, but you’re never out of it,” Rodgers said.
The Tornadoes have been stout defensively all season, having allowed just 48 total points prior to playing the Tigers. However, they faced a tough task against the state’s leading passer in Blake Boda. The senior quarterback wound up completing 19 of 25 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns, giving him more than 3,700 yards for the season.
Boda has plenty of weapons at his disposal, even without leading receiver DayDay Farmer, who was out because of a suspension. Rodgers said the Tigers can put four to five good receivers on the field at a time.
“It just puts a lot of pressure on your defensive backs,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers said the Tornadoes lost “probably our best man-to-man cover guy” in Jarrin Alexander, who injured his shoulder on the first play from scrimmage. Secondary players Pringle and Chalil Cummings also received injuries as the game went on, forcing the team to rely on some players who hadn’t seen action since the junior varsity season.
“We started having to try to piece things together,” Rodgers said.
Besides the loss of Alexander, the first play of scrimmage was actually a positive one for the Bradford defense when Trente Jenkins tackled Cocoa’s Jaden Edgecomb for a 3-yard loss. Boda then completed three straight passes as the Tigers moved from their 24-yard line to the Bradford 42. On a third-and-7 play, Boda hooked up with Cedrick Hawkins for a 12-yard gain. Two plays after that, Jayvan Boggs hauled in a Boda pass for a 25-yard touchdown at the 7:12 mark of the first quarter. Mao Saito kicked the extra point for a 7-0 Cocoa lead.
Cocoa struck again after its defense forced the Bradford offense to go three-and-out. Running back Malachi Coney was held to 3 yards on two straight carries by Cummings and Chason Clark, but Boda threw a 33-yard pass to Boggs on third-and-7, resulting in a first down at the Bradford 21. A pass-interference penalty later gave the Tigers a first down at the 11-yard line. Hawkins capped the 71-yard drive when he took a direct snap from center and scored on a 2-yard run. Saito added the PAT to make the score 14-0 with 1:13 left in the first quarter.
Bradford’s offense went three-and-out again, but the Tigers couldn’t make anything happen on their third offensive series as they couldn’t overcome a holding penalty.
The Tornadoes put themselves in scoring position the next time they had the ball, thanks to a personal-foul facemask penalty and a 30-yard pass play from Dae’Jon Shanks to Clark. Bradford had the ball at the Cocoa 17-yard line, but high shotgun snaps prevented them from putting points on the board. An errant snap resulted in a loss of 13 yards after Clark’s reception. Shanks was able to scramble for 18 yards to set up third-and-5 at the 12, but another bad snap resulted in a loss of 20 yards. Bradford
eventually turned the ball over on downs at the Cocoa 32.
Cocoa threatened to go up by three touchdowns on the following drive, which began with Hawkins pulling down a pass in double coverage for a 40-yard gain to the Bradford 28. A 5-yard sack by Bryson Bowen put the Tigers into a third-and-11 play. Boda threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Hawkins, but the score was negated by a holding penalty. Cocoa eventually punted.
In the Tornadoes’ previous game (a 28-17 win over Baker County), Pringle returned the kickoff to open the second half 98 yards for a touchdown. The senior did it again against Cocoa, fielding the ball at his own 5-yard line and finding a crease that had him sprinting the distance for a 95-yard score. Hayden Hughes kicked the extra point to make it a 14-7 game.
Pringle had four kickoff returns in all for a total of 164 yards.
The Tigers picked up a first down in two plays on their first possession of the half, but Bradford’s defense clamped down. Cummings and Gavin Cook dropped Boggs for a 1-yard loss on a pass play, followed by Torin Brazell sacking Boda for a 15-yard loss. Cocoa set up to punt on fourth-and-8 from its own 48. Brazell blocked the punt, which was recovered by teammate Jenkins. Jenkins refused to go down, dragging players on his back until he finally lateralled the ball to Brazell, who was able to take it into the end zone for a touchdown at the 8:13 mark of the third quarter. Hughes added the PAT to tie the score at 14-14.
A fired-up Bradford defense went back out onto the field and forced the Tigers to go three-and-out. Brazell tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage on Cocoa’s first-down play. Brazell then teamed up with Clark to tackle Anthony Bridgewater for a 1-yard loss. Cook broke up the third-down pass play, forcing a Tigers punt.
Bradford picked up just its third first down of the game on the ensuing series, with Cook catching a Jeremiah McKenzie pass for a 22-yard gain on third-and-15. That moved the Tornadoes past midfield, but the drive stalled, with two run plays netting 3 yards and McKenzie being sacked for a 2-yard loss.
Four plays after Bradford’s punt, Boggs caught a deep pass along his own sideline for a 76-yard touchdown. After the PAT, the Tigers led 21-14 with 1:28 remaining in the third quarter.
Boggs finished the night with more than 200 receiving yards.
The Tornadoes, who had been held to 58 yards on five drives, put together their best offensive series, which began at their own 40 after a 30-yard kickoff return by Pringle. A 7-yard run by McKenzie and an offsides penalty resulted in a first down, while a 17-yard run by Shanks to the Cocoa 36 resulted in another. A pass-interference penalty moved Bradford to the Cocoa 20. After a 3-yard McKenzie run, Willie Pollard got loose for a 9-yard run, setting up first-and-goal at the 8. McKenzie then had a 7-yard carry to the 1. It was the first of three straight runs for McKenzie, who scored on a 2-yard run at the 7:45 mark of the fourth quarter. Hughes kicked the extra point to tie the game again at 21-21.
A 38-yard reception by Boggs on the following series helped set the Tigers’ Saito up for a 32-yard field goal that put Cocoa ahead 24-21 with 5:47 to play.
On Bradford’s first offense play following the ensuing kickoff, Cocoa recovered a fumble, which put its offense back onto the field at the Bradford 45. Bridgewater broke at least three tackles on a 32-yard run to the 13-yard line. The Tigers came up short of a first down on a run on third-and-3, but a penalty gave them first-and-goal at the 2. Cole Crosby then tackled Bridgewater for no gain, but Bridgewater would get the handoff again on the next play, finding the end zone with 1:55 to play.
“We played so hard to come back from being down,” Rodgers said. “I’m forever grateful for their effort and what they did. I’m just proud of them.”
The Tornadoes didn’t manage much with their run game, though Shanks did gain 37 yards on seven carries. Shanks also completed 2 of 3 passes for 42 yards, while McKenzie completed 2 of 7 for 34 yards.
Cook was the team’s leading receiver with two catches for 34 yards, while Clark had one for 30 yards.
Bradford finished with 113 total yards, while Cocoa gained 371.
It was a special season for the Tornadoes, which Rodgers, in his first year as head coach, chalked up to the talent he inherited and the staff he was able to put together to coach that talent.
Now, the job is to work toward putting together seasons that hopefully will be even more special.
“We’re going to stay here,” Rogers said. “We’re going to build this.”
