BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Bradford High School’s offense got touchdowns from four different players, while Marlin Haywood added another on defense as the Tornadoes opened the postseason with a 35-0 win over The Villages in a Region 2-2A quarterfinal football game on Nov. 15 in Starke.
It was the third straight year the Tornadoes (9-1) have shut out their first-round opponent.
Bradford Head Coach Jamie Rodgers, who’s in his third season, has seen his team record a total of 19 shutouts in 39 games.
“That’s pretty cool. I like shutouts,” he said. “I didn’t really think about them a whole lot until the last couple of years.”
Of course, the goal now is simply to advance, no matter what the score is, and the Tornadoes, who are the second seed in Region 2, have done that, setting up a rematch with a Newberry team that defeated Bradford 21-7 in the regular season. The teams will play Friday, Nov. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Starke.
The third seed Panthers (9-2) advanced by defeating sixth seed Palatka 24-7.
“When the brackets first came out, that’s what our kids were talking about,” Rodgers said. “We’ll find out. You know what I mean? You find out on the field. That’s the great thing about football. We’ll find out if we’re the men that they are.
“I’m just glad that we’ve got another opportunity (in the playoffs). That’s all.”
It took a while for Bradford to get going against The Villages, which was the region’s seventh seed. The Tornadoes last played on Oct. 25.
The Villages (5-5) received the opening kickoff and put together a drive that consumed more than seven minutes. Quarterback Patrick Harding hooked up twice with Jon-Jon Harding for first downs early in the drive, while running
back Maleek Williams also picked up two first downs — one of which was a 4-yard run on fourth-and- 1 at the Bradford 33-yard line.
The Buffalo came close to scoring, but Brandon Williams broke up a pass that would’ve gone for a touchdown. The Bradford defense was able to keep The Villages from picking up a first down, forcing the Buffalo to attempt a 41-yard field goal that was no good.
Bradford’s offense had a quick three-and-out series, punting the ball back to the Buffalo, who chewed up more than three minutes on another drive past midfield. A 5-yard run by Williams set up a third-and-2 play at the Bradford 36. A direct snap to Jon-Jon Harding resulted in a gain of only a yard. The Villages left the offense on the field on fourth-and-1. Harding again took the snap, but he was stood up by the defense before fumbling the ball away.
The second quarter was already underway with Braford’s offense taking the field for just the second time. The legs of running backs Iyen Addison and Gino Addison, plus a couple of offsides penalties on The Villages, saw the Tornadoes drive from their own 35 to the Buffalo 14-yard line. A 3-yard run by Jeremiah McKenzie set up second-and-7 from the 11. Jy’Quez Cason scored on a run from there at the 6:58 mark of the second quarter. Cy Cubbedge kicked the extra point to make the score 7-0.
“You’ve got to knock some rust off,” Rodgers said. (The Villages has) not missed a week. They’ve played the last five weeks in a row. You could tell they were sharp. You could tell we were not sharp early on. We weren’t clicking like we normally do, but it got going in the second quarter.”
Bradford’s defense stepped up and forced The Villages to go three-and-out instead putting together another time-consuming drive. Tyler Berry was in on a tackle that resulted in a 2-yard loss on a run play before Trente Jenkins recorded a sack for a 1-yard loss. A holding penalty on the Tornadoes set the Buffalo up for a third-and-3 play, but Brian Cliffin sacked Patrick Harding for a 5-yard loss. A dead-ball personal-foul penalty backed the Buffalo up another 15 yards before their punt, which had the Bradford offense starting a drive at the 50.
Gino Addison, who led all rushers with 83 yards on seven carries, broke free for a 43-yard gain to the 7-yard line. He received a second straight handoff and ran into the end zone from there. The Tornadoes, with Cubbedge’s PAT, led 14-0 with 4:48 remaining until halftime.
The Tornadoes’ defense forced another three-and-out series, but then gave the ball right back to the Buffalo when quarterback Zack Paulk was intercepted by Bradee Powell.
A holding penalty backed The Villages offense up to its own 17, but the Tornadoes were flagged for pass interference and then unsportsmanlike conduct, advancing the ball to just shy of midfield. Patrick Harding then overthrew his intended receiver, with Bradford’s Haywood intercepting the ball at about his own 33-yard line and taking it back the distance for a pick-6 and a 20-0 Tornadoes lead with 2:24 left in the half. The PAT was no good.
“Defensive and special-teams touchdowns change games,” Rodgers said. “That game was still two possessions — 14-0. He picks it and houses it. He’s a difference maker. He’s a great football player.
“He gave us the spark that we needed to go ahead and take care of business.”
A Bradford penalty and a 12-yard pass completion had The Villages on the move on the next series as the Buffalo were at the 45-yard line of the Tornadoes. An 18-yard run by Powell resulted in a first down at the 27. The Tornadoes’ Duke Lewis then sacked quarterback Jadence Kennedy for a 12-yard loss. Kennedy threw incompletions on second and third downs before Haywood intercepted another pass with 36 seconds remaining until halftime.
The Villages attempted an onside kick to start the second half, with Bradford recovering at its own 46. An offsides penalty then moved the Tornadoes to the opponent’s 49-yard line. Paulk completed a 19-yard pass to Cason for a first down at the 30. Iyen Addison, who finished with 38 yards on five carries, had a 12-yard run two plays later for a first down at the 13. After a 1-yard run by Williams, McKenzie had a 10-yard carry to the 2. McKenzie scored on a run from there at the 10:04 mark of the third quarter. Cubbedge added the PAT for a 27-0 lead.
Bradford’s defense, like its offense, got off to a good start in the half as well. Kingston Booker made a tackle for a 2-yard loss before Cliffin made a one-handed interception, setting the Tornadoes’ offense up at their opponent’s 41-yard line.
Williams lined up to take the snap, faked a handoff to Gino Addison, and went up the middle as if he was shot out of a cannon. In mere seconds, he was out ahead of everyone on a touchdown run with 9:02 remaining in the third quarter. Bradford’s successful two-point conversion on a McKenzie run made it 35-0 and enforced a running clock.
Bradford now has six wins this season in which each touchdown was scored by a different player. The Tornadoes’ offense scored at least three touchdowns in four of those games.
“We like to spread it around. We like to get a lot of people involved,” Rodgers said. “It’s tough (for opponents) to get ready for.”
The Tornadoes had 277 yards of offense, with 228 yards coming on the ground. They averaged 10 yards per carry.
Bradford shut down The Villages’ run game, which amassed 29 yards.
Buffalo quarterbacks Harding and Kennedy combined to go 16 of 27 for 125 yards.
