BY CLIFF SMELLEY
A failed two-point conversion attempt and a drive that consumed the final five-plus minutes allowed the Bradford High School football team to leave Bushnell with a 14-12 win over Class 3A South Sumter on Sept. 5.
“We’re fortunate to get the win tonight,” Bradford Head Coach Jamie Rodgers said, adding, “I’m just really extremely proud of our team.”
The Class 2A Tornadoes (3-0), who’ll play up in class again when they travel to Jacksonville to play Class 6A Mandarin on Friday, Sept. 12, at 6:30 p.m., held a 14-6 lead against South Sumter before the Raiders (2-1) put together a 12-play, 84-yard touchdown drive that made it a two-point game with 5:26 to play. The Raiders went for two, with Bradford’s Jackson Parmeter intercepting a pass in the end zone.
South Sumter was forced to go for two because the extra-point attempt after its first touchdown was blocked by Jy’Quez Cason.
“Special teams are special. That’s why they call them that,” Rodgers said. “We had the interception on the two-point conversion. We had the blocked extra point, which is why they ended up with 12. That’s why we won the game. It’s the only reason we won the game.”
Bradford’s offense sealed the win with the legs of Cason, Jordan Cason and Cy Cubbedge picking up yards and first downs. The Tornadoes drove 62 yards to the South Sumter 3-yard line before Cubbedge took three kneel downs to end the game.
Rodgers said he doesn’t expect the Raiders to lose another game at home during the regular season.
“When we look back at the end of the year after 10 games, I honestly think there’s only going to be one away team that won here (at South Sumter), and that will be us,” Rodgers said.
The Tornadoes put together a promising drive the first time they touched the ball. Five runs by Iyen Addison for 31 yards and a 15-yard pass play from Cubbedge to Kamontae Nixon moved Bradford from its own 26 to the South Sumter 28 before the Tornadoes turned the ball over on a fumble.
A shanked punt on the Raiders’ second series had the Bradford offense starting a drive at the 50. South Sumter’s Logan Ward intercepted a pass on the first play of the drive, though, and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown with 5:50 remaining in the first quarter. The score remained at 6-0 after Jy’Quez Cason blocked Alejandro Cruz-Garcia’s extra-point attempt.
South Sumter later put together a drive that consumed more than eight minutes despite having to start inside its own 1-yard line after Parmeter downed a Cubbedge punt. The Raiders were helped by a couple of offsides penalties on Bradford, while a 21-yard pass from Landen Sherman to Louis Brown moved the ball to the Bradford 48. The Tornadoes’ Nate Raymond blowing up a play in the backfield that helped force the Raiders into a fourth-down play. Gabriel Sabolina carried the ball for a 6-yard gain on a fake-punt attempt, giving South Sumter a first down at the 35.
The drive would stall, with the Raiders getting penalized for a personal foul following the first play after the fake punt. South Sumter eventually punted on fourth-and-19.
Bradford had the ball first to start the second half and faced a third-and-3 play at its own 34. Jarrell Harris was held to a 1-yard gain on the third-down play, but a personal foul against the Raiders gave the Tornadoes a first down 1 yard shy of midfield.
The Tornadoes were assessed a penalty for holding on the next play, but were able to overcome it with a 25-yard reception by Nixon to the South Sumter 36. Harris was tackled for a 1-yard loss on the following play, but Cubbedge dropped back on second down and hit Jordan Cason in stride along the South Sumter sideline for a 37-yard touchdown at the 8:44 mark of the third quarter. Tyler Sapp kicked the extra point to give Bradford a 7-6 lead.
A fired-up Bradford defense forced South Sumter to go three-and-out on its first drive of the half. Caiden Carn had a tackle for a 1-yard loss on a run play, while Kingston Booker had a tackle for a 7-yard loss on a lateral. Two plays later, Chase Phillips fielded a Raiders punt and returned it 10 yards to give the Bradford offense the ball at the South Sumter 37-yard line.
Before the Tornadoes snapped the ball on the first play of the ensuing drive, the Raiders were penalized for jumping offsides. On first-and-5 from the 32, Phillips caught a Cubbedge pass and took it in for a touchdown with 6:27 remaining in the third quarter. Sapp added the PAT for a 14-6 Bradford lead.
A personal-foul penalty on Bradford and a 12-yard pass play helped the Raiders pick up two first downs and move from their own 30 the Bradford 36. Bradford’s defense made a stand, with a 7-yard sack by Danny Torres on a third-down play forcing South Sumter to punt.
The Raiders scored their second touchdown on a drive that began at their own 16-yard line with 11:07 to play. The first play was a 14-yard reception by Bubba Boone, while a 6-yard pass play later earned South Sumter another first down at its own 47.
Two plays later, on third-and-1, Sherman went over center for a 13-yard gain and a first down at the Bradford 31. The Raiders later went for it on fourth-and-3 at the 24, with the Tornadoes getting flagged for pass interference, resulting in a first down at the 11-yard line.
Boone took a handoff from there and gained 9 yards to the 2. Sherman scored on a run from there to make it 14-12. Despite its success on run plays toward the end of the drive, the Raiders attempted to pass on the two-point play, with Parmeter getting the pick in the end zone.
The ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving the Tornadoes the ball at their own 35. After an illegal-procedure penalty, Jy’Quez Cason had an 8-yard run. Cubbedge scrambled out of the pocket on a third-and-7 play, gaining 18 yards. He was hit out of bounds, which tacked on an additional 15 yards, giving Bradford a first down at the South Sumter 29.
Jordan Cason had two consecutive carries for a total of 16 yards, while two straight carries by Jy’Quez Cason netted 10 yards.
With Bradford having consumed enough time off the clock, Cubbedge was able to kneel down three times.
Addison, who left the game with an injury, finished with 71 yards rushing on 13 carries. Jy’Quez Cason had 18 yards on three carries, while Jordan Cason had 16 yards on two carries. Cubbedge and Harris each added 12 yards.
Cubbedge completed 12 of 21 passes for 170 yards, with Jordan Cason catching six passes for 79 yards. Phillips had 33 yards on two receptions, while Nixon had 48 yards on three receptions.
Bradford finished with 299 yards to South Sumter’s 167.
The Tornadoes have played nothing but schools in larger classifications so far this season, and that continues when they take on 6A Mandarin in what will be Bradford’s third straight road game. The Mustangs (3-0) are coming off a 42-0 win over Sandalwood and are defeating teams by an average score of 46-12.
Bradford defeated Mandarin 18-13 in last season’s matchup in Starke.
