BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Iyen Addison had a big night for the Bradford High School football team, rushing for 248 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-10 homecoming win over Tallahassee Leon on Oct. 17.
Bradford also got two touchdown passes from Cy Cubbedge to Kemontae Nixon in improving to 8-1.
Head Coach Jamie Rodgers was happy to get the win and happy that homecoming occurs only once a year.
“It’s fun, and it’s supposed to be that, but there are a lot of distractions,” Rodgers said. “It’s good to get out of here with a win.”
The Tornadoes now turn to what Rodgers described as “the biggest game of the year.” Bradford hosts District 5-2A opponent Santa Fe (6-2) on Friday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. If the Tornadoes win, they win the district championship outright. If they lose, they’ll be in a three-way tie with Santa Fe and Newberry, with the district champ determined by the Florida High School Athletic Association/MaxPreps power rankings.
Bradford is 3-0 in the district, while Santa Fe and Newberry are 2-1 and 3-1, respectively.
Rodgers said has to have a better week of practice than it did leading up to the Leon game.
Despite how the week went, the Tornadoes were still able to get an easy win over Leon (3-5), though they did come up empty on two red-zone trips, including one that ended with a fumble inside the 10-yard line.
Still, the Tornadoes led 17-3 at the half and turned the game into a complete rout with scores on its first three series of the second half, followed by a punt return for another score by Jy’Quez Cason.
Cason had a big play on defense at the start of the game when he intercepted a pass on Leon’s second play from scrimmage.
Bradford’s offense took over at the Leon 49-yard line. Four straight runs by Addison moved the Tornadoes to the 16. The drive ended with a 30-yard Tyler Sapp field goal, putting Bradford up 3-0 at the 8:47 mark of the first quarter.
The Tornadoes forced the Lions to go three-and-out on their next possession, which resulted in Bradford starting a drive at the Leon 42. Addison carried the ball four straight times for a gain of 21 yards, while Peyton Jones caught a 15-yard pass to set up first-and-goal at the 6. Cubbedge took it into the end zone on a run from there with 5:28 to play in the first quarter. Sapp added the extra point to make it a 10-0 game.
Leon, which had 6 yards after its first two series, found success on its third possession. Quarterback Brooks Warmack completed three passes for 20 yards and rushed for 28 yards on five carries as the Lions marched from their own 12 to the Bradford 26. Leon eventually had to settle for a 43-yard A.J. Winn field-goal attempt, which was good, making the score 10-3 with 42 seconds left in the first quarter.
On the following series, Cubbedge completed passes of 23 and 16 yards as Bradford drove 61 yards to the Leon 19. After a holding penalty, the Tornadoes turned the ball over on downs at the 24 on three straight incomplete passes.
J.J. Hall and Nate Raymond combined on a 15-yard sack that helped force the Lions to go three-and-out on their next series.
Leon’s punt had Bradford starting a drive at its own 39. The first play was a 12-yard reception by Elijah Lawrence. Then, it was all Addison, who had gains of 6, 25, 6 and 10 yards before scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run. With Sapp’s PAT, the Tornadoes led 17-3 with 5:07 remaining until halftime.
An 8-yard sack by Danny Torres forced Leon to punt on its next series. A penalty for kick-catch interference and a dead-ball unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty on the Lions had Bradford’s offense taking over at the Leon 36.
A 9-yard run by Keshaun Kennedy and a 15-yard reception by Lawrence gave the Tornadoes a first down at the 12. Lawrence then had a 7-yard run to the 5, but Bradford fumbled the ball on the next play, with Leon recovering.
“We didn’t do exactly what we needed to do to finish that thing,” Rodgers said. “It was on us to come out (in the second half) and make it better.”
They did indeed make it better. The Tornadoes opened the second half with an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. All of those yards came on carries by Addison, who punched it into the end zone from 9 yards out at the 7:57 mark. Sapp kicked the extra point to make it a 24-3 game.
Leon went three-and-out on its first series of the half, with Bradford’s Parviele Lee recording a sack for a 10-yard loss. Jackson Parmeter blocked the punt, which the Tornadoes returned for a touchdown. A penalty, however, nullified the score.
Still, Bradford started a drive at the Leon 16. Cubbedge completed a 9-yard pass to Jayden Hudson and then hooked up with Nixon for a 7-yard touchdown with 6:18 to play in the third quarter. Sapp added the PAT for a 31-3 lead.
Leon answered with a 77-yard touchdown drive, with receiver Markeith Buggs breaking free and scoring on a 59-yard play. Winn kicked the extra point to make it 31-10.
Bradford got its own chunk play on the following series, with Addison getting loose for a 52-yard run to the Leon 28. That set up Nixon’s second touchdown reception with 2:33 left in the third quarter, putting the Tornadoes up — after Sapp’s PAT — 38-10.
Nixon finished with two catches for 35 yards, while Cubbedge completed 9 of 23 passes for 136 yards.
Hall recorded two straight tackles behind the line of scrimmage on the Lions’ ensuing series. Cason then returned a punt 60 yards for the game’s final touchdown, with Sapp ending his perfect night on extra-point attempts.
Bradford finished with 448 total yards to Leon’s 121.
The Tornadoes now take on a Santa Fe that has won four more games than it did in the last four seasons combined. The Raiders, though, haven’t beaten a team with a winning record, with their six wins coming against opponents with a combined record of 15-35. Their two losses — against Newberry and University Christian — were by a combined score of 76-24.
Bradford defeated Santa Fe 44-0 last season.
