BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Bradford High School shut out visiting Baker County for the fourth time in six games and created three turnovers in defeating the visiting Wildcats 24-0 on Aug. 22 to open the varsity football season.
The Tornadoes, who travel to play Dunnellon on Friday, Aug. 29, at 7:30 p.m., held Baker to 10 rushing yards and 96 yards overall, with approximately half of that total yardage occurring on the Wildcats’ final two drives of the game. Six of Baker’s nine possessions went three plays or less.
“I thought we were going to be pretty good on defense when we went down to Cocoa, and we made it really tough for them to score points and had a couple of goal-line stands at their place,” Rodgers said, alluding to the 16-7 preseason loss to the three-time defending state champs on Aug. 15. “Our kids played extremely hard (against Cocoa), and they did it again tonight.”
Bradford is now 6-0 in the big rivalry game under Rodgers, with four of those games being the teams’ season opener.
“Rivalry games — we’ve seen it,” Rodgers said. “Florida-Georgia, Florida State-Florida, Georgia-Auburn — anytime there’s this kind of game, anything can happen. You’ve just got to hope you can focus your way through it and get the job done.
“We were really focused on defense tonight.”
That focus was there at the start, with Jackson Parmeter making a tackle for no gain on the Wildcats’ opening series, which also included a 7-yard sack by Cohen Cioffi.
Conversely, Baker’s defense was also making it tough for the Bradford offense. The Tornadoes’ first offensive play was an interception by the ‘Cats’ Rhett Rhoden, while Bradford’s second series ended the same way, with Bryan Tyson intercepting a tipped pass.
Rodgers said Baker’s defense was focused on taking the pass away and giving the Tornadoes opportunities in the run game. Bradford took advantage of that, rushing for 224 yards. Iyen Addison had 104 yards on 19 carries, while Keshawn Kennedy had 78 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
“When we didn’t have holding penalties, we were rocking along — just chunk, chunk, chunk going down the field,” Rodgers said of his run game. “That’s what it’s supposed to look like.”
The Tornadoes drove inside the red zone on their third drive, with Kennedy carrying the ball five times for 28 yards and Addison gaining 12 yards on three carries. Quarterback Cy Cubbedge, who was able to draw the Wildcats offsides twice on the series, also had an 8-yard scramble as Bradford drove from its 20 to the Baker 17. A third-and-1 play from there, however, resulted in a fumble, which Cubbedge fell on for a 4-yard loss. The Tornadoes went for it on fourth-and-5 from the 21, turning the ball over when Jy’Quez Cason was held to a 2-yard gain.
Bradford cashed in on its next possession, which began at the Baker 43-yard line. Kennedy ran through several tacklers as he gained 17 yards on a third-and-9 play to give the Tornadoes a first down at the 25. Kennedy followed that up with a 13-yard run to the 12. Two straight carries by Addison moved the Tornadoes to the 2-yard line. Cason scored on a run from there at the 6:31 mark of the second quarter. Tyler Sapp kicked the extra point to make it 7-0.
Baker quarterback Hudson Register injected some life into his team’s offense on the following series with consecutive runs of 20 and 11 yards as the Wildcats drove to the Bradford 44. After a 3-yard run and an incomplete pass, Register kept the ball for a 4-yard gain. Baker went for it on fourth-and-3, with Register getting dumped for a 2-yard loss.
That gave the Bradford offense the ball at its own 39 with 1:51 remaining in the first half. After a 5-yard run by Addison, Cubbedge found Kamontae Nixon across the middle for what would be a 56-yard touchdown pass, but a holding penalty brought the play back. A 12-yard reception by Jordan Cason and a penalty gave the Tornadoes a first down at the Baker 49. Addison then had an 11-yard run, but another holding penalty backed Bradford up to the Baker 48-yard line.
Jordan Cason, who finished with 52 yards on four receptions, caught a pass for a 23-yard gain, setting Bradford up at the 25-yard line with 0.8 seconds on the clock. Sapp kicked a 42-yard field goal to send the Tornadoes into halftime leading 10-0.
Baker’s second series of the second half ended with Jordan Cason causing and recovering a fumble. That led to a 54-yard scoring drive by Bradford. The Tornadoes picked up a first down when Cubbedge was able to get the Wildcats to jump offsides again and then overcame a holding penalty on four straight runs. Addison had two runs for 15 yards, while a 2-yard run by Jarrell Harris set up fourth-and-3. Kennedy got the ball and bulled through several defenders to pick up a first down at the Baker 29.
The drive continued with Cubbedge throwing a 13-yard pass to Jordan Cason. After Addison carried the ball for a 4-yard gain, Elijah Lawrence caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage, eluded a tackler and scampered into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown. Sapp added the PAT for a 17-0 lead with 2:36 to play in the third quarter.
It didn’t take Bradford long to get the ball back. The Wildcats ran two plays following Lawrence’s score, with the second being a pass picked off by the Tornadoes’ Montrez Aldridge, giving Bradford’s offense the ball at the Baker 33.
Cubbedge scrambled away from pressure and picked up 12 yards on a run to the 21. Kennedy then had runs of 8 and 6 yards. The Wildcats were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct following Kennedy’s second run, resulting in first-and-goal at the 3. Kennedy eventually scored on a 1-yard touchdown run six seconds into the fourth quarter. Sapp ended his perfect night with his third extra point, capping the scoring at 24-0.
The Tornadoes put heavy pressure on Register on the Wildcats’ final two series, with P.J. Lee making two sacks for a total loss of 17 yards and Nate Raymond getting a sack for a 19-yard loss.
Raymond’s sack had Baker facing second-and-39 from its own 40 on the Wildcats’ final drive. Parmeter made a tackle for a 2-yard loss on a pass play and then intercepted a pass tipped by Jordan Cason. Parmeter returned the interception 55 yards to the Baker 10-yard line.
Cubbedge attempted to throw a pass to Nixon in the end zone on the following play, which was incomplete. Cubbedge, who went 6 of 17 for 75 yards, then took a knee to end the game.
Class 2A Bradford now starts what appears to be a brutal three-game road stretch, beginning with going to Class 3A Dunnellon and then playing games at Class 3A South Sumter and Class 6A Jacksonville Mandarin. Rodgers expects all three to be top-five teams in their respective classes.
“There are no gimmes for us,” Rodgers said.
Dunnellon opened its season with a 17-14 loss to Class 2A Florida High.
Bradford hosted Dunnellon in 2024, winning 29-14.
