BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Gino Addison rushed for more than 100 yards and scored two touchdowns, while Jeremiah McKenzie blocked two punts in the Bradford High School football team’s 29-14 win over visiting Class 3A Dunnellon on Aug. 30.
It was the second of what will be four straight games against schools in larger classifications to open the season. The Class 2A Tornadoes (2-0) will host 3A South Sumter (1-1) on Friday, Sept. 6, at 7:30 p.m. A home game against 6A Mandarin follows on the next Friday.
Bradford Head Coach Jamie Rodgers said he and his coaches talked two days prior to playing Dunnellon (1-1) about what would constitute a “good night.” The answer was to win by two scores.
It was indeed a good night.
“We knew how physical they were. We knew how hard they were going to play,” Rodgers said. Then, alluding to Bradford’s 44-0 win over Dunnellon in 2022, he said, “A couple of years ago, they got embarrassed. A lot of those guys were starters as 10th-graders. Now, they’re seniors. I knew they were going to play hard.
“To come out two touchdowns up is good.”
The visiting Tigers, after falling behind 15-0, were able to make it a one-score game twice, but the effectively sealed the win with a touchdown drive that spanned the third and fourth quarters and consumed nearly nine minutes. The 14-play drive consisted of nothing but runs. In fact, Bradford only attempted two passes in the second half, rushing for 197 yards on 31 carries after halftime.
Bradford averaged 6 yards per carry.
“One of our strengths is our offensive line,” Rodgers said. “Those guys have lifted so hard in the (last) three years. They’re strong. They’re in great condition. It shows at the end of games when we’re able to chew up the clock.
“That’s our game. That’s who we are.”
Dunnellon, after receiving the opening kickoff, gained two first downs, but the drive stalled at the Tigers’ 41, with Jeremiah Hill and Trente Jenkins teaming up to tackle running back Sean Martin for no gain on third-and-4. McKenzie blocked the ensuing punt, with Jy’Quez Cason scooping up the ball and taking it into the end zone for a score at the 7:58 mark of the first quarter. Bradford lined up as if to kick the extra point, but kicker Cy Cubbedge received the snap and threw a pass to Marlin Haywood in the end zone for two points and an 8-0 lead.
Bradford went three-and-out on its first series, but put together a 67-yard touchdown drive on its second. The Tornadoes faced the possibility of punting after only three plays again, but a facemask penalty on Dunnellon negated a sack on third-and-6 and gave Bradford a third-and-1 play. McKenzie picked up the first down on a 5-yard run. Cason took the Tornadoes into Dunnellon territory on the next play, breaking free for a 14-yard run to the Tigers’ 39.
The Tornadoes later faced two fourth-down plays, with McKenzie (lined up at quarterback) carrying the ball on both. He first picked up a first down with a 14-yard run to the 17. Then, on fourth-and-5 at the 12, he gained the first-down yardage and more, carrying the ball into the end zone for a touchdown with 4:48 remaining in the second quarter. Cubbedge kicked the extra point for a 15-0 lead.
Bradford was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct following the touchdown, with the penalty yardage assessed on the kickoff. The kickoff went out of bounds, with the Tigers electing to force a re-kick. The eventual result was an 18-yard return by Jeffery Vickers that put Dunnellon at the Bradford 43-yard line.
Dunnellon’s first play following the kick saw Martin take a pitch and scamper down the sideline for a 16-yard gain. After an offsides penalty against Bradford, Dylan Donahoe had a 9-yard run for a first down at the 13. Another offsides penalty gave the Tigers first-and-5. Donahoe had a 4-yard run, but was then stopped for no gain by Duke Lewis. On third-and-1, Donahoe got the call again and scored on a 4-yard run to make it 15-6 with 54 seconds remaining until halftime. A bad snap prevented Dunnellon from kicking the extra point.
The Tigers gained no yardage on their first three plays of the second half, with Jenkins, McKenzie and Reese Wainwright making tackles on two run attempts before an incomplete pass forced a punt attempt. McKenzie came up with his second block, with Mikey Oliver falling on the ball at the Dunnellon 35.
“We’ve been special on special teams the last three years,” Rodgers said. “That’s a credit to Coach (John Staples). He does a lot of work with it. Every single day we work on special teams, and it shows.”
Addison promptly ripped off a 26-yard run following the punt block, setting up first-and-goal at the 9. He carried two more times, with his second attempt resulting in a 6-yard touchdown at the 5:21 mark of the third quarter. Cubbedge added the PAT to make the score 22-6.
Dunnellon closed the gap less than three minutes later. Tony Tanner had a 45-yard run to the Bradford 28. On second-and-2 from the 20, Malachi Bullock came down with a Dylan Curry pass in the end zone with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter. Curry eluded a sack on the two-point conversion attempt and ran into the end zone to make it a 22-14 game.
The Tornadoes answered with their time-consuming touchdown drive that covered 77 yards. It featured eight runs for 44 yards by Addison and Iyen Addison.
McKenzie picked up the drive’s initial first down on a 13-yard run. A holding penalty on Dunnellon negated a third-down sack and gave Bradford a first down at the Tigers’ 43. After an illegal-procedure penalty, Gino Addison and Iyen Addison had runs of 8 and 5 yards, respectively, to set up third-and-2. Branden Williams picked up the first down on the first of his two straight 5-yard carries. A 5-yard run by Cason resulted in a first down at the 20. McKenzie was then tackled for a 1-yard loss, but Gino Addison carried defenders on a tough, 12-yard run to the 9.
Iyen Addison had a 4-yard carry before Gino Addison capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run with 5:40 to play. Cubbedge added the PAT for the game’s final point.
Gino Addison finished with 105 yards on 13 carries, while Iyen Addison had 64 yards on 12 carries. McKenzie carried eight times for 51 yards.
Cason, Williams and quarterback Zack Paulk also had multiple carries for the Tornadoes, who finished with 278 yards on 45 attempts.
“We’ve got multiple backs who can run the football,” Rodgers said. “We keep them fresh.”
The Tornadoes’ next opponent is coming off a 41-7 win over Class 6A Forest. South Sumter opened the season with a 35-28 loss to 5A Niceville, which was a regional semifinalist in Class 4S last season.
South Sumter and Bradford were in the same class (2S) last season. The Raiders went 11-1 in 2023 before losing 34-14 in the regional finals to Cocoa, which would go on to win the state championship with a 20-6 win over the Tornadoes.
