BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Bradford High School continued its dominant run in the postseason, capturing its second straight Region 2-2S championship with a 43-0 win over visiting Baker County on Nov. 24.
“I’m so happy for them,” Head Coach Jamie Rodgers said. “To see that excitement and them jumping around — that’s what it’s all about for me.”
Defensive end Duke Lewis, a transfer from Santa Fe who scored the game’s first touchdown on a fumble return, said, “This feels the best. My first (region championship). I don’t even know how to tell you (how it feels). I’m just happy for my brothers and coaches.”
The Tornadoes (13-0) now host a state-semifinal game against Pensacola Catholic (11-2) on Friday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m. Lewis and the defense played a huge part in getting there, holding Baker County to 34 yards.
Bradford has won its three playoff games by a combined score of 113-7 and has held opponents to an average of 76 yards per game.
“We work for it,” Lewis said. “Weight room, practice — we’re locked in all the time. It pays off. It shows.”
Offensively, the Tornadoes got a huge game from Jyquez Cason, who rushed for 97 yards and two touchdowns on six carries, while also catching three passes for 51 yards and another score.
“It feels good,” Cason said, adding, “A couple of kids got kicked out of the game. I had to step up.”
That was the downside to the Tornadoes’ victory. Quarterback Dae’Jon Shanks and wide receiver/defensive back Chalil Cummings were both ejected after earning two 15-yard penalties each. Rodgers wasn’t happy with the officials, especially regarding the second unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty Shanks earned for spinning the ball in the end zone after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter. Rodgers said his team gets penalized for such things that other teams don’t get penalized for.
“I’ve seen it on news channels, at every high school in the country — it’s a cool thing to spin the ball,” Rodgers said. They throw a 15-yard unsportsmanlike on Dae’Jon for that — that’s been happening against us all year long. It can’t be inconsistent like that.”
Regarding Cummings’ ejection, Rodgers said, “It’s unfortunate what (Baker) lured us into with a couple of penalties on Chaili. I’m not happy with that. I’m not mad at Chalil. I’m mad at the circumstances that led to that – them cutting him in the open field and stuff like that.”
The ejections mean that Cummings and Shanks can’t play in the state-semifinal game. Rodgers will make an appeal to the Florida High School Athletic Association in hopes the organization “will do what’s right.”
Rodgers said Bradford isn’t a one- or two-player team. Plus, players have been filling spots because of injuries all year, he added. If Cummings and/or Shanks can’t play, Rodgers said, “Somebody will step up and play. That’s all.”
Baker (8-4) received the opening kickoff and had good field position at its own 41. The Wildcats’ first two plays from scrimmage, though, resulted in lost yardage on tackles by Lewis. Quarterback Hudson Register then had a 12-yard run that came up inches shy of a first down. The Wildcats went for it on fourth down, with Bradford’s Torin Brazell causing a fumble. Lewis scooped the ball up and took it back 48 yards for a touchdown at the 10:17 mark of the first quarter. Declan Hense kicked the extra point for a 7-0 Bradford lead.
“When you play hard and do what you’re supposed to do, you end up making plays,” Rodgers said. “I’m happy for Duke. Duke’s played well all year. The whole defense has been outstanding.”
Register had two runs that resulted in first downs on Baker’s second possession. Penalties gave the Wildcats another two first downs, with one for pass interference setting Baker up at the Bradford 29. Jeremiah Hill and Jeremiah McKenzie tackled running back Benny Lewis for a 1-yard loss, followed by a 12-yard sack by Brazell. Malachi Murphy then held Register to a 2-yard gain, forcing the Wildcats to punt on fourth-and-21.
Bradford’s offense finally stepped onto the field with 4:47 to play in the opening quarter. Shanks was sacked for a 4-yard loss on the Tornadoes’ first play, but Cason had a 19-yard run on second down to move the chains. A 12-yard run by Shanks and a personal-foul penalty on the Wildcats moved the Tornadoes to the Baker 37. Cason broke free for a touchdown run with 1:22 to play in the first quarter.
“It was crazy,” Cason said. “I wasn’t expecting to get that far.”
Hense added the PAT for a 14-0 lead.
Lewis recorded his second sack of the game as the Tornadoes forced Baker to go three-and-out on the ensuing series. The Wildcats’ punt pinned Bradford at its own 14. Shanks was dropped for a 1-yard loss on first down. After an incomplete pass, the Tornadoes converted a third-and-11 play on a 32-yard run by Cason. Shanks then had a 15-yard run to the Baker 40 before completing a 29-yard pass to Michael Oliver for a first down at the 11-yard line. Runs of 6 and 3 yards by Shanks and McKenzie, respectively, set Shanks up for a 2-yard touchdown run that put Bradford ahead 20-0 at the 8:57 mark of the second quarter. The PAT was no good after a mishandled snap led to an incomplete pass.
The touchdown run was the last play of the game for Shanks, who rushed for 30 yards on six carries and completed 2 of 3 passes for 61 yards. That forced Bradford to bring starting linebacker McKenzie into the game at quarterback. McKenzie, however, has plenty of experience after starting at quarterback for most of the Tornadoes’ games last season.
“If he’s got to play (against Pensacola Catholic), he’ll play, and we’ll be fine,” Rodgers said.
A 16-yard kickoff return by Vontayus Walker had the Wildcats starting their next series at the 50-yard line. They would move to the Bradford 26, thanks to a personal-foul penalty. A 5-yard sack by Brazell forced Baker into a fourth-and-12 play. The Wildcats went for it, with Brazell sacking Register again for a 10-yard loss.
When the Wildcats got the ball back, they were starting a drive at their own 16. A Chason Clark tackle held Register to a 4-yard gain on second-and-10. On third down, the shotgun snap rolled past Register, who fell on it in the end zone for a safety, making the score 22-0 with 3:25 until halftime.
Cason returned the kickoff to open the second half 26 yards, setting Bradford’s offense up 1 yard shy of midfield. A 12-yard run by Cason was nullified by a personal-foul penalty, but the Tornadoes overcame that with a 13-yard run by Cummings for a first down at the Baker 41. A 28-yard run by McKenzie and a subsequent personal-foul penalty on Baker set up first-and-goal at the 8. Cason scored on a run from there at the 10:54 mark of the third quarter. Hense kicked the extra point to make the score 29-0.
The ensuing kickoff was when Cummings was ejected. Two plays later, Bradford’s Branden Williams intercepted a pass.
Bradford picked up another personal-foul penalty after the interception. Bradford, which was penalized 11 times for 140 yards, had eight 15-yard penalties, while Baker, which was penalized 13 times for 115 yards, had five.
The Tornadoes’ latest 15-yard penalty had them starting a drive at their own 7. Cason promptly took them out of the shadow of their end zone with a 20-yard run. Runs of 5 and 9 yards by Brian Cliffin picked up first downs, while a 22-yard run by McKenzie, who finished with 73 yards on 11 carries, moved Bradford to the Baker 23. Cliffin and McKenzie had runs of 6 and 5 yards, respectively, before McKenzie found the end zone from 12 yards out with 5:20 to play in the third quarter. The score stood at 36-0 after Hense added the PAT.
With a running clock now employed, the rest of the game played out quickly. The Tornadoes added the final score on a 53-yard drive. Cliffin, who rushed for 41 yards on nine carries, gained a first down on a 5-yard run. An offsides penalty on a fourth-down play gave Bradford a first down. McKenzie, who was 4 of 6 for 28 yards, later threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Cason, capping his impressive night.
“He loves football,” Rodgers said. “He lifts in the weight room really hard. He watches more film probably than anybody. That’s what happens. When you’ve got all those good things pulling in one direction, that’s what happens.”
Hense was successful on the extra-point kick. Since joining the team mid-season, he is 26 of 28 on PATs in six games.
Bradford has now won by at least three touchdowns for the sixth straight game. Rodgers wasn’t surprised his team kept that streak going in the Region 2 title game.
“I’ll be honest with you, that’s exactly how I envisioned it, if we played up to our capabilities,” he said. “I thought we had a great game plan on offense going into this week and that we were going to execute it well.”
The Tornadoes finished with 343 yards, with 254 coming on the ground. Bradford averaged 8 yards per rushing attempt.
