BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Caiden Carn and Jy’Quez Cason each had an interception with less than three minutes remaining, with Carn scoring on his pick for the game’s final points in the Bradford High School football team’s 24-14 win over visiting Tampa Berkeley Prep in a Region 2-2A semifinal game on Nov. 21.
“The crowd tonight was amazing. The band was amazing,” Bradford Head Coach Jamie Rodgers said. “That helped us settle in and get those stops that we needed.”
Those stops were important as Bradford’s offense was shut out in the second half against a private-school program that won a state champion two years ago and was a state runner-up four years ago.
“That’s a championship ball team with a championship culture,” Rodgers said of Berkeley, adding, “I told our guys that they don’t understand how big a win this is for us, against that program. They have everything they need at their disposal, and they’re good and tough.”
Of course, it was a big win anyway because it puts the Tornadoes (11-1) into the Region 2 championship game. Bradford will host Cocoa (7-4) on Friday, Nov. 28, at 7:30 p.m.
Cocoa has been a thorn in Bradford’s side (see related post), but Rodgers said his players did a good job of not looking ahead to that possible matchup.
“Our kids did a good job of locking in,” Rodgers said. “We talked to them all week about not looking ahead.
“That’s a good football team over there. We’re fortunate to come away with the win.”
Carn said he and his teammates focus on the task at hand and worry about the future later.
“It’s just one team at a time,” the sophomore defensive back said.
Berkeley (5-5) received the opening kickoff and chewed up more than seven minutes on a touchdown drive that covered 33 yards. All but two of the 12 plays were runs, with Luby Jones getting eight carries for 35 yards.
“It was old-school football,” Rodgers said. “It was I formation and things you don’t see very often anymore. It was a lot of fun to get prepared for it.”
Matt White had the biggest run on the drive when he broke multiple tackle attempts on a 15-yard gain to the Bradford 13-yard line. It was a pass play, however, that resulted in the Buccaneers’ score, with Justin Del Giudice catching a 11-yard pass from Cooper Hayes with 4:47 remaining in the first quarter. Peter Pisano added the extra point to put the visitors up 7-0.
Bradford responded with a 13-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. Chase Phillips and Kemontae Nixon caught passes from Cy Cubbedge of 10 and 14 yards, respectively, to pick up first downs, while a 1-yard run by Iyen Addison on fourth-and-1 moved the chains again, with the Tornadoes possessing the ball at the Berkeley 33. Phillips, who finished with three catches for 43 yards, almost got into the end zone on a pass play,
but the 31-yard gain set up first-and-goal at the 1. Cubbedge scored on a run from there with 8 seconds left in the opening quarter. Tyler Sapp’s PAT evened the score at 7-7.
“The first drive, they kind of punched us in the mouth,” Rodgers said. “It was really good to see us come back.”
Berkeley went three-and-out on its next offensive series, with the Tornadoes’ Jordan Cason in coverage on a deep pass that was incomplete.
A punt had the Bradford offense starting a drive at its own 49. Jordan Cason caught a short pass from Cubbedge on the first play and turned it into a 51-yard touchdown a little over a minute into the second quarter. A Berkeley player got a hand on Sapp’s extra-point attempt, but the ball still made it through the uprights, putting the Tornadoes ahead 14-7.
Cason would finish as the Tornadoes’ leading receiver with three catches for 59 yards, while Cubbedge went 12 of 20 for 161 yards.
The Bradford defense forced another three-and-out the next time the Bucs had the ball. Kingston Booker tripped up Jones, holding him to a 3-yard gain after he had broken into open field. Cohen Cioffi brought pressure against Hayes, resulting in an incomplete pass on third down and forcing a punt.
Bradford’s Danny Torres made two tackles for loss the next time Berkeley had the ball, but an illegal-participation penalty on a third-and-long play gave the Bucs a much more manageable third down, which they converted into a first down at the Bradford 42. Two runs by Jones netted 8 yards, but the back was then dropped for a 1-yard loss by Bryce Daniels on third-and-2. Berkeley went for it on fourth down, with Hayes failing to connect with a receiver inside the 5-yard line.
Addison, who finished with 117 yards on 26 carries, had a 30-yard run to the Berkeley 36, followed by Cubbedge completing an 11-yard pass to Nixon, who finished with three receptions for 36 yards. Two straight incomplete passes and a 5-yard run by Addison left the Tornadoes with fourth-and-5 at the 20. Sapp kicked a 37-yard field with 22 seconds until halftime, making the score 17-7.
The Tornadoes opened the second half with a promising drive that began with four Addison runs for a net of 23 yards. Peyton Jones had a 4-yard reception that was followed by an 8-yard run by Addison that gave Bradford a first down at the Berkeley 38. After a 7-yard reception by Jordan Cason, the Tornadoes had two penalties that resulted in a loss of 20 yards. Bradford eventually punted on fourth-and-13.
Cubbedge’s punt pinned the Bucs at their own 13. A holding penalty on first down backed them up to where they were facing first-and-16 from the 7, but Berkeley got a 16-yard run from White to move the chains. Two plays later, Dylan Henderson caught a pass along his team’s sideline, outleaping the defender and sprinting his way to a 72-yard touchdown at the 6:53 mark of the third quarter. Pisano added the PAT to make it a 17-14 game.
After a three-and-out by the Bradford offense, Berkeley drove past midfield, getting two runs from Jones that resulted in first downs and an unnecessary roughness penalty that gave the Bucs another first down at the Bradford 44. Berkeley, however, gained just 3 yards over the next three plays. On fourth-and-7, a screen pass to Jones resulted in a 2-yard loss on a tackle by Jy’Quez Cason.
Cubbedge had the Tornadoes on the move on their next series. He completed a 10-yard pass to Jones (three catches, 23 yards) for one first down and picked up another two on runs of 8 and 10 yards as the Tornadoes drove from their own 43 to the Berkeley 16. Two runs by Addison moved Bradford to the 7, but another carry by Addison resulted in a 1-yard loss. On fourth-and-2, Jy’Quez Cason took a direct snap and was held to a 1-yard gain as the Tornadoes turned the ball over on downs at the 7-yard line.
Late in the fourth quarter, another Cubbedge punt pinned the Bucs deep in their own territory, making Berkeley start a drive at its own 3 with 3:38 to play. The Bucs picked up first downs on pass plays of 10 and 14 yards before Carn stepped in front of a pass and took it 35 yards for a touchdown with 2:42 on the clock. Sapp added the PAT for the game’s final points.
“I saw the ball, got out of my break, came up with the pick and went down the sideline and celebrated with my teammates,” Carn said.
Rodgers said, “I’m just extremely proud of him. He fought through a lot of adversity this year with injuries. He kept plugging, kept coming back and kept working. I’m just really proud of him. He made a huge play that turned the game around.”
Berkeley’s last offensive series consisted of just two plays, with Jy’Quez Cason making a diving interception at the Berkeley 44 with 2:06 to play.
“We knew they were going to pass the ball because they were down by two scores,” Cason said. “They threw it. I caught an interception.”
The defensive effort was huge, but so, too, was that of the offense. Despite not scoring in the second half, the Tornadoes possessed the ball for more than 15 minutes. Berkeley’s Jones, who rushed for 62 yards on 19 carries in the first half, had only nine touches for 27 yards in the second half.
