BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Bradford High School’s football team turned two early turnovers into points in defeating visiting Santa Fe 21-7 and winning the District 5-2A championship on Oct. 24.
The Tornadoes have now won their district in three of the four years under Head Coach Jamie Rodgers.
“The seniors from last year — they get harassed a little bit about being the only group I’ve had that didn’t win the district championship,” Rodgers said. “This (year’s) group wanted to do it. They were super happy to do it.”
Though they were going to qualify for the postseason anyway, the Tornadoes earned an automatic berth in the Region 2 playoffs by virtue of winning the district. The playoffs begin Friday, Nov. 14. Seedings and matchups will be announced by the Florida High School Athletic Association on Thursday, Nov. 6.
Santa Fe (7-2, 2-2) was looking to create a three-way tie atop the district standings, but the Raiders got off to a disastrous start against Bradford. Their first two offensive plays — including a sack by Bradford’s Danny Torres — resulted in a net loss of 4 yards. The Tornadoes’ Nate Raymond then had a sack-fumble, with the loose ball being scooped up by Jy’Quez Cason.
The turnover set the Bradford offense up at Santa Fe’s 8-yard line. After an offsides penalty assessed against the Raiders, Bradford quarterback Cy Cubbedge found Kemontae Nixon in the corner of the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown pass at the 10:04 mark of the first quarter. Tyler Sapp kicked the extra point to make it 7-0.
Santa Fe responded with an impressive drive that saw the Raiders move from their own 20 to the Bradford 33. Running back Jasiah Powell was a big part of that, with six carries for 30 yards.
The drive consumed more than eight minutes before ending with the Raiders’ second turnover — an interception by Jordan Cason, whose return set the Bradford offense up at the Santa Fe 45.
Cubbedge and Iyen Addison had carries of 6 and 7 yards, respectively, before Addison broke free for a 32-yard touchdown run. Sapp added the PAT as the Tornadoes built a 14-0 lead with 1:19 remaining in the first quarter.
Addison gained 54 total yards on six carries before exiting the game in the first half with an ankle injury. It was the same ankle he injured earlier in the season.
“He’ll be OK,” Rodgers said, adding, “The good thing is now we don’t play again for three weeks.”
Santa Fe’s Dantre Little returned the kickoff following Addison’s touchdown 65 yards to the Bradford 29-yard line. After an offsides penalty against the Tornadoes, Powell ripped off an 11-yard run to the 13. Powell was tackled for a 1-yard loss on the next play, but then had carries of 6 and 7 yards to set up first-and-goal at the 1. Quarterback Tyler Gentry went over center for a touchdown approximately two minutes into the second quarter. Mayer Steen kicked the extra point as the Raiders cut Bradford’s lead in half at 14-7.
The Tornadoes threatened to increase their lead when Nixon turned a short pass into a 34-yard gain to the Santa Fe 27. Bradford, however, was held to a net gain of 4 yards on its next three plays. The Tornadoes went for it on fourth-and-6, turning the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass.
It was a quick first half, with Santa Fe controlling the clock with its run game. The Raiders had a huge advantage in time of possession, holding onto the ball for more than 19 minutes.
Santa Fe rushed for 73 yards in the first half, with Powell gaining 69 yards on 15 carries.
The second half was a different story, as the Bradford defense held Powell to 17 yards. Bradford made five tackles behind the line of scrimmage as the Raiders had minus-8 yards rushing as a team and 32 total yards.
“We made some really good adjustments,” Rodgers said. “Our defensive staff got on the board in there in a hurry and fixed some things that were giving us problems. We went to a little bit of a different front — some stuff we hadn’t shown this year. It ended up working out for us.”
The third quarter began with the Bradford offense putting together an impressive drive that included 35 rushing yards from Keshaun Kennedy on five carries. Bradford covered 54 yards on 11 plays, moving from its own 14 to the Santa Fe 32
before turning the ball over on downs when Cubbedge was sacked on a fourth-and-six play.
Bradford’s Raymond and J.J. Hall combined to tackle Powell for a 4-yard loss on Santa Fe’s first offensive play of the half. After a penalty for delay of game, the Tornadoes then held the Raiders to a 3-yard gain on a pass play. Santa Fe was penalized for illegal procedure, setting up third-and-21. Little picked up 10 yards on a pass play before being stopped on a vicious hit by Jy’Quez Cason, forcing a punt.
The Tornadoes overcame a holding penalty on their second possession of the half when Santa Fe was penalized for a personal foul. Kennedy had an 11-yard run to give Bradford a first down at its own 47 before Chase Phillips gained 41 yards on a pass reception, giving the Tornadoes a first down at the Santa Fe 12. Kennedy was dropped for a 1-yard loss on the next play, but Cubbedge then hooked up with Nixon in the corner of the end zone for the second time in the game for a 13-yard touchdown with 1:07 remaining in the third quarter. Sapp’s PAT ended the scoring at 21-7.
“Our kids feel pretty good with a two-touchdown lead,” Rodgers said. “Then, we can kind of tee off (on defense).”
Santa Fe had three possessions after Bradford’s touchdown, gaining a total of 24 yards, with the Tornadoes getting sacks of 6 yards by Cohen Cioffi, 9 yards by Raymond and 10 yards by Hall.
Thanks to the defensive effort, Bradford wasn’t hurt by the two turnovers its offense had in the fourth quarter.
Kennedy finished as the Tornadoes’ second-leading rusher behind Addison with 59 yards on 10 carries. Cubbedge completed 9 of 17 passes for 131 yards, with Nixon catching five passes for 69 yards. Phillips had 46 yards on two receptions.
The Tornadoes finished with 270 yards in all to Santa Fe’s 113.
Bradford has now gone 9-1 or better in each of Rodgers’ four seasons as head coach.
“That’s a testament to the continuity,” Rodgers said. “I’ve had the same exact coaching staff except for a couple of additions. I’ve had the same guys here with me the whole time. I haven’t lost but maybe one guy over the four years.
“I think it speaks to that and a bunch of players who really like to get after it.”
Rodgers (including the postseason) now has a 45-6 record at BHS.
