LPA, Central win flag football district titles, Vero, Okeechobee tennis teams make state

FORT PIERCE — Building a winner out of the Fort Pierce Central flag football program has been a tedious process for Cobra head coach Nick Clements the past two seasons.

On Thursday night, the Cobras delivered a championship performance to savor to clinch their spot in the state tournament.

Sophomore quarterback Adrienne Rivera threw three touchdown passes, two that went to senior Alexandra Goncalves as Fort Pierce Central's defense pitched an 18-0 shutout of Vero Beach for the District 10-2A title, the first for the program since 2018.

"We kind of lost our heads against Jupiter (earlier this month) losing 19-6 and after that, we had to regroup and say, what do we want to do this year," Clements said. "We played Jensen Beach and Spanish River the same night right after and since then, like tonight they've just been dialed in."

Goncalves caught a 15-yard touchdown pass in the opening quarter that put Fort Pierce Central up 6-0 and for Vero Beach, starting quarterback Tiana Pinkney was banged up and was sidelined most of the first half.

With Vero going to senior speedster Ratajah Dawson at quarterback that took her away from catching passes in space, the Cobra defense was stingy to give them a halftime lead.

After the skies opened up at halftime, the downpour didn't impact the Cobras (11-7) as to begin the third quarter, junior defensive back Serenity Marte picked off a pass to set Fort Pierce Central up in excellent field position.

Rivera drove the Cobras down the field and using her mobility escaped a near-sack, rolled to her right and found Goncalves wide open for another 15-yard touchdown connection to make it 12-0.

Fort Pierce Central put the game away as Rivera hit Alyssa Llanos for another 15-yard touchdown strike late in the third quarter.

Clements believed a tough schedule for the Cobras paid off late in the season as in their district semifinal, Fort Pierce Central as the second seed saw third seed Jupiter go ahead early but the Cobras scored the final 26 points and with seven consecutive scoreless quarters on defense have won seven games in a row entering the state playoffs.

District 11-1A

FORT PIERCE — Winning a district title for the first time in program history last year placed Lincoln Park Academy in a different category as one of the Treasure Coast's rising flag football teams.

The Greyhounds, entering the District 11-1A tournament as the top seed and winners of eight straight games, did just enough to bring home another big trophy.

A 55-yard interception return for a touchdown from junior Reese Williams in the first quarter and a one-point catch from Kylah Tiger made the difference as a late defensive stand gave Lincoln Park a 7-6 victory over third seed Fort Pierce Westwood.

After Velise Destile scored a touchdown with less than 30 seconds remaining, the game-tying pass fell incomplete for the Panthers (9-4) that effectively handed the Greyhounds the victory.

Lightning delayed the game on three separate occasions and rain made moving the ball for both teams difficult throughout but Williams made the big play on defense for Lincoln Park when it mattered.

Reading a throw to the boundary, Williams stepped around a Panther receiver beating her to the spot of the throw and snared it and eluded a Fort Pierce Westwood tackler down her own sideline to give the Greyhounds (12-2) a lead they never lost.

A key fourth down stand from their own one-yard line in the second half was just one moment of several for Lincoln Park's defense that was led by Erica Clairveaux, Tiger and Williams holding the Panthers' skill position players in check.

Fort Pierce Westwood is likely to receive an at-large berth in Region 3-1A with their state ranking entering the district tournament high enough and a district final appearance also likely to boost their resume.

Boys Tennis

Vero Beach 4, Lake Nona 1: Exacting revenge after being eliminated by the Lions a season ago, Vero Beach handed last year's 4A state champions their first loss in almost two seasons to reach the 4A state quarterfinals.

Both doubles pairings of Mason Cisco and Bo Johnson and Figge Pernfors and Mac Johnson won close matches and Cisco was able to win his match at No. 1 singles, winning the first set and rallying from a 2-5 hole in the second set to win 7-5.

Pernfors battled cramps and gutted out a third-set tiebreaker, winning 10-7 to secure Vero's spot as one of the state's last eight teams remaining in 4A.

State quarterfinal action takes place on Wednesday at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs for the team and also for Cisco at No. 1 singles as an individual as well as the duo of Cisco and Bo Johnson at No. 1 doubles.

Girls Lacrosse

Plantation American Heritage 10, South Fork 4: Zoe Williams and Avery Weikart each scored two goals but it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs (12-3) were defeated at home in a Region 4-2A quarterfinal.

Entering the game off a tough loss in the District 11-1A semifinals to Benjamin, South Fork surrendered two goals in the first 30 seconds of the game Thursday but Williams scored both of her goals inside the first 10 of the first half as the Bulldogs trailed 3-2 at the water break.

Weikart scored on an eight-meter direct shot late in the half that made it 5-3 but the Patriots (14-2) scored in the final seconds of the half to go up 6-3 at halftime.

South Fork opened the scoring in the second half through Weikart but would not score in the game's final 24-plus minutes.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: LPA, Central win flag districts, Vero, Okeechobee tennis on to state