Roundup: Haines City routs Discovery; LCS wins and more

Brandon Ashlock is tackle by Haines City's Jadon Freeman (12) as Caleb Lugo (47) closes in on Friday night at Joe Stangry Stadium.
Brandon Ashlock is tackle by Haines City's Jadon Freeman (12) as Caleb Lugo (47) closes in on Friday night at Joe Stangry Stadium.

HAINES CITY — Haines City played its biggest game in years last week that ended with a one-point loss to Winter Haven. The Hornets will play their next big game next week against Ridge Community.

While they have yet to prove they're up to the challenge in a big game, they continued to show they have little trouble with lesser competition.

Haines City's 40-0 victory over Discovery was all but over in the first quarter and was officially over after three quarters when officials got word that Discovery was calling the game.

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The Hornets were up 21-0 after the first quarter and were an extra-point shy starting the second half with a running clock as they took the second-half kickoff with a 34-0 lead.

Ke'shon Tyler's 80-yard kickoff return for the game's final points immediately began the running clock.

Tyler began the game with an 18-yard touchdown run. Tramel Coward also scored two touchdowns, and Samauri Wilson and Anthony Smith also scored on touchdown.

Haines City finished with 254 yards of total offense — all in the first half — and held Discovery to just 63  yards.

Haines City spreads the wealth on the ground

The weather made Haines City one-dimensional last week against Winter Haven. Against Discovery, the Hornets have five ballcarriers in just one half of play. Tyler led with 77 yards on six carries. Kanai Washington had a 28-yard run and an 18-yard carry, and Smith also had a 13-yard touchdown and finished with 30 yards on three carries.

Haines City running back Ke'shon Tyler follows the blocking of teammate Tramel Cowart (9) on his way to an 18-yard touchown run in the first quarter on Friday night at Joe Stangry Stadium.
Haines City running back Ke'shon Tyler follows the blocking of teammate Tramel Cowart (9) on his way to an 18-yard touchown run in the first quarter on Friday night at Joe Stangry Stadium.

Hornets want to use passing game more

Haines City coach Pat Herrington knows his team can run, but he also wants to be able to pass.

Herrington wanted to see more passing against Discovery.

Quarterback Samauri Wilson was 3-of-6 for 59 yards and also had a couple of completions negated by a penalty.

"I wanted to look at our passing game a little big more," Haines City coach Pat Herrington said. "We've got a young quarterback. Our quarterback is 14 years old and is in the 10th grade. We can't put the game on his shoulders at 14. Tonight I wanted to throw the ball a little bit more to see his decision process."

Haines City looks ahead to next big game

The Hornets (3-1) will need a win over the Bolts next week to stay in the hunt for the district title. Last week, the Hornets lost to Winter Haven, 7-6, in rainy conditions.

"We made a lot of mistakes on the offensive line last week against Winter Haven," Herrington said. "We didn't make the right line calls. That was a big game for our guys. Our guys haven't been in many big game. A lot of our guys didn't rise to the occasion."

Herrington also pointed out that the Hornets didn't have a field-goal kicker and spent the past week trying to find one.

Kamau Francis won the kicking job and made a couple of extra points.

"If we had a field goal kicker last week against Winter Haven, it might have been totally different," Herrington said.

Lakeland Christian 28, Hardee 21

Parker St. John threw touchdown passes T.C. Bell, Parker Galberaith and Dre Hughes as the Viking controlled the game

The Vikings led 28-7, and Hardee made the score closer by scoring against the backups.

Frostproof 29, Avon Park 22

AVON PARK — Frostproof mounted a second-half rally, scoring the final 21 points of the game to escape with a win.

Daiveon Pittman returned a fumble for the game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes left.

“The guys rallied really hard in the second half,” Frostproof head coach Rod McDowell said. “We came out flat in the first half. I gotta do a better job of getting guys up before the game.”

Mulberry High School running back Lloyd Knight (1) breaks free as he rushed for the team's first touchdown during the first quarter against Santa Fe High School at Mulberry High Friday night. September 23, 2022.
Mulberry High School running back Lloyd Knight (1) breaks free as he rushed for the team's first touchdown during the first quarter against Santa Fe High School at Mulberry High Friday night. September 23, 2022.

Mulberry 41, Santa Fe 21

MULBERRY — The Panthers ran for more than 400 yards and three different players went over the 100-yard mark in a rout of the Hawks at The Phosphate Bowl.

Lloyd Knight led Mulberry with 125 yards and three touchdowns, all coming in the first half.

Tay Burgess added 117 yards and two touchdowns and Josh Bellamy racked up 107 yards on seven Carrie’s to give Mulberry its first win of the year.

In all, the Panthers ran for 439 yards and staked themselves to a big 41-14 halftime lead.

Mulberry High SchoolÕs Devin Burgess (2) rushes upfield during the first quarter against Santa Fe High School at Mulberry High Friday night. September 23, 2022.
Mulberry High SchoolÕs Devin Burgess (2) rushes upfield during the first quarter against Santa Fe High School at Mulberry High Friday night. September 23, 2022.

All Saints 49, St. John’s Lutheran 0

WINTER HAVEN — All Saints showed off its big-play ability as the Saints stayed unbeaten with a rout on Friday night.

The Saints (5-0) piled up 387 yards of total offense with quarterback Daunte Giles racking up 265 total yards.

Giles ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns (2, 7, 74) and also threw a 61-yard touchdown to Claudarius Bell. That was part of a 3-for-3 night for Giles with 125 yards.

Dontravius Bell also had a big night in the ground, scoring in his only two attempts from 72 and 50 yards out.

Claudarius also had a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Other games

Winter Haven 40, Celebration 16

Ridge 53, East Ridge 27

Poinciana 20, Tenoroc 2

Lake Placid 52, Lake Region 40

St. Stephen’s 42, Jordan Christian 0

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Roundup: Haines City routs Discovery; LCS wins and more