By FRANCIS FEDOR
francisfotography@outlook.com
With only four games left in the regular season, the South Shore Six SS6 are rounding the corner, and a few teams are looking at tuning up for what they hope will be a berth in the FHSAA State Playoffs. With the exception of East Bay, all of the SS6 faced district opponents on Friday, Sept. 25. Lennard was the big winner on the night, winning on the road up I-75 at Plant City HS. East Bay and Spoto also scored much needed victories.
The Lennard Longhorns, led by head coach KB Belton and moving up 14 spots in last week's MaxPreps rankings, traveled to Plant City and came away with an exhilarating 19-14 last play win over the Raiders. Plant City was considered among many to be the favorite to win the 6A D10 bracket, but the Longhorns seized the moment and now control their destiny in the district race with a 2-0 record, sitting atop the standings. Lennard should also see a move in the standings for MaxPreps after the big win that also extends their winning streak to five games with four left in the regular season. Their next big game is a home district match-up with Durant (1-1 in the district) followed by a road game against Riverview to close out their district schedule.
Plant City scored first in a game that was dominated by the defenses, but Lennard answered the score with a second quarter rushing TD from QB Antonio Balaguer. The Longhorns took a third quarter lead on a Balaguer completion to Terrence O’Neal Leather. The Raiders found a hole in the Lennard return coverage and found the endzone on a kickoff return to take back the lead and set up a wild finish. With the clock running down, Balaguer found a favorite target in Chayse Brown for a 65-yard TD completion with the clock showing 0:00 to come away with the win. Balaguer finished with 296 total yards (278 pass/18 rush), two passing TDs and a rushing TD. Brown finished with 167 yards receiving.
The Longhorns return to the Ranch for another tough test in undefeated TB Tech who has held three of its last four opponents scoreless. Only Gaither has had some level of success against the Titan defense, posting 28 points in a loss. TB Tech defeated SS6 rival Sumner 35-10 back on August 28.
The Sumner Stingrays dropped six spots in the MaxPreps (used by FHSAA to determine playoff seedings) rankings, going from 37 to 31, after the loss to Armwood on the road and lost a heartbreaker to Manatee, 30-27, in the Tank. Former Sumner star Greg Smith, now playing at UNC and named by PFF as Player of the Week with seven tackles, an INT, and a fumble recovery in a loss at Clemson two weeks ago, was in attendance. Sumner started out strong and dominated the first half, taking a 14-0 lead into the locker room on the strength of a Christian Clemons rushing TD, setup by a punt block by Ethan Donatien. A TD connection from QB Makai Frederick to Antrell Johnson added to the lead. Makai finished with 134 yards passing and three TDs and had a potential second half rushing TD called back on a penalty.
It was Manatee that came out in the second half and capitalized on Sumner miscues, the first being a broken special teams coverage that led to a kick return for the Hurricanes first score to open the second half. The Stingrays pushed the lead back to a two score advantage on a rushing TD from Kaleb Williams before giving up their second kickoff return for a TD. Late in the game, the Hurricanes blocked a punt for a safety and moved the ball downfield on the ensuing kickoff for the go-ahead TD with just over a minute remaining. The Rays quickly set up a game tying FG attempt, but the kick went wide-left. Tyler Lynch continued to be a dynamic presence on the field with an acrobatic TD catch. The Stingrays piled up 324 yards of offense in defeat.
The Stingrays head back out on the road to take on Jefferson who is coming off a win over Morgan this past Friday but lost to Newsome, only by a point, 34-33, the Friday prior. Head coach George Selvie and the team will be looking to put the Manatee game behind them and get back on track on the road.
Head coach DeAndra Simmons and his East Bay Indians got off to a fast start vs. Freedom and never looked back in a 45-0 rout of the Patriots in Gibsonton. The Indians scored 25 first quarter points, including a safety, and recovered a fumble to keep the early shutout intact. East Bay added two rushing TDs in the second to put the game out of reach and start a running clock for the second half, reducing the final two quarters down to eight minutes, each in agreement with both coaching staffs. Freedom dropped to 0-5 and the Indians now sit at 4-2. Cannon Farragut returned after leaving the Lennard game with an injury and accounted for 150 yards of Indian offense (122 in the air/28 on the ground) with four TDs (three pass/one rush). Senior Aric Person led all rushers with 95 yards and Shawn Daniels was on the receiving end of two Farragut TD passes, and Mario Davis hauled in the other. The D stepped up with three sacks, one each from Sharpless, Dorian Edwards and Brittan Newton. Daniels and Marquis Thornton each recovered a fumble.
The Indians head back out on the road starting their second three-game road trip of the season to take on the Strawberry Crest Chargers who are 1-4 and coming off a 61-21 loss to Steinbrenner and then have a road tilt vs. the one-loss Jesuit Tigers the following week.
The Spoto Spartans won big on the road, 44-23, extending their winning streak against Leto to three games. The Spartans last lost to the Falcons in OT, 30-27, in 2023. In the 2024 win, they hung 66 on Leto and shut them out 48-0 last season. This season, the Falcons only win came over King HS, another struggling program. Spartan junior Jarvis Howell started at QB and had a 203-yard night with four TDs, connecting with senior Michael Grider III for three scores. Grider led the receiving corps with 152 yards and found the end zone on the ground for a TD. Leto fell to 1-5 on the season, but the Spartans gained a much-needed win to move to 2-4 as they fight through injuries. They are without starting QB Giovanni Sbabo for the season, and a number of other starters have been out for extended periods.
The Spartans stay on the road to take on the Durant Cougars (3-2) who are coming off a win over Riverview, as Spoto head coach Keith Chattin’s squad battles through injuries to work back to .500.
The Riverview Sharks had the Durant game circled on their calendar as an opportunity to get a win that eluded them late in the game last season. But the Cougars again came out on top, 57-28, and the Sharks are still looking to build an identity, falling to 2-4. The Sharks were in the game at the half, only down by one score, at 20-14. Riverview was first to score, getting a passing TD to open the game. The Cougars tied it up and took a lead, scoring three unanswered TDs before the Sharks answered with a TD to close out the half. After the teams exchanged TDs to start the second half, the Cougars scored the next four TDs putting the game out of reach.
Carter Peternell tossed for 198 yards and ran for another 122 for another big game from the junior QB. He accounted for all four of the Shark scores with three passing and one rushing TD. Dominic Persaud was on the receiving end of two of the scores with fellow senior JP Rinaldi catching the other. Persaud also had an INT.
The Sharks stay out on the road to take on the Steinbrenner Warriors. The Warriors are off to a 5-1 start and coming off a 61-21 thrashing of Strawberry Crest. Riverview and head coach Tony Rodriguez have a tough closing schedule that includes Lennard and Gaither on their slate.
The Morgan Mustangs stayed with the Jefferson Dragons but eventually fell 18-7 on the road in Tampa. The Mustangs held a halftime lead but gave up two TDs in the final frame to fall to 2-4 in their inaugural varsity campaign. Head coach Marlo Hollingshed has kept the team competitive in its first varsity season as he builds a program.
The Mustangs stay out on the road to take on a win-less Freedom Patriots team that was shutout by East Bay last week and was drubbed by Middleton, 43-0, the week before the East Bay game.
Story or any parts of the story, including photography or any AI revisions, are copyright protected and any reproduction without express written consent of the author is prohibited. Full game gallery available for purchase at https://www.maxpreps.com/photography/photographers/ Florida-Francis Fedor Photography/Graphics Contact: Insta: FrancisFoto2020 Email: FrancisFotography@Outlook.com Phone: 202.683.9691
