By FRANCIS FEDOR
francisfotography@outlook.com
The Lennard Longhorns notched a resounding 35-0 victory over the East Bay Indians in Gibsonton FLA on Friday, Sept. 19 in a highly anticipated match-up
between the two South Shore Six (SS6) schools and a reunion for three Indians that left East Bay and ended up on the Lennard roster. There was an air of chippiness and gamesmenship that started even before the teams lined-up for the opening kickoff. Lennard moves to 4-1 and has not lost since a tight game on the road at Armwood, and East Bay falls to 3-2.
The Longhorns found holes in the Indians defense and three of their five TDs were quick strikes from the offense, with senior QB Antonio Balaguer connecting with Chase Brown twice, running free in the East Bay secondary. Balaguer, with the Longhorns in the shadow of their own endzone, found Brown down the middle for a 96-yard third quarter score that was a backbreaker for the Indians. Earlier in the third, the Longhorns called on Al’quan Smith and used trickery to spring him as East Bay failed to account for Smith as a second man through the line that resulted in a 60-yard rushing score. Balaguer finished with 236 yards passing (2 TD) and another 48 yards rushing, including a ground TD. Brown collected 200 yards receiving. The Longhorns added 137 yards in rushing with senior Sta’shaun Gage adding the fifth TD from the backfield. Balaguer also had an opportunity to showcase his leg with a pooch punt pinning the Indians deep in their own territory.
East Bay had opportunities in close but the Lennard defense tightened up inside the 10-yard line. It seemed everything the Indians tried was met in the backfield by the Lennard defense. The Indians biggest missed opportunity came at the start of the second half where DeAndre Simmons and his staff called for a trick play, where Jeremiah Argo passed to a teammate behind the line and they had a receiver open behind the Lennard secondary, but the pass fell to the ground on what could have been an Indian TD and may have been the spark they needed. Argo was under constant heat and a hit late in the game forced him to exit and Cannon Farragut took over for the rest of the game. The Indian offense only accounted for 90 total yards and will look to regroup.
Head coach KB Belton and his Longhorns stay out on the road to face Plant City in a key district tilt. The Raiders are off to a 3-1 start and are on a 2-game winning streak. The Longhorns won their only other district matchup so far, with the win over Newsome on Sept. 10 and can extend their winning streak to five games with a win and would gain the tie breaker over Plant City in 6A District 10 competition.
The Indians stay home to play winless Freedom, a team that only won 2 games in 2025 as East Bay seeks to get back in the win column.
The Sumner Stingrays under head coach George Selvie had the tough task of heading up I-75 to take on the 3-1 Armwood Hawks who lost on a national stage to Don Bosco Prep (a 38-14 loss) in New Jersey and had already taken down two other SS6 teams (Lennard and Spoto). The Stingrays struggled on offense and fell 43-6 in a game where the team could not create momentum. The Hawks stopped the Rays on their first offensive possession and didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard, getting an early first quarter rushing score. The Armwood defense created another early opportunity on an interception and the Hawks capitalized and scored their second TD to put Sumner in an early hole. The Hawks replicated their first quarter success, scoring another rushing TD and then taking advantage of a second INT to punch in another TD to take a 28-0 lead before Sumner finally solved the Hawks D and scored their first TD of the game, an 8-yard rushing TD from Jaiden Smith, that was setup by a long kickoff return from Caden Daniels that put Sumner at the Hawks 19-yard line. An exchange of turnovers closed out the half. Armwood added two second half TDs from R. Dile, who paced the offense with 3 TD’s and 104 rushing yards, to set the final score.
The Sumner offense found it tough going against the stout Hawk defense. Armwood came into the game with two consecutive shutouts, including a 35-0 showing against Plant City, and with the exception of the national game, has only surrendered two TDs in their four wins. The Sumner offense was limited to 34 yards. Makai Frederick had a difficult night and threw four INTs.
The Stingrays (3-2) return to the Tank to take on district rival Manatee. The Hurricanes will be completing a three-game road trip and are coming off a 49-47 shootout loss to Riverview Sarasota.
The Riverview Sharks hosted the Morgan Mustangs in another SS6 rivalry game, this one being the second SS6 opponent for the first-year varsity Morgan squad, led by Marlo Hollingshed. The Sharks dominated the first ever meeting coming away with a much needed 43-7 win for head coach Tony Rodriguez and the team. Both squads ended the night with identical 2-3 records.
The Sharks used four first quarter TD’s, three rushing and a passing TD to take a 28-0 lead into the half in front of their home supporters. The Mustangs found the endzone early in the third quarter to slow the momentum of the Sharks offense, but the Morgan defense allowed two more second half rushing TDs to the Sharks to set the final score. Carter Peternell scored four TDs from his QB position, 1 passing connecting with J Rinaldi and three rushing, putting the team on his back and leading them to the victory. Peternell finished with 45 yards passing and 121 yards rushing. Senior K Lydian scored a TD and rushed for 98 yards and J Rinaldi also scored a rushing TD for the Sharks. Jayden Fermin picked up a sack and Dominic Persaud, Skyler Larson, and Tevin Ponder all had an INT each to ignite the defense and end Mustang threats.
The Mustang offense was all derived from the QB position with Cole Verzosa throwing for 128 yards and rushing for another 22 while sharing duties with Kamden Stowe, who tossed for 79 yards and rushed for 22, and each had an INT. Jonathan Stephen led all receivers collecting 74 of the receiving corps 190 total yards.
The Sharks travel to Durant (2-2) for a district rivalry game and want to come away with a win after losing a heart-breaker, by one-point, last year at Durant. The Cougars are coming off a 13-7 loss to Plant and are in the midst of a three-game home-stand that will also see them play another SS6 squad in Spoto on Oct. 2. The Sharks are 0-1 in District play with a loss to Plant City on Sept. 10.
Lennard senior Ian Malone celebrates an Indian turnover in 35-0 win over the East Bay Indians on Sept. 18.
The Mustangs travel in to Tampa to take on Jefferson (2-2) in a district game. Morgan is 0-1 in district play with a loss to Robinson on Sept. 10.
The Spoto Spartans continued to run into the hot team on their schedule. The previous week it was Armwood on the road. This past Friday, Sept. 18, it was the Steinbrenner Warriors. The Warriors struggled through a 1-win 2025, their home opener, defeating King HS. This season, the Warriors are off to a 4-1 start after a 26-12 win over the Spartans (in a battle of Roman mascot imagery) and head coach Keith Chattin and his Spoto squad are looking for a spark to turn their season around.
The Spartans take to the road where they will search for success and start a three-game road trip with the first stop playing one-win Leto. The Falcons were winless in 2025 and may be the right team at the right time for Spoto to get back in the win column for head coach Keith Chattin.
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