Week 11 Roundup: MCC rolls past Heritage, Merritt Island finishes 10-0

MELBOURNE — Melbourne Central Catholic hosted Heritage in its final home game of the regular season on Oct. 30 looking to maintain its standing to host a regional quarterfinal in two weeks.

After a back-and-forth start to the game, the Hustlers’ explosive offense kicked it into another gear as they ran away for a 60-28 win over the Panthers.

“Kids played well. We knew Heritage is a big school. Coach (Mykel) Benson does a great job there. It was a back-and-forth game, especially early on,” Melbourne Central Catholic head coach Ryan Schneider said. “We faced a little adversity and we kept pushing forward. That’s what we talk about is always just play the next play. The kids really bought into that.”

Efficient, explosive offense propels Hustlers

Melbourne Central Catholic set a new season high for points in a game, surpassing its Oct. 23 performance of 56 points against Specially Fit Academy. The Hustlers ran just 35 plays as they had three scoring drives of two plays and three one-play scoring drives.

“We’re playing pretty good football right now. As long as we execute, we’re going to be pretty tough,” Schneider said. “We have some really talented players that if you get in open space, they’ll do some special things. It all starts with the offensive line. The offensive line really dominated them up front. That gave us the time and ability to do things.”

Hustlers senior Noah Flores stood out as the top offensive performer with 201 total yards and four touchdowns.

“Offense executed, defense executed all around,” Flores said. “A great team effort.”

Flores scored three touchdowns on three consecutive offensive plays in the first half. The senior scored on a 29-yard run with 6 seconds left in the first quarter. He broke back-to-back big plays on a 48-yard touchdown reception from sophomore Trenton Washington and a 57-yard touchdown run 1:57 apart in the second quarter. His final score was a 37-yard touchdown run with 1:26 remaining in the third quarter.

“I just want to say thank you to the offensive line,” Flores said. “They always block for me as hard as they can every single drive, every single play. I just want to thank them because they always got my back.”

Flores missed a month with an injury suffered in the season opener on Aug. 21. The senior played his fourth straight game on Oct. 30 and posted over 100 rushing yards for the third consecutive game.

“I want to thank God for even putting me in this position,” Flores said. “I’m truly grateful to be back and everybody welcomed me back just like I didn’t even get hurt. I’m just thankful I even got to come back.”

Washington continued his breakout season as a first-time varsity starter. He completed 8-of-12 passes for 250 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. The sophomore completed two touchdown passes to senior Grady Bonenberger totaling 124 yards and a 54-yard touchdown to junior Colton Brown

“(Washington’s) been what we knew he was,” Schneider said. “He’s the next great quarterback out of this area. He’s a special one.”

Heritage was on its heels defensively all game allowing touchdowns on four consecutive drives in the first half. The Hustlers finished the game with 397 total yards. Senior Jayson Simpkins recorded the lone Panthers takeaway with an interception in the final minute of the first half.

“It was really good in the beginning. We couldn’t stop the big plays,” Heritage head coach Mykel Benson said. “They had a lot of big plays and (Flores), he’s a man. He’s a ball player. We just kind of fell behind and we tried to fight back right after the second half and just couldn’t keep up with them.”

MCC defense settles in after fast Heritage start

Melbourne Central Catholic’s defense allowed Heritage touchdowns on the first two drives of the game before the limiting the Panthers to 15 points the rest of the way.

The Hustlers intercepted Panthers quarterback Christian Ryder Borhi three times. Brown picked off Borhi twice and senior Will Warren returned an interception 31 yards to the house.

“I give Heritage credit. They came out with a lot of energy and a lot of intensity and really took it to us early on, but we calmed down and we just kept on playing the game,” Schneider said. “Football’s a long game. There’s a lot of plays in it, so as long as you keep on playing usually good things will happen.”

Brown’s two interceptions made him the ninth Hustler to record an interception this season. He’s one behind the team lead of Warren, freshman Derrick Chandler and senior Isaiah Crockett’s three interceptions.

“The coaches have done a great job. We’re really young back there. We’ve had some injuries that we had to patch,” Schneider said. “We moved some guys around, but they’re doing a great job and we continue to get better week in and week out.”

MCC put immense pressure on the Heritage offense to keep up. Panthers senior Izael Johnson led the team with 18 carries, 69 yards and three touchdowns. Johnson had touchdown runs of three, nine and 28 yards. Borhi rushed for a 1-yard touchdown and senior Jayson Simpkins caught seven passes for 85 yards.

“We knew we had to come in and score,” Benson said. “We knew when we fell behind, we tried to slow the game down a little bit but once they start scoring we started punting and stuff. That was tough. We knew we had to come in and really score.”

MCC closes in on playoffs, Heritage reflects on season

Melbourne Central Catholic faces a short week as it heads to Pahokee for a makeup game on Nov. 4 in the final game of the regular season. Entering Week 11, the Hustlers were ranked eighth in Class 1A and Pahokee was 11th.

“A lot of people were talking how we weren’t going to do so good this season and our O-line proved them wrong, our receiving corps, our DBs, our D-line, they all proved them wrong,” Flores said.

Heritage closes out a 5-5 season as it’ll miss the state playoffs for the first time since 2022. The Panthers’ five wins came against teams with a combined record of 14-35. The five defeats were versus teams sporting a combined record of 33-14.

“We played some tough opponents this year. We played tough, but at the end of the day we just couldn’t get over the hump in those big games. It’s a lack of experience there,” Benson said. “We’re young. We got seniors, but we’re also young as far as first-year players so I’m excited going into the offseason and see where we can build off of that.”

Heritage graduates 17 seniors off its roster, including Simpkins, Johnson, Borhi and defensive players Cordae Copeland, Anthony Hicks and Matt Moise.

“This year it was a big part of us. Some guys came in from out of state. (Borhi) made a big impact. We had our running back return back to us,” Benson said. “They were a big part of our team this year. Great leadership. All in all, I can say this team was a team this year. In the past, we struggled with that. That’s a plus sign to look at and build off of that.”

Oct. 30

Merritt Island 37, Viera 0

Merritt Island completes its first undefeated regular season in 13 years after a shutout win at Viera.

Mustangs senior Tory Love and junior Brandon Pouncey scored 1-yard touchdown runs. Junior Zaylan Chapple rushed for a 15-yard score and senior Kevin Verpaele threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to senior DeShaun Thomas on a jump ball. Senior Liam Miller converted a 42-yard field goal.

Merritt Island finishes 10-0 and will await its Class 3A state playoff opponent. Viera drops to 4-5 and it heads to Lake Howell on Nov. 4 for a makeup game.

Cocoa 36, Rockledge 0

Cocoa extended its BBQ Bowl winning streak to seven after a shutout win over the Raiders. Tigers sophomore Kadin Claflin-Coy threw five touchdowns with three going to senior Tank White.

Cocoa improved to 4-5 and it’ll host Fort Pierce Central in a makeup game on Nov. 4. Rockledge ends the season 1-9.

Vero Beach 21, Eau Gallie 12

The Commodores fell behind 14-0 in the second quarter and couldn’t climb back in a nine-point defeat to top 25 Vero Beach.

Eau Gallie senior Joseph Allen threw a 77-yard touchdown pass to junior Zay Hawkins in the fourth quarter. Commodores junior Preston Kennedy converted two field goals.

Eau Gallie will enter the Class 3A state playoffs with a 6-4 record.

Melbourne 41, Deltona 18

Melbourne dominates Deltona on the road to cap an 8-2 regular season. Bulldogs sophomore Tyrese Jefferson carried the ball 21 times for 187 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Will Reinhold completed 12-of-19 passes for 138 yards and one touchdown. Senior DJ Scott caught a touchdown.

Melbourne ends the regular season on a seven-game winning streak. It’ll find out its Class 5A state playoff fate on Nov. 6.

Astronaut 41, University 27

The War Eagles concluded the regular season with their sixth-straight win. Astronaut finishes the regular season 7-3 for its best season in eight years. It’ll find out whether or not it made the Class 3A state playoffs on Nov. 6.

SSAA Atlantic state playoffs

(1) King’s Academy 34, (8) Space Coast 0

Space Coast’s season comes to an end in the first round of the SSAA Atlantic state playoffs. King’s Academy led 21-0 at halftime and scored 13 points in the fourth quarter.

The Vipers end the season with a 6-5 record.

SSAA 8-man state playoffs

(1) Merritt Island Christian 42, (16) Lake Mary Prep 7

The Cougars defeated Lake Mary Prep for the second time this season to advance to the state quarterfinals.

Merritt Island Christian junior Korbin Kugler rushed for two touchdowns and freshman Landen Fink scored one touchdown on the ground. Senior Maddox Martinson threw two touchdowns, the first to senior Micah Branch and the second to senior John Hey. Cougars senior Josh Clark picked up a fumble returned it for a touchdown.

Merritt Island Christian will host No. 9 seed Bradenton Christian on Nov. 6.

(6) Shorecrest Prep 51, (11) Calvary Chapel 14

In St. Petersburg, Calvary Chapel scored the first touchdown of the game on a 19-yard pass by sophomore Chace Evans to junior Jacob Nere. Evans sprinted to the end zone on a 41-yard run to cut the deficit to 22-12 in the second quarter. Shorecrest Prep ended the game by scoring 29 unanswered points.

The Eagles end the season 6-4 as they doubled their win total from last year. They graduate seven seniors.

SSAA Atlantic consolation playoffs

(12) Coral Shores 42, (13) Cocoa Beach 0

Cocoa Beach suffered a shutout defeat in Tavernier as the Minutemen conclude the season 6-5 for its best season in four years. The Minutemen graduate nine seniors as they finished with four more wins than last season.

Oct. 29

SSAA Atlantic state playoffs

(4) Satellite 31, (5) Lemon Bay 7

Satellite advanced to the SSAA Atlantic state quarterfinals for the second-straight year following a dominant win over Lemon Bay.

Scorpions senior Brody Grennan opened the scoring by throwing a 31-yard touchdown pass to senior Noah Corriveau. Senior Liam Nolte made it 14-0 on a 26-yard touchdown run.

After a field goal ended the first half, Corriveau returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second half. Grennan tacked on with a 1-yard QB sneak touchdown.

“I’m proud of the effort. I thought we played hard,” Satellite head coach Dan Burke said. “I thought we did what we practiced to do. Looking forward to next week.”

Satellite will head to West Palm Beach to face No. 1 seed King’s Academy on Nov. 6.

“We’ve very motivated. Our chemistry is insane,” Corriveau said. “We’ve all known each other for so long now, so I think we’ll have a great run.”

SSAA Atlantic consolation playoffs

(9) Bayside 41, (16) Coral Springs Charter 21

In the consolation bracket of the SSAA Atlantic state playoffs, Bayside defeated Coral Springs Charter for its first postseason win in six years.

Bayside junior Zion Jones rushed for 214 yards and one touchdown on 22 rushes. Senior Joey Costa completed 9-of-16 passes for 248 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

Bears junior Malachi Barrett-Timmons caught two touchdowns for 94 yards. Junior Jyvier Graham hauled in an 80-yard touchdown and senior Evan Sherburne finished with two receptions, 42 yards and one touchdown.

The Bears move on to the quarterfinals to host Coral Shores on Nov. 6.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Week 11 Roundup: MCC rolls past Heritage, Merritt Island finishes 10-0