Bishop Moore impresses in sweep; Lake Howell coach proud, but not satisfied

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Lake Howell coach Dazzie Morris scheduled a couple of 2025 playoff teams for his spring jamboree for a reason. He wanted to see how the Silverhawks stacked up against Class 3A semifinalist Bishop Moore and Class 2A quarterfinalist The Villages.

“Overall I thought the kids had a lot of energy and that was one of the things I challenged them with, to just have a lot of juice,” said the third-year coach Morris.

“We played a really good game against the Villages. We missed a lot of plays versus Bishop Moore … they’re an awesome football team. I love to see them out there with a team of that caliber. Now it’s our time to go watch the film and be able to make adjustments.”

Bishop More 21, The Villages 14

Bishop Moore coach Matt Hedrick said his team seemed a little nervous in the opener of the jamboree and it was obvious in some circumstances where players seemed to be pressing a bit more than just going with the flow.

Things like quarterback Blake McCullough uncharacteristically overthrowing receiver Matthew Sullivan on two different opportunities, although Sullivan said McCullough was feeling pressure from the pass rush. McCullough also threw an interception into tight coverage in the end zone, on which tight end Drew Follett failed to turn into a defender on the play and knock the ball away.

But those moments were rare and McCullough was almost perfect the rest of the way. In total, he threw for 325 yards and 5 touchdowns on 18-of-25 passing.

McCullough found a target that will likely be one of his favorites this year in Follett, who caught a 20-yard pass in the first quarter. Follett then capped the same drive with a 3-yard scoring strike from McCullough to give Bishop Moore the early lead. Follett had 5 catches for 95 yards and 2 TDs.

There were some lapses in pass coverage at times for Bishop Moore against The Villages, and the Buffalo made the Hornets pay. Tranard Roberts got behind the Bishop Moore secondary and caught a pass from Ja’Dence Kennedy for a 67-yard touchdown to tie the game.

Running back Donovan Ferrufino had a big night, rushing for 166 yards on 25 carries in both games, and he scored the second Bishop Moore touchdown from 7 yards out. Bishop Moore would take a 21-7 lead when McCullough called his own number on a 4-yard keeper.

The Villages tacked on a late touchdown on the back-up players, one of whom missed a tackle as Ja’Marian ‘D-Bo’ Clark pushed his way into the end zone.

Lake Howell 21, The Villages 21

Quarterback Brycen Marbrey had a nice game against The Villages, but his receivers weren’t always helping him and he did overthrow a wide-open Devin Coleman early in the game. Coleman also dropped a couple of passes, but the talented receiver, teaming with equally talented Javon Funnye made some big plays.

The Lake Howell defense gave up an 80-yard touchdown catch to Clark to start off the game, but Lake Howell drove the field to answer on the next series. Marbrey hit running back Darryl Jagger with a quick shuttle pass from 5 yards out to tie the game. The Silverhawks would drive the field again, and this time it was Funnye’s turn. He took a pitch on an end-around and used his speed to get around the edge and then did a somersault into the end zone.

Lake Howell gave up another big touchdown to Robert Clark for 59 yards to tie the score at 14. Midway through the second period, Marbrey showed off his arm strength and accuracy by throwing a perfect 43-yard touchdown pass to Coleman.

Morris like some of the things he saw out of his defense, like a big pass break-up from Braylon Patterson, a sack from Jermel Jones Jr., and the play of defensive lineman Jayden Milburn and linebacker Dylan Serafine.

Lake Howell had two chances to tie the game inside two minutes, but couldn’t get it done, ending the game on a big sack.

Bishop Moore 26, Lake Howell 13

This was a little bit more like the way Hedrick expected his bunch to play. The Hornets came out inspired after Hedrick challenged his team to loosen up. On the first two plays, McCullough hit Magnus Talma, who made a one-handed 35-yard catch, and then found Sullivan for a 50-yard touchdown during which Sullivan dodged a couple of defenders and then turned on his speed and raced to the end zone.

The Bishop Moore defense was fired up. Giacomo SanFilippo had a sack on the next series and on the first three series, Lake Howell went 3-and-out.

Follett was the main target on the second drive, catching a 12-yard pass and then capping the drive off with a 12-yard touchdown pass after Talma had caught a 20-yard pass to set up the play.

Bishop Moore would go up 26-0 when McCullough, on back-to-back drives, when Micah Clark came up big. He caught a 42-yard touchdown pass, showing off some nice moves and speed, and then on the next series, caught a 30-yard pass from McCullough to set up a 35-yard Malachi Smith touchdown catch.

Pictures: Bishop Moore, Lake Howell Varsity Football

Lake Howell took advantage of JV players in the game and Marbrey found Coleman for a 57-yard TD to make it closer.

“The guys played a little bit better,” Hedrick said of the second game. “I just told them at halftime that we played a little big hesitant, as if we were worried about the result, but the result doesn’t matter. Just go play. It’s spring football. They played a little bit more free and more aggressive

“We’ve tried to emphasize the culture and making sure the guys are playing for each other, and that’s harder and harder nowadays with kids moving around so much, but I thought the kids did a good job with that.”

Talma had 5 caches for 96 yards and Sullivanhad 3 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.

Spring Games Roundup

Apopka 0, Tavares 0

Tavares coach Gavin Jones said he only suited up 27 players for the contest and Apopka coach Marcus Neeson said his team played great defense in the scoreless tie. Neeson also said receiver Nyzier Collington had a big night, but the Darters failed to get the ball in the end zone on two different times from the 1-yard line.

Colonial 6, Cypress Creek 6

Colonial 12, Harmony 0

Colonial got three touchdowns from quarterback DQ Jordan, who had long runs of 70 and 60 yards, Joziah Hemmingway forced a fumble. Elijah Albines scored the Cypress touchdown.

Palmetto 38, Hagerty 7

Hagerty went on the road to face a tough Palmetto squad. Palmetto took a 30-0 lead before Hagerty finally got on board in the second half,

Tohopekaliga 27, CFCA 0

CFA 21, Cornerstone 0

Cornerstone 13, Tohopekaliga 9

Toho got a rushing touchdown from Hector Saenz and Gabriel Velez threw 3 touchdown passes to Nykyrian Simms, and two to Zion Williams. Kesan McDuffie had an interception.

Toho played the first period to a 9-0 shutout of Cornerstone, with Velez hitting AJ Wise for a touchdown. McDuffie had a tackle for a safety and also had a fumble recovery. Clifton Hall had an interception.

Toho played the second period with mostly backups and Cornerstone took advantage, scoring on the game’s final play to win the quarter 13-0. With a minute left in the game, quarterback CJ Luckado found Easton Wolfgramm in the end zone, and Wolfgramm made a catch on a 50-50 ball from 15 yards to secure the win.

Against Cornerstone, CFCA got two touchdown passes from Gavin Pritzkau to Sam Dennison and Deshaun Jones. Chase Saunders had a touchdown run. Jeremy Fowler had an interception.

Celebration 35, Freedom 12

Celebration had three interceptions, running two of them back for pick-6 touchdowns. Swaylin Laronde had a 65-yard touchdown run for Freedom and Aiden Gonzalez threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Camryn Williams.

Treasure Coast 14, Orlando University 0

Haines City 14, Orlando University 0

“Both were wing-T teams and held the ball on griding drives,” University coach Dave Carrington said. “We had a couple of good drives, but didn’t finish.” University was missing several starting offensive linemen for various reasons.

Seven River Christian 24, West Oaks 6

Bishop McLaughlin 19, West Oaks 6

West Oaks got a rushing touchdown from Shakur Cole and Noah Muhammad threw a touchdown pass to Darnell Vincent.

Chris Hays can be found on X.com@OS_ChrisHays.

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