Week 4 roundup: Merritt Island, Eau Gallie record district routs

After an emotional 20-point comeback win at Ponte Vedra, Merritt Island played its first home game of the season against district foe Astronaut on Sept. 11.

The Mustangs showed no hangover effect, scoring five touchdowns and one field goal on six offensive possessions to defeat the War Eagles 45-0.

“I thought we came out and played a really clean game. That was the big point of emphasis this week. Last week, we had about 19 penalties in the first quarter and 27 overall and that’s not indicative of what we are as a culture and as a football team,” Merritt Island head coach Tyler Murray said. “We got after them a little bit this week. We played really smart. We celebrated with our teammates. We were firing on all cylinders.”

It was a balanced offensive distribution for Merritt Island as five different players scored a touchdown. The Mustangs finished the game with 428 yards on 27 plays.

“We want to play basketball on a football field,” Murray said. “We want to distribute the ball as much as we can.”

Mustangs senior quarterback Kevin Verpaele completed 16-of-21 passes for 356 yards and 4 touchdowns.

After tailback Junior Simons opened the scoring with a 22-yard touchdown run, Verpaele threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to senior Kamar Fielder to make it 14-0.

Merritt Island increased the lead to 28-0 on a 27-yard touchdown completion from Verpaele to senior Drew Sarver. Its final touchdown of the first half was an 18-yard touchdown pass to senior DeShaun Thomas. Merritt Island was backed up at the 1-yard line before Verpaele hit Thomas on a catch-and-run for 65 yards.

Merritt Island recorded its second 97-plus yard scoring drive on its only offensive possession of the second half. Verpaele hit Sarver for 59 yards and then threw a jump ball touchdown to sophomore Elijah Mitchell for a 38-yard score.

“Amazing. We did everything we were supposed to,” Thomas said. “This offense, everyone’s going to get a touch. Nobody’s going to go home with a long face.”

Thomas finished the night 4 receptions for 101 yards and 1 touchdown. The senior entered the game with 4 receptions for 73 yards and 1 touchdown. He also has scored 2 rushing touchdowns.

“I think I played pretty good, but I know I can play better,” Thomas said. “Just blocking wise, definitely on the run with the ball I feel like I can do better.”

Merritt Island pitched a defensive shutout for the first time since Oct. 13, 2023. Astronaut finished the game with 201 total yards of offense.

Mustangs junior Amarri Hamilton intercepted a screen pass and returned it to the end zone. The other takeaway for Merritt Island was an interception by junior Brandon Pouncey.

“We did run that play about six times this week, so (Hamilton) was ready for it. We knew it was coming after us giving up the throwback screens last week against Ponte Vedra,” Murray said. “We knew that they were going to come out and try something like that and he was Johnny on the spot. He made a really athletic play and made a play happen.”

Merritt Island improved to 4-0. It’ll host another tough non-district opponent in Bishop Kenny on Sept. 18.

“I would say we’re pretty close to 100%. There are a couple things we could have fixed up here and there,” Thomas said. “I feel the score should have been at least 2 touchdowns higher, but everybody has little mistakes that they make so we’ll fix those.”

In its first district game since moving up to Class 3A, Astronaut encountered struggles all night defending Merritt Island’s high-powered offense.

“I thought we had a great week of practice in preparation but give credit to them. They were better than us. We knew they were a good football team,” Astronaut head coach Logan Hallock said. “They got a lot of talent over there and a quarterback (Verpaele) that has a great arm and he’s very smart with the football and can make plays with his legs. He’s a threat back there. They got weapons all around and up front.”

Astronaut senior quarterback Jaquan Hagans gained rhythm as the game progressed. The War Eagles had a 55-yard drive in the second quarter that ended in an interception by Pouncey.

With a running clock, Astronaut drove to the Merritt Island 3-yard line before a turnover on downs ended a 77-yard drive on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Hagans ended the night with 20 rushes for 112 yards. He completed 7-of-12 passes for 54 yards and 2 interceptions.

“(Hagans) is a heck of a football player. I sure hope the kid gets an opportunity to further his career, but he’s a great leader for us. I don’t think anybody watching the game could say that the kid doesn’t have heart,” Hallock said. “He’s the guy that makes this thing go for us as a skill player and he’s a really good quarterback. He’s tough to take down. I thought he did a phenomenal job marching us down the field in the third. Unfortunately, we just didn’t come up with points there.”

Astronaut dropped to 1-2 and it’ll look to bounce back at Eustis on Sept. 18.

“We’ll watch the film and we’ll evaluate it and learn and grow,” Hallock said. “There were some good things, but we just got to execute at a higher level. We’ll watch the film and then we’ll flush it and move on to Eustis.”

Friday scores

FHSAA

Eau Gallie 47, Rockledge 0

Eau Gallie bounced back in a big way with a 47-point first half to rout Rockledge.

Commodores senior Taj Brown opened the scoring with a 40-yard scoop and score. Senior Donovan Richardson scored back-to-back touchdowns on runs of 10 and 2 yards. Junior Gabriel Player returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown.

After a safety and a field goal, freshman Michael Bradshaw scored on a 35-yard touchdown run and senior Joseph Allen connected with junior Tay Johnson on a 28-yard touchdown pass.

Eau Gallie improved to 2-2 and it’ll host Cocoa on Sept. 18. It’s a quick turnaround for 0-3 Rockledge as it’ll host Spruce Creek in a rescheduled game on Sept. 14.

Heritage 48, Legacy 0

Heritage opened district play with an emphatic 48-0 win over Legacy for its second win in a row.

Panthers senior Izael Johnson rushed for 2 touchdowns of 25 and 7 yards. Senior quarterback Christian Ryder Borhi threw a 31-yard touchdown to junior Antonio Flowers Jr. and rushed for an 18-yard score.

Sophomore Dreyvon Lee scored on a 25-yard touchdown run and he returned a fumble 45 yards for the final score of the night. Senior Savown Parrish also reached the end zone on a 7-yard run.

Heritage evened its record at 2-2 and it’ll host Fort Pierce Westwood on Sept. 18.

Titusville 46, Palm Bay 6

The Terriers returned to the win column with a blowout win over the Pirates to kick off district play. They join Merritt Island and Eau Gallie at 1-0 in District 8-3A play.

Titusville improved to 3-1 and it’ll play at Harmony on Sept. 18. Palm Bay dropped to 1-2 and it’ll head to Melbourne on Sept. 18.

Holy Trinity 43, Port St. Lucie 0

For the second straight year, Holy Trinity secured a 40-plus point shutout win of Port St. Lucie.

Tigers freshman Michael Jackson finished the night with 3 rushing touchdowns of 1, 2 and 37 yards. Sophomore quarterback Jackson Mobley threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to junior Hayden Argo. On defense, Tigers freshman Jadiel Corbin recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.

Holy Trinity improved to 2-1 and it’ll play at Somerset Canyons on Sept. 17.

SSAA

Satellite 38, Pine Ridge 0

The Scorpions posted their third shutout win of the season, defeating Pine Ridge for their third home win of the season.

Satellite moved to 5-0 and it’ll play at Atlantic on Sept. 18.

Cocoa Beach 40, Inlet Grove 26

Cocoa Beach led 20-8 after one quarter and never looked back in a road win in Riviera Beach.

After Inlet Grove trimmed the deficit to 20-14, Minutemen junior quarterback Jay Craft threw a 7-yard touchdown to senior Ryan Rogers and a 4-yard touchdown to sophomore Jonathan Dowling to make it 33-14. Craft ended the scoring for Cocoa Beach on a 20-yard touchdown completion to junior TJ Bamford.

The Minutemen remain undefeated at 4-0. They’ll host St. Edward’s on Sept. 18.

West Nassau 34, Bayside 7

The Bears suffered their first home loss of the season against the reigning SSAA state runner-up West Nassau.

Bayside’s lone touchdown came on a 28-yard completion from senior quarterback Joey Costa to junior Jyvier Graham in the third quarter.

The Bears enter their bye week with a 2-3 record.

SSAA, 8-man

Calvary Chapel 36, Lake Mary Prep 0

Calvary Chapel recorded its third straight shutout win as the Eagles did all their damage in the first half scoring 8 points in the first quarter and 28 in the second quarter.

Eagles senior Gavin Stewart rushed for 101 yards and 3 touchdowns on 9 carries. Sophomore Zach Wolfe produced 83 yards and 1 touchdown on 3 attempts.

Calvary Chapel improved to 4-0 and it’ll head to Ocala Christian on Sept. 18.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Week 4 roundup: Merritt Island, Eau Gallie record district routs