Florida teams flex their muscle

TURTLE CREEK, Pa. — Florida 2, Pennsylvania 0.

That was the tally Saturday during The Rally At Wolvarena, with Cocoa and Manatee getting past their Keystone State opponents in consecutive games.

Cocoa waxed Thomas Jefferson 43-7 invoking a running clock midway through the fourth quarter. And with the Tigers — who stayed at the same hotel as Manatee — cheering them on from the stands, the Hurricanes knocked off Woodland Hills 39-16 in the finale.

“We don’t play a lot of wide open teams like that,” said Woodland Hills coach George Novak. “It’s something you have to prepare for, and it’s a little bit different. ... It’s a little tougher in November and December to do some of those things, with the snow and the rain. But everyone chooses their offense and defense.”

It wasn’t as if the Pennsylvania teams drew slouches from down south — Cocoa has won back-to-back state championships (Class 3A in 2008 and 2A in ’09) and stretched its winning streak to 25 on Saturday. Manatee, fresh off appearing in the Class 5A state title game, began the day ranked sixth in the nation by USA Today and third by ESPN RISE.

“They’ve got a great football team,” Novak said of the Hurricanes. “They’re very strong defensively, and they have great athletes offensively. We gave them a battle for a while, but they took over there in the second half.”

Steubenville, Ohio, began the day beating McKeesport Area 7-0.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic managed to stave off an out-of-state sweep, however, as the Vikings blitzed past Ohio’s Akron Buchtel 35-6.

DEFENSE SHINES — Talk of Manatee typically swirls around the team’s offense. But it was the defense that played a key role Saturday, especially in the second half.

Yancy Butler and Chase Sandberg reach record third-quarter interceptions that led to Manatee touchdowns, and Hershel Caywood’s sack of Woodland Hills’ quarterback Jevonte’ Pitts resulted in a safety.

A junior strong safety, Caywood had a pair of fumble recoveries during last week’s Kickoff Classic against Tampa Plant.

Novak said Manatee’s defensive line — Drakkar Wilson, Quinton Pompey, Chris Pompey and Marquis Dawsey — is among the best he’s ever seen, with its combination of speed and size.

SPECIAL TEAMS NEEDS WORK — One of the few things Manatee coach Joe Kinnan did not like Saturday was the Canes’ kicking game. Though Nick Tankersley converted a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter, Manatee mishandled a pair of snaps, which resulted in two fruitless point-after attempts, and allowed Woodland Hills to convert first downs on two fake punts.

“We covered kickoffs pretty good, but we did a poor job twice on fourth down. They ended up running the rugby punts and they ended up getting first downs,” Kinnan said. “We ended up leaving our defense in after that.”

HOME ON THE ROAD — Not counting last year’s Class 5A state final, which was played at a neutral site — the Citrus Bowl — Manatee has won eight straight road games, and hasn’t lost one since Oct. 31, 2008 at Venice.

The Hurricanes next road trip may not be as far as Pennsylvania, but won’t be any easier — they travel to John Kiker Memorial Stadium on Sept. 17 to face rival Southeast.