Braden River High polishes off perfect regular season with win over Gibbs

Un-de-feated! Un-de-feated! Un-de-feated!

That harmonic chant rang down from Section E, Braden River's student section, shortly after Friday's Homecoming and Senior Night game concluded against visiting St. Petersburg Gibbs.

So Travis Williams and Chase Knopf found the Gatorade cooler, ran toward head coach Curt Bradley and gave him the bath he's received two consecutive weeks following Pirates victories.

Bradley then delivered a short message to coincide with what just occurred: "From worst to first."

The Pirates (10-0) are no longer a nine-loss team. Rather, they're ranked No.

2 in Class 7A and completed back-to-back unbeaten regular seasons when they dusted off Gibbs 41-6 on Friday.

"These seniors have been through a heck of a lot from where they started to where they are at now," Bradley said. "It was huge for them to get that win and send them out the right way in the regular season, knowing what we got coming up in the playoffs."

Offensive lineman Alex Salguero, who is committed to Marshall, agreed.

"Freshman year was a bloodbath at 1-9," Salguero said. "Since then, we worked our butts off to finally turn it up."

Next week marks the second straight season the Pirates will host a playoff game when they face Naples Gulf Coast in a Class 7A-Region 3 quarterfinal.

But on Friday, Braden River finished the first 10-win regular season in program history behind the blocking of Salguero and the rest of the offensive line.

"After I see the pull from my boy right there, (Salguero), see the pull (and) everything right there is green grass," said Dexter Hodo, who made his first start at running back in place of injured tailback Raymond Thomas.

And there was plenty of turf to navigate through for Hodo, who tallied a game-high 125 rushing yards on 19 carries and had a touchdown run.

"We kind of got three backs that can carry the football, because two is not enough as much we like to run the ball and pound teams," Bradley said.

Pound, pound away they did. The Pirates ran the ball 47 times for 287 yards. DeShaun Fenwick (10 carries, 80 yards) and Jaylin Austin (five carries, 31 yards) joined Hodo with rushing touchdowns.

Austin enacted a running clock with his second rushing touchdown, a 10-yard burst with 4:45 remaining in the third quarter.

However, the Pirates initially fell behind 6-0 after the Gladiators struck for a 76-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Mar'quan Harris to Quandale Immon on the game's second play.

Braden River's defense, though, stiffened following that home run play.

The Pirates tallied three pass breakups, three sacks and an interception for the remainder of the first half, while holding the Gladiators to 182 total yards for the game.

Defensive back Tyrone Collins then opened the second half with a 90-yard kick return, during which he slashed through Gibbs' special teams on a cutback from the right sideline.

"I just love this team. I did this for the seniors," Collins said.

Defensive lineman Dylan Tyson is expected back after missing the final two weeks of the season to injury. Defensive end Zack Brown left Friday's game with an undisclosed injury. Bradley said he'll be re-evaluated moving forward, but the prognosis doesn't look good.

Gibbs was without starting quarterback D.J. Johnson, who has accounted for roughly 78 percent of the Gladiators' offense this season. He was not dressed or on the sidelines.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Braden River High polishes off perfect regular season with win over Gibbs ."