Braden River casts Leesburg aside quickly

Braden River High School left more believers in their wake Friday at H. O. Dabney Stadium.

The second-ranked team in Class 7A needed less than a minute to score the first time, produced 49 first-half points despite having the ball for only 7 minutes, 25 seconds and routed Leesburg, 55-7.

The Yellow Jackets, a Class 6A school, tried to slow down the Pirates to no avail.

On its first possession, Braden River’s Louis Colosimo found Niko Traylor for an 11-yard touchdown, the first of Colosimo’s five scoring passes in the first half. Following a punt, Braden River needed two plays to go 35 yards for a score. Deqwunn McCobb returned an interception 48 yards to make the score 21-0 and the rout was on.

Leesburg (0-5) managed 16 total yards in the opening half while Braden River amassed 255 yards. The teams played with a running clock beginning at the start of the second half.

Braden River got the first possession of the final half and held the ball until the 5:16 mark before scoring.

Leesburg broke up the shutout against Braden River’s reserves when T.J. Manuel ran in from 22 yards out with 11:09 remaining. It was one of two offensive possessions by Leesburg in the second half.

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Sunlake 10, Lakewood Ranch 6: The Mustangs took a lead into the second half for the first time this season, but fell short against the Seahawks in Land O’Lakes.

Quarterback Justin Hall led Sunlake for a go-ahead touchdown pass to Tyler Peretti during the third quarter.

Lakewood Ranch (0-4, 0-1 Class 7A-District 11) had a chance to retake the lead on its ensuing drive. The Mustangs marched to the Seahawks’ 19 before fumbling away the chance at its first win.

The Mustangs never again crossed midfield, and Sunlake added a fourth-quarter field goal.

“I’d rather win ugly than lose pretty,” Sunlake head coach Bill Browning said.

Lakewood Ranch, which entered the game with the second-worst defense among Manatee County public school teams in terms of yardage allowed, held the Seahawks (4-1) to 262 yards of offense and recorded three takeaways. Sunlake produced 262 yards on the ground. Chris Galdos ran for 73 yards on 11 carries and Justin Metzger added 81 yards on 15 carries, plus three catches for 36 yards.

Thomas Scott scored the Mustangs’ touchdown and finished with 25 yards on six carries.

Tampa Bay Times

This story was originally published September 24, 2016 at 12:16 AM with the headline "Braden River casts Leesburg aside quickly."