Prep football | Friday night roundup

Panthers fall to SW Florida Christian in opening gameThe Panthers (0-1) had a chance late against host Fort Myers Southwest Florida Christian to tie the game, but couldn't burst through.

BCS head coach Allan Gerber said he was proud of his players for turning around an ugly first half to get into the game in the second half of a 27-20 loss.

"The kids really rallied around themselves for the second half," Gerber said.

Dominick Otteni completed 7-of-16 passes for 139 yards, which included a 53-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Pasco.

Burke Hill returned a 75-yard kickoff for a score, while Brett Gerber had a punt block return for the other touchdown.

Gerber was the defensive standout with 33 tackles, while also tallying a 33 yard kick return and four receptions for 14 yards during his time on offense.

BISHOP VEROT 35, CARDINAL MOONEY 31 -- The sky was lighting up before the start of the game out at Bishop Verot on Friday night. As soon as the weather let up, the scoreboard started lighting up as Verot held on to win 35-31 over their former District rival.

While these two are no longer in the same district, it did not detract from the rivalry at all on this night.

Cardinal Mooney was unable to capitalize on two late 4th Quarter scoring opportunities, with their last chance to win ended on a Marcus Evans interception at the goal line after a long pass from the Panthers with 46 seconds left in the game.

The game was filled with big plays from both teams, the running game supplied the firepower for Bishop Verot, while Cardinal Mooney found their best success through the air. The first half saw the majority of the scoring as Verot ran out to a 28-17 halftime lead.

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Prep football | Friday night roundup."