By Beth Jones
The Pirates are moving on. The Fernandina Beach High School football team (6-5) beat Bell 48-21 Friday in the first round of the Sunshine State Athletic Association’s Atlantic division playoffs.
“Glad we got back in the win column,” said Blake Willis, head football coach at FBHS. “Our guys played a great game all the way through. We still are trying to clean some stuff up defensively, but we are well on our way to making that unit a dominant force for the rest of our playoff run.”
The Bell Bulldogs struck first Friday night, scoring on a 4-yard run. But, the hometown Pirates responded with a pair of touchdowns – an interception return by Kalani Tucker and a 6-yard TD run by D’ante Simms. The Pirates led 13-7 after the first quarter.
The Bulldogs bit back, scoring on a 21-yard run and taking a 14-13 lead in the second quarter.
OJ Swift returned the ensuing kickoff 66 yards for a Pirate TD, and Beckham Rohe punched it in for the two-point conversion. FBHS was back on top 21-14.
Ethan Watts scored back-to-back touchdowns, hauling in passes of 9 and 10 yards, respectively, from Ian Miller. The Pirates led 35-14 at halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, Aydin Poe found the end zone for the first of two fourth-quarter touchdowns. He reeled in TD passes from Miller (26 yards) and Rohe (33 yards). The Pirates sandwiched those scores around Bell’s final TD for the 48-21 win.
Miller completed 11 of 16 passes for 131 yards and a trio of touchdowns. Rohe completed two of three for 32 yards and a score.
Poe had four receptions for 82 yards, Rohe had three for 37, Watts had two for 19, and Simms had one catch for 10 yards.
Traivon Martin led the ground attack, with four rushes for 43 yards. Rohe ran three times for 23, and Simms had four carries for 11 yards.
Kevin Ortiz had five solo tackles, 13 assists and a quarterback sack. Cayden McKinstrie had five solo stops and nine assists. Ethan Watts had 11 total tackles, and Tucker and Garrett Beckstrom had 10 total apiece.
Tucker and Poe had interceptions.
The Pirates are back home Friday for the quarterfinal round of the state championship. They host Paxon (7-4) at 7 p.m. at Pirate Field. Purchase tickets at https://tickets.gobound.com/tickets/events/h2025102612182738478bfafbcb4e349/checkout.
“This Friday’s game should be a good one,” Willis said. “We played each other in the spring, and that game went our way. So I’m sure they are looking to come over here and avenge that outcome.”
Paxon defeated Franklin County 42-30 on Friday to advance. West Nassau hosts Umatilla at 7 p.m. Friday in another quarterfinal matchup. The West Nassau Warriors (10-1) beat Stanton 48-12 Friday to advance.
bjones@nassaunewsline.net
