By Beth Jones
The Pirates traveled pretty far to collect a narrow 19-14 win over the host Mount
Dora Christian Academy Bulldogs. Fernandina Beach High School’s football team hit
the road for its preseason Kickoff Classic on Friday night.
“I’m glad we got to come back with a win on a long trip down to Mount Dora,”
said Blake Willis, second-year head coach at FBHS. “Hopefully that trip will be
good practice for later in the season. They were a very tough team though. They
did a really good job offensively, possessing the ball and keeping our offense off
the field. They had the ball for pretty much the whole first quarter at the start of
the game. It was pretty wild.
“It’s great that we could start off the season with a tough win like that though.
Should help give us some confidence if we get in a close one again, which I’m
sure will happen at some point.”
Ian Miller connected with Aydin Poe for a 33-yard touchdown pass in the second
quarter for the game’s first score. Mount Dora responded, evening the score at 7-7.
In the third quarter, Poe was back in the end zone after reeling in a 10-yard pass
from Miller. Beckham Rohe was Miller’s next target; he scored on a 47-yard pass.
The Bulldogs cut into the Pirates’ 19-7 lead with another TD, ending the scoring at
19-14 in the third quarter.
Miller completed 13 of 25 passes for 209 yards and a trio of touchdowns. Rohe
reeled in five passes for 93 yards, and Poe had five for 77. Ethan Watts had two
catches for 37 yards.
OJ Swift led the defense with five tackles and three assists. Rohe was a force on that
side of the ball, too, with four tackles and three assists. Kevin Ortiz had four tackles
and five assists. Kalani Tucker had three tackles, an assist and a quarterback sack.
Traivon Martin had three tackles and four assists. The Pirates kick off the regular season at home Friday night. They host the Hilliard
Red Flashes at 7 p.m. at Pirate Field. FBHS is back home Sept. 5 for a matchup with
Duval Charter. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Purchase tickets at gofan.co.
