I-Coast posts first win 21-10
After dropping their season opener to North Fort Myers last week, Island Coast came back to win their home opener Friday night against Cypress Lake 21-10 in a run-heavy, defensive struggle. The win is the first for the Gators against a Lee County opponent in school history.
“A win like this is great for the confidence of the kids,” said Gators coach, Joe Brown. “This is something we’ve been practicing for since spring.”
A big part of the success for Island Coast (1-1) came from quarterback Michael Dumas. The sophomore ran for all three scores, and made an interception with 4:40 left in the game to allow the Gators to run out the clock to seal the win.
“I’ve got to come into every game positive,” said Dumas. “The smashmouth offense is our main offense, and we’ll run it until they stop it.”
Despite not throwing the ball a lot, Dumas likes the run-balanced offense and it showed against the Panthers’ defense, as the Gators racked up 293 rushing yards on 60 attempts.
“It (not throwing the ball a lot) doesn’t affect me, and it doesn’t affect the team,” said Dumas. “We’re all a team, we’ll come out here as a team, and we’ll win as a team.”
The teams combined for 480 rushing yards overall.
Cypress Lake (0-2) started the game with an 8-minute, 18-second drive that ended in a 32-yard field goal. The Gators scored on their first two drives to build an 11-point lead.
“We were thankful that it was just a field goal,” said Brown. “What gave us more confidence was going down and scoring right after that.”
After Cypress Lake responded with a touchdown run by Sevan Seward just before halftime, the Gators put the nail in the coffin when Dumas punched in his third score of the night midway through the fourth quarter.
The Panthers’ attempt to start a comeback fell short when Cypress quarterback Mitch Porter,threw his only interception of the night inside the red zone after leading the Panthers 50 yards in just four plays.
The Gators then were able to finish off the game clock.
Island Coast visits Ida Baker next Thursday, while the Panthers will host South Fort Myers in their home opener.
Cypress Lake 3 7 0 0 – 10
Island Coast 7 7 0 7 – 21
First Quarter
CL – FG, Logan Franklin 32
IC – Michael Dumas: 1 run (Kyle Fitzgerald kick)
Second Quarter
IC – Dumas 2 run (Fitzgerald kick)
CL – Sevan Seward 20 run (Franklin kick)
Fourth Quarter
IC – Dumas: 1 run (Fitzgerald kick)