Unbeatens Ida Baker, SFM clash
Through the first six weeks of high school football, no team in Lee County has produced the kind of offensive fireworks as the South Fort Myers Wolfpack, led by standout junior quarterback Dallas Crawford.
The Pack’s next opponent, the Ida Baker Bulldogs, boast the area’s stingiest defense. The Bulldogs were 34 seconds shy of a fourth shutout last Friday in a 48-7 rout of Gulf Coast and have surrendered just 18 points in six games.
As scheduling fortune may have it, the teams collide Friday night at South Fort Myers. Baker (6-0) visits South (6-0) in a blockbuster battle of unbeatens.
It’s a nondistrict game, but that figures to take little away from the challenge facing both sides.
“We’re excited about it,” Baker coach Brian Conn said. “We’re excited about the opportunity to compete with one of the best teams, if not the best team in Lee County. We’ll kind of see what we can do against a team that has great skill.”
The Week 7 slate includes the first-ever meeting between the Cape’s oldest and newest public schools, as Cape High (5-0) visits Island Coast (3-3).
Coming off a tough, 24-7 loss to South Fort Myers last Friday, North Fort Myers (2-4) makes the trip to North Port (1-5), while Bishop Verot (4-2) travels to Naples to take on St. John Neumann (1-4). Mariner (0-6) is idle this week.
The Bulldogs look to continue their hot start. They already have entered unchartered territory for the fifth-year program.
The 6-0 start is the school’s best and their victory over Gulf Coast last Friday sets them up for a possible run at the District 4A-12 title and first-ever playoff berth.
The Bulldogs return to district play Oct. 23 when they head to Palmetto Ridge, and visit city rival Cape Coral in the district finale on Nov. 6.
They also look to turn around their fortune against South. In the four previous meetings, the Wolfpack have won by scores of 54-14, 24-3, 35-7, 28-0.
Crawford has put up prolific passing numbers this season in helping South average more than 43 points per game. Junior receiver/defensive back Sammy Watkins, a half-brother of Cape senior quarterback Jaylen Watkins, is another primary threat for the Wolfpack.
“They let their players make plays,” Conn said. “Obviously they have great coaching, but they don’t over coach them. Every once in awhile they let them freestyle and get out and make plays, especially Dallas (Crawford).
“What I’m impressed with is, they’ve always had skill guys, but their lines on both sides of the ball are much better this year than I’ve seen in the past,” Conn added.
The Bulldogs’ defense faces its stiffest test to date. They opened the season with back-to-back shutouts of Lehigh and North, and haven’t slowed down yet.
In their district win over Gulf Coast last Friday, the Bulldogs forced five turnovers and were constantly in the backfield for sacks or tackles for losses.
Senior defensive end Felix Solano was a force the entire game, and the Bulldogs made plays at seemingly each level of the defense.
Conn said the challenge from the Wolfpack is trying to contain their big-play ability.
“You can’t stop everything,” he said, “but coach (Dwayne) Mack does a good job getting tendencies. He does a good job finding the ways to stop the things they do best. Whether we’re able to do that or not on Friday, is going to be the question.”
Cape Coral Seahawks (5-0) at Island Coast Gators (3-3): The Seahawks had some trouble defending the run last Friday in their 24-14 victory over Palmetto Ridge, and no doubt they’ll get a heavy dose from Island Coast.
The Gators amassed more than 400 rushing yards in a game at Clewiston earlier this season, and added 343 on the ground last Friday in a 23-8 win over Lake Placid. For the season, they’re averaging close to 250 yards per game.
The Gators are doing it with different sources. The stable of ball-carries includes Louis King, Michael Dumas, Phil Woolbright, Nelson Candelario, Jordan Reed, Willie Fleming and Bryan Bosworth.
The Gators hope to continue their strong play against their more established city rivals. They defeated Mariner 17-14 in the first meeting between the schools Oct. 2 and played a physical game against Ida Baker, despite losing 20-3.
The Seahawks got a boost from two special teams touchdowns last week. Jeremy Davis recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown and Shaun Argoe picked up a fumbled snap and ran 30 yards for a score.
North Fort Myers Red Knights (2-4) at North Port Bobcats (1-5): The Red Knights simply need more offensive production.
Their defense forced five turnovers in the first half of last Friday’s game with South Fort Myers, but the Knights still trailed 7-0 at the half.
Their opponent Friday, North Port, has produced mixed results against Lee County teams this season. The Bobcats beat Mariner 28-21 and lost to Ida Baker 48-0.
Bishop Verot Vikings (4-2) at St. John Neumann Celtics (1-4): The Vikings pulled off a fourth-quarter rally last Friday to prevail over Mariner 27-21.
Junior quarterback Jake Kistel engineered the game-tying drive, hooking up with Jeff Farrell for a touchdown and then Forrest Campbell for the two-point conversion. Donnie Farrah scored the go-ahead touchdown on a five-yard run.
The victory keeps the Vikings very much alive in the District 3A-11 race. They face St. John Neumann in a nondistrict contest Friday, before ending the season with three straight district games against Riverdale, North Fort Myers and Fort Myers.