Curtis’ air assault lifts Gators 35-7
It’ll be another battle between Cape teams next Friday night. The stakes will be a bit higher this time around.
The Island Coast Gators rolled past Sarasota Booker 35-7 Friday night in the opening round of the Region 5A-4 football playoffs. Sophomore quarterback Kory Curtis threw five touchdown passes for the Gators (9-2).
With the win, the Gators get another home playoff game next week. This time the opponent is crosstown rival Cape Coral. The Seahawks (9-2) advanced with a 37-21 win at DeSoto County.
Island Coast defeated Cape Coral 23-3 during the regular season on its way to the District 5A-14 title.
“(Coach) Larry Gary and the Cape Seahawks,” Island Coast coach Wayne Blair said. “We can’t wait. They’ve got a tremendous team over there, the quarterback and all the receivers.
“We’re going to get back in, watch the film (of Cape’s playoff win). There are things we can work on from that last game.”
The game started slowly Friday at Island Coast, and appeared to take a very bad turn with the Gators ahead 3-0 in the first quarter.
Island Coast lost leading rusher Van Edwards, who was taken off the field by ambulance.
“It took the wind out of our sails for a little bit,” Curtis said. “We eventually got it back together.”
Blair said Edwards’ injury wasn’t the same one that had kept him out of two games during the season.
“It was a different leg, left leg, and I’m praying that the young man doesn’t have to struggle with that situation,” said Blair.
With Edwards out, Curtis stepped up to lead the offense. He had 203 yards passing, those five touchdowns, and added a 27-yard field goal and two extra points.
Curtis and the Gators put up 35 points against a Booker defense that hadn’t allowed more than 22 points in a game during the regular season.
“That was the plan coming in, to throw the ball,” Curtis said. “We knew that they had a good secondary and they were going to bring the house, so get rid of the ball.”
“That’s just been our calling card all year,” Blair said. “One guy goes down, the next man is going to step up. Kory had a good game. He had some good reads and some good throws.
“Zelan (Lambert), Quad (Jenkins) and Antonio (Greaves) all stepped up to carry the (running) load after Van went down. Our offensive line did a good job with the blitz schemes. It was very confusing sometimes, and those guys basically figured things out.”
Curtis and Ryan Pulley combined on second-quarter touchdown passes of 19 and 10 yards, with Pulley fighting off defenders to make spectacular catches both times.
“I feel like nobody can cover me one-on-one,” Pulley said.
In the third quarter, Reshad Washington caught Curtis TD passes of 28 and 57 yards, and Marlon Gaymon had a 40-yard catch and run on his 16th birthday.
“He’s coming along,” Blair said of Curtis. “He’s going through his progressions and understanding exactly where he’s got to get the ball. Everything comes with a little time, and those guys have been working together since the Miami Dolphins 7-on-7 tournament.”
The second Pulley touchdown was set up by three 15-yard penalties against Booker. The Tornadoes’ Damon Golden was ejected for throwing his helmet.
Island Coast’s defense held the Tornadoes to 118 yards of total offense, which matched the 118 yards of penalties called against Booker.
Between defense and special teams, the Gators recovered four Booker fumbles.
“Any way that we can get turnovers, cause turnovers, on special teams or defense, we’ll take them,” Blair said.
Booker avoided a shutout when Jeremiah Henderson hit Osirus Mitchell for a 22-yard touchdown in the game’s final moments.
“We knew what they were going to do, so we just came out and played a solid football game,” Gators linebacker Zack Lackman said.
Edwards had a 57-yard touchdown run negated by a penalty on the Gators’ first possession. Friday’s game was a rematch of last season’s first-round playoff match-up.
The Tornadoes surprised Island Coast with a late comeback to win that game, keyed by a controversial onside kick that set up Booker’s winning touchdown.
That turned out to be the final game for Joe Bowen as Gators coach. Blair was hired in time to lead Island Coast through spring practice last May.
“That was motivation for this game,” Lackman said. “Just remembering what happened last year. That was all the motivation we needed.”
As for next week’s rematch with Cape Coral, “It’s hard to beat a team a second time,” Curtis said. “We’ve got to come out and just do our thing.”
Booker 0 0 0 7 – 7
Island Coast 3 13 19 0 – 35
IC – FG, Curtis 27
- IC – Pulley 19 pass from Curtis (Curtis kick)
- IC – Pulley 10 pass from Curtis (kick blocked)
- IC – Washington 22 pass from Curtis (Curtis kick)
- IC – Gaymon 40 pass from Curtis (kick failed)
IC – Washington 57 pass from Curtis (conversion failed)
- B – Mitchell 22 pass from Henderson (Jones kick)?