Gators, two other Lee teams trounced in regional finals
Black Friday spilled over from the shopping malls into high school football Friday night as the three remaining Lee County schools found out on the field.
All three schools – Fort Myers, Island Coast and South Fort Myers – were eliminated from the FHSAA state playoffs by wide margins.
Island Coast (10-3) took one on the chin at Plantation American Heritage in the Region 6A-3 finals.
Heritage raced to a quick 28-0 lead before the Gators found some life in their offense. Quarterback Kory Curtis connected with Corey Murphy on a 75-yard pass play that got the Gators on the board. The 35-8 halftime lead for Heritage lasted until the fourth quarter when they padded the margin with three more scores while holding the Gators scoreless.
Though the Gators kept fighting, the momentum and dominance were against them. Worse yet, Curtis had to leave the game with symptoms of a concussion in the second half as the Gators had to rely on a back up signal caller. The Gators fumbled on the goal line on one drive and gave up a pick-6 on another as Heritage pulled away.
Fort Myers (12-1) were on the wrong side of a 40-7 score against East Lake and South Fort Myers (10-3) finished the season on a sour note falling to Daytona Beach Mainland 56-8.