Verot blanks Mariner 43-0
The first touch by the Mariner Tritons foretold things to come in Friday’s 43-0 blowout loss at Bishop Verot.
The first snap for the Tritons (1-1) resulted in a lost fumble, eventually leading to a 7-0 deficit when the Vikings (2-0) marched 31 yards on four plays capped by senior Cooper Gibson’s five-yard touchdown run.
A total of four turnovers by Mariner directly resulted in 23 points for Verot. It was 90-minute lightning delay which turned on the juice for the Vikings, who turned a 7-0 lead into 36 unanswered points, all coming in the second half.
“We tell our defense to get the ball and our offense will score,” said Vikings coach Bill Shields. “We’ve improved on that aspect, but we came out after the delay and got a few turnovers and it snowballed on them.”
The delay came as the first quarter ended. Mariner drove into Viking territory to the 45 before punting. The Tritons controlled the ball in the second quarter, snapping 23 plays, including an 18-play drive, that started on their own 3 after the defense held on a goal-line stand, recovering a fumble to stifle a Verot score.
The Tritons converted three fourth downs during the drive, one coming on an offsides penalty against the Vikings on a punt attempt deep in Mariner territory that moved the chains. The long, time-consuming drive stalled on the Tritons’ 41 as a pair of Vikings sacks by senior defensive tackle Aiden Maribona and junior Ricky Queen pushed Mariner out of scoring range.
The blowout started picking up steam in the third quarter, starting with an eight-play, 67-yard drive by the Vikings after they forced an opening half punt. The rushing attack kept the pressure on Mariner’s defense as sophomore William Scott gobbled up 24 yards on the drive, including a seven-yard touchdown to put Verot up 14-0 with Nathan Holmes’ kick.
The ensuing kickoff was mishandled by the Tritons and a Vikings recovery setting them up nicely on Mariner’s 28. Five plays later, sophomore Deven Thompkins scred the first of his two rushing TDs from 13 yards out.
The Vikings went up 27-0 on their next possession, this one keyed by a nice throw down the middle by senior QB Alex McDougall to Gibson for 41 yards to the Mariner 16.
Scott rambled in on the next play. The sophomore runningback led all rushers with 16 carries for 125 yards and two scores.
“It was mostly the offensive line, they played well,” Scott said. “During the delay, we went into the locker room and had a good talk, made a good game plan and succeeded.”
With the Tritons playing major catchup in the fourth quarter, they turned the ball over again on a fumble, leading to Thompkins’ second rushing TD on a nine-yard run.
The final two scores came on Holmes’ 25-yard field goal and junior runningback Keeshaurn McCauley’s 14-yard end around.
With the turnovers limiting Mariner’s possessions, the offense only managed 69 total yards, over half by runningback Giovanni Garcia’s 15 carries for 54 yards.
The Tritons were hindered by the Vikings’ four sacks, with Maribona registering two, Queen and senior Bryce Bachman the other pair.
Verot piled up 395 yards of total offense, led by Scott’s 125 rushing yards, while Gibson had 11 carries for 50 yards and Thompkins eight for 51 yards.
McDougall managed the game well, going 6-of-10 passing for 132 yards and no interceptions.
Bishop Verot carries a two-game winning streak to Lakeland Christian (2-0) next Friday.
Mariner will try to rebound at home against LaBelle (1-1) next Friday.
Mariner 0 0 0 0 – 0
Bishop Veort 7 0 20 16 – 43
BV – Gibson 5 run (Holmes kick)
BV – Scott 7 run (Holmes kick)
BV – Tompkins 13 run (kick failed)
BV – Scott 16 run (Holmes kick)
BV – Tompkins 9 run (kick failed)
BV – FG, Holmes 25
BV – McCaully 14 run (Holmes kick)