Gators’ Greaves MVP in All-Star loss
Antonio Greaves conceded that his trophy-holding skills still needs work.
That said, the Island Coast senior was happy to get in a little practice Wednesday night in Fort Myers, where he earned the North team’s Most Valuable Player award in the 2015 Rotary All-Star Classic.
Greaves and his temporary teammates came out on the short end of a 30-15 decision in the 27th edition of the late-autumn classic, but as he proudly held his bronze-tinted hardware and posed for pictures, the transplanted New York City-born running back gave precisely zero indication of discontent.
“I felt like it could happen for me tonight,” he said. “During practice, I was working hard and hitting the holes and getting familiar with my keys for the defense. It was important that I knew how to read it.”
It was easy to see how his extracurricular efforts paid off.
The rugged 5-foot-10, 215-pounder was the North side’s undisputed workhorse, carrying the ball 20 times for 121 yards, including a long run of 41 yards, and scoring once while competing against, and with, a host of players with whom he’s grown particularly familiar.
He’d averaged 5.4 yards per run while carrying 118 times and scoring six TDs this fall for the Gators, who struggled to a 2-8 record in a tumultuous season that followed a 2014 trip to the state’s final eight.
Island Coast earned one of its wins against North Fort Myers, which had four players on the North team, and the Gators also played Cape Coral and Ida Baker, which had two and six players, respectively.
Greaves was joined by three Gators’ teammates, and he saw plenty of familiar faces on the South team from South Fort Myers, where he attended before joining on with the Gators.
“They’re a good team. They’ve got a lot of athletes, and they capitalize on you when you make mistakes,” he said. “It wasn’t a surprise that they did some of the things they did.”
What may have been surprising was the game’s early stages, which saw North on a one-yard plunge by Greaves and a 10-yard scamper by Ida Baker’s Jordan Diggs, establish a 15-0 lead just five plays into the second quarter. Mariner’s Noah Wren tacked on the extra point following Greaves’ score, Diggs himself did the honors with a two-point run following his own touchdown.
North snuffed out South’s third possession soon after and managed one first down on its next opportunity, before a questionable decision to eschew a punt on a fourth-and-2 from its own 27-yard line with five minutes remaining in the half.
Cape Coral’s C.J. Lewis was stopped for a one-yard loss on the suspect attempt, and South quickly navigated the short field, gaining two and 20 yards on two plays before Willie Johnson skipped in from four yards for a TD just 49 seconds later. South tacked on two points to Johnson’s score, then pulled ahead early in the third when Johnson again went in from four yards for a score that was followed by Jordan Vazquez’s two-pointer to put South in front, 16-15.
Another miscue meant another Johnson score, this time coming when the Division I-bound speedster stepped in front of a Diggs pass intended for Baker teammate Brennan Williams and returned it 10 yards in the initial minute of the final quarter.
South’s final points came midway through the quarter, when Diggs’ third consecutive interception started a five-play, 30-yard drive completed by a Vazquez to Ke’shon Murray hookup for 15 yards. Vazquez found Bishop Verot’s Jake Bowlin for the final two-pointer that established the game-ending margin at 15 points.
Johnson, not surprisingly, was named the South’s MVP.
“It’s pretty nice to be a part of it,” said Greaves, who’s awaiting his own collegiate offers and hopes to find himself at Central Florida, South Florida or back home in New York at Stony Brook. “That’s the goal from here on out, and hopefully someone will reach out and good things will happen.”
North 7 8 0 0 – 15
South 0 8 8 14 – 30
N – Greaves 1 run (Wren kick)
N – Diggs 10 run (Diggs run)
S – Johnson 4 run (Bowlin pass from Johnson)
S – Johnson 4 run (Vazquez run)
S – Johnson 10 interception return (run failed)
S – Murray 15 pass from Vazquez (Bowlin pass from Vazquez)
Girls Soccer
North Fort Myers 8, Dunbar 0: Taylor Kruse and Rachel Horan collected two goals apiece Wednesday night to lead North Fort Myers to a mercy-rule shutout victory over Dunbar.
Kelsie Pederson, Michele Cohen and two others each contributed one goal apiece. The win runs the Red Knights’ season record to 11-1-1 heading in to Friday’s match at Estero.
Sports Editor Jim Linette contributed to this report.