North senior Levontai "Bo" Summersett takes a handoff during the Red Knights' first-round playoff win over Barron Collier. Summersett ran for 272 total yards and a touchdown. He also added an interception. CJ HADDAD

North Fort Myers steamrolled its way to a 49-13 win over Barron Collier in a FHSAA 3S Region 4 Regional Quarterfinal at Moody Field Friday night.

Senior two-way star and Florida A&M commit Levontai “Bo” Summersett galloped for a whopping 272 yards on 24 carries, including a rushing touchdown to help lead the Red Knights (7-1) into the next round of the playoffs.

“Our kids came out and played tough man,” North head coach Dwayne Mack said after the game. “(The) offense was kicking, defense played well. We had some mental errors which got them on the board, but overall, I’ve very happy with our performance. Very happy with our crowd, our community. It’s the first home game we’ve had here in a while in the playoffs, and our community, our staff, our students came out and supported us.”

The Red Knights faithful had plenty to cheer for on the night, as their No. 3 seeded squad wasted little time putting it on the Cougars (6-4).

After working their way down to Barron Collier’s 13-yard line, Red Knights’ senior kicker Daniel Jaquiss nailed a 30-yard field goal to put North up 3-0.

The Cougars answered right back though, putting together a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended with wide out Brody Graham reeling in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Thomas Mooncotch.

The Barron Collier lead lasted just 2 minutes and 31 seconds, thanks to a monster run by Summersett for a 61-yard score. After not finding much daylight, the senior broke out to the right end of the line and exploded up the field and into open field.

“I see the same thing every week and it’s the same thing that the college coaches see,” Mack said of Summersett’s performance. “The kid is going to have a bright future at the next level.”

Holding onto a 9-7 lead, the Red Knights defense stepped up to the plate. They forced a three-and-out and had to return to the field just two plays later after North fumbled, giving Barron Collier the ball on the Red Knights’ 22-yard line. The Cougars mustered only 9 yards and faced a fourth-and-one, and North’s defense stuffed their run attempt.

The Red Knights punted back to Barron Collier and took over once more in opponent territory to start a drive. And again, the defense forced a three-and-out.

The Red Knights then worked down to the Cougars’ 34-yard line before fumbling once more, though nothing came of the turnover.

Getting the ball back with 2:05 to play until half, Red Knights’ senior quarterback Bryce Duross connected with Santino Arroyo for a big 46-yard gain into Cougar territory.

A few plays later, the pair capped off the drive with a 9-yard score with just 7 seconds left before the break.

North carried its 16-7 advantage into the second half and wasted little time padding that number. On Barron Collier’s first play from scrimmage in the third, junior Rashad Snow timed a pass perfectly and picked off Mooncotch, returning it 50 yards to the house.

Duross scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns with 4:52 to play in the third quarter, taking one in from 5 yards out, lowering his shoulder across the goal line with no intention of being stopped. Two minutes later, his second came on a 2-yard run after the defense blocked a punt to put North up 37-7.

Barron Collier did find the end zone just before the end of the quarter when Graham and Mooncotch again linked up, this one from 49 yards out.

Ceon Gordon found the end zone for North with a 4-yard run with just over 9 minutes to play, and Duross (163 total yards) cashed in his third of the game with a 9-yard run inside the right pylon a minute later after the Cougars fumbled inside their 10-yard line.

All-in-all, the Red Knights’ defense surrendered just 184 yards of offense, holding the Cougars to just 38 rushing yards on 21 attempts. They also forced three turnovers — two interceptions and a fumble.

“(Our defensive coaches) pride themselves on defense,” Mack said. “We’re busting our butt making sure our kids know the calls and understood our scheme. We have a lot of great talent on our defense. Those guys play hard. It’s probably one of the best defenses I’ve been around in my 21 years of coaching.”

On the other side of the coin, North ran and ran and ran all night long. On 53 rushing attempts, Red Knight players rushed for 392 yards (7.4 YPC) and five touchdowns.

“Being a blue-collar school in a blue-collar community, we want to be physical, we want to be trench bullies, so we want to run the football. That’s our identity,” Mack said. “And we did that tonight.”

Of his ridiculous game both on offense where he was running possessed and on defense making tackles and an interception, Summersett said, “It feels great to get my first playoff win. Coach Mack said in the playoffs you either step up or go home. I stepped up for my team tonight and got the job done.

“We have dogs on our defense. As a team, who wouldn’t want to play on our defense. It feels good to be on the field with them, as well as the offense.”

North will travel to take on No. 2 Dunbar (8-1) Friday at 7:30 p.m. in a semifinal match-up. The Red Knights fell to the Tigers 17-8 in week two of the season.

— Connect with Associate Sports Editor CJ Haddad on Twitter: @haddad_cj

1 2 3 4 F

BARRON COLLIER 7 0 6 0 — 13

NORTH FORT MYERS 9 7 21 12 — 49

1st Quarter

NFM: Daniel Jacquiss, 30-yard field goal; 9:21

BC: Brody Graham, 35-yard reception from Thomas Mooncotch (Rocco D’angelo kick); 4:29

NFM: Levontai “Bo” Summersett, 61-yard run (kick fail); 2:58

2nd Quarter

NFM: Santino Arroyo, 9-yard reception from Bryce Duross (Jaquiss kick); 0:07

3rd Quarter

NFM: Rashad Snow, 50-yard interception return (Jaquiss kick); 11:40

NFM: Duross, 5-yard run (Jaquiss kick); 4:52

NFM: Duross, 2-yard run (Jaquiss kick); 2:41

BC: Graham, 49-yard reception from Mooncotch (2-pt fail); 0:38

4th Quarter

NFM: Ceon Gordon, 4-yard run (kick block); 9:03

NFM: Duross, 9-yard run (kick block); 8:01