Friday

FOOTBALL

Cape Coral 36, Bonita Springs 14: The Seahawks rolled to their first win of the season, the first victory for new coach Tyler Murphy. Trailing 7-6 after the first quarter, Cape slowly pulled away. Derek Hooker had two touchdown passes, 44 yards to Jayden Reyes and 13 yards to Dereon Thomas. Jayden Boyd came up big on defense and special teams. He returned a kickoff 75 yards, then recovered a fumble and ran 27 yards for another TD. Caleb Cobb had a 3-yard TD run, Joseph Parks added a 32-yard field goal.

Palmetto Ridge 22, Ida Baker 19: It was a heartbreaking night for the Bulldogs (0-3). Leading 19-8 in the fourth quarter, it appeared Baker would earn its first win since 2022. However, Palmetto Ridge scored two touchdowns in the final 6:20. An 89-yard fumble return cut the margin to 19-16. Palmetto Ridge then pulled off a successful onside kick and drove for the winning score. The Bulldogs’ defense played a huge role in their team’s scoring with four interceptions, including two by Mason Bal, Carter Long had a 60-yard pick-six. Caelum Cragin’s interception set up a 48-yard Reed Verblaauw’s 48-yard field goal, while a fumble recovery was followed by a 44-yard 3-pointer. Verblaauw later came up just short on a 52-yard field goal attempt. Elias Vargas punched in a 3-yard rushing TD, set up by his own 53-yard run.

Dunbar 36, Island Coast 6: Gervaris Leaphart scored from 24 yards out for the Gators (1-2). After that, Dunbar pulled away for a 26-6 halftime lead.

North Fort Myers 34, Mariner 7: The Red Knights (2-1) used the combination of a strong running game and a stingy defense to down the Tritons (1-2). Demetric McDonald, Kirtis Denham, JD Irons and Zion Pierre rushed for touchdowns. Charles Lombardo caught an 11-yard TD pass from Caleb Curls, and the North defense earned two points with a tackle in the Mariner end zone. The Tritons got a 57-yard TD pass from Kaelen Davidson to Jamarion Corbett.

Venice 71, Bishop Verot 56: A wild, wild night at Bishop Verot ended on a low note for the Vikings. Time after time, Venice took the lead, then the Vikings would tie the score. The last of the Verot comebacks, capped by Carter Smith’s 9-yard run, knotted the score 56-all with 4:27 to play. Bishop Verot had no more answers after that. Smith also had touchdown runs of 2 and 11 yards, and hooked up with Leo Berman for two scoring passes. Ayden Gonzalez ran one in from 34 yards out, and Deshon Jenkins scored on runs of 3 and 69 yards.