- November 28, 2024
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Seabreeze (3-0) will hit the road for its next three games, beginning with Bartram Trail on Sept. 27.
BY ANDREW O'BRIEN | SPORTS EDITOR
If there’s one thing to say about the Seabreeze football team, it’s that the players like accepting challenges.
Earlier in the week, coach Marc Beach challenged his offensive line to create lanes for the running game. And on Friday night, the big boys up front delivered, paving the way for Seabreeze’s 42-13 thumping of New Smyrna Beach in the District 9-6A opener for both teams.
Seabreeze (3-0) is off to a quick start and kept pace with Mainland (4-0), which thrashed Pine Ridge, 43-0, on Thursday night.
“It’s huge,” Beach said after the game, in regard to starting off district play with a win. “It’s in our court, and it lets everyone else kind of play it out. We just need to keep working ... and keep ourselves healthy.”
Seniors Charles Nelson and Josh Stevens did much of the heavy lifting for their team on Friday night. Nelson caught a touchdown pass and returned an interception for a score. Stevens added two touchdowns on the ground behind a motivated offensive line.
“That’s a big game,” Nelson said. “We took advantage of the situation.”
Seabreeze took a 7-0 lead with 3:55 to go in the first quarter when quarterback Connor Blair found Nelson down the middle of the field for a 30-yard touchdown pitch and catch.
Both teams traded turnovers into the second quarter, but the Sandcrabs took a 14-0 lead on a shifty 28-yard touchdown run by Josh Stevens.
Forced to punt from his own end zone, New Smyrna Beach quarterback Marcus Johnson, who also punted Friday night, mishit the ball, and it went out of bounds at the 15-yard line. Blair hit Dorian Gonzalez a few plays later on a 7-yard pass to make it 21-0. The touchdown catch was a first for Gonzalez, who primarily plays linebacker.
Stevens, who finished the game with more than 100 yards on the ground, added his second touchdown of the game on a 54-yard scamper with less than a minute to go in the first half to give Seabreeze a 28-6 lead.
Nelson bookended Seabreeze’s scoring when he took an interception 95 yards for the score with about five minutes to go in the third quarter.
“Wherever I play, I’m excited,” Nelson said. “I just like helping out my team. We’re a team, and we play like family. It’s not just me. I give credit to my whole team.”
Nelson finished the game with 80 yards receiving and 10 yards rushing to go with his two touchdowns.
Despite the lopsided score, Beach said his team likely could have had a shutout if not for some redzone turnovers and sloppy special teams play.
“Defensively, we played great,” Beach said. “Special teams were very shaky tonight and something we have to get corrected.”
Seabreeze will play its next three games on the road, beginning at Bartram Trail on Sept. 27.
“We’re always going to play somebody that’s bigger than us, and we just have to execute,” Beach said after the game. “I’m proud of the way the guys played — they did an awesome job.”
Follow @aobrien7 on Twitter.
