- November 4, 2024
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Que’Shaun Byrd scored three touchdowns, Joshua Belle scored two, and Flagler Palm Coast dominated Matanzas in the Crosstown Showdown, 48-8, on Aug. 29, at Pirate Field.
FPC quarterback Dalton Thomas threw two touchdown passes, one to Byrd and one to Marcel Williams. Ladarius Smith also scored a touchdown.
Daniel Dillard scored the lone touchdown for Matanzas.
“It’s good for us to start off like this,” FPC coach Ceasar Campana said after the game, adding: “Coach Ripley’s doing a great job here getting this program going.”
In the end, though, it came down to one factor. “We have a little more talent than they do,” Campana said.
One of those players is Byrd. “Last year in the spring game, he exploded,” Campana said. “He does everything we ask him.”
Byrd also didn’t celebrate after his touchdowns during the game. Campana said, “We teach class.”
First-year head coach Robert Ripley spoke to his Pirates team in stern tones after the game, saying they needed to practice at 8 a.m. sharp on Labor Day to begin work again.
But he also put the game in perspective: A loss against FPC doesn’t impact the playoffs. The Pirates’ goal is to win district games and control their own destiny in a quest to play in the postseason.
To do that, though, the Pirates have to stay healthy, he said — in particular, quarterback Marquis Murphy, who had to sit out much of the Crosstown Showdown.
Also, Ripley said, “It will be impossible for us to turn the ball over and win. We're just not that team. We don’t have that kind of firepower.”
And although he expected that fans and family members might suggeset it was a moral victory, he indicated that expecations should be higher than that at Matanzas.
“We sold a bunch of tickets, sold a bunch of popcorn,” he said. “But we didn't play well enough. We didn't coach well enough."
