- November 23, 2024
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In two quick half-style football games, the Matanzas Pirates showed they might be a dangerous force to be reckoned with.
Matanzas first played University Christian, which according to coach Robert Ripley, have three potential Division I players. The Pirates started off the game by giving 14 points to University Christian in the opening minutes, one by fumble recovery, but after those minutes, they went off running.
After University Christian scored their final touchdown of the night, Matanzas' Rahkim Perry took the ball and ran 63 yards for a score.
“You have to get those runs in with a great offensive line,” Perry said. “I am proud.”
Sophomore Corey Steward followed that with a show of his own. Immediately after Steward sacked University's quarterback on defense, he jumped on offense and ran for a touchdown to tie the game.
“We stumbled a little bit coming out of the gate,” Ripley said. “Those junior varsity guys came out and got after it, and that’s what ignited our offense.”
Pirates vs. Green Wave
In the second game, against Father Lopez, the Pirates showed no signs of slowing down.
After the first quarter, Daniel Dillard, who had an impressive night himself, ran 24 yards to get the football just that much closer to the field goal line.
“You have your peaks and your values, and sometimes you’re going to be up or you’re going to be down,” said Dillard, who ran for over 150 yards on the night said. “For me though, I like to peak. I like to stay on top… There’s definitely more to see from Matanzas this year.”
Ripley also complimented Dillard’s performance on Tuesday and could not shy away from bringing the numbers to the table, saying, "Dillard ran for 1,200 yards last year, but he made everyone pay tonight."
Wagner then threw a smooth 27 yard pass to junior wide receiver Phillip Moultrie to get the Pirates within three yards of scoring. Wagner, then, put the finishing touch on the drive by scrambling through the defense for the touchdown.
Matanzas followed with another touchdown by Perry and finally by senior running back Doug Wilson as they cruised to a 21-0 victory.
“We were working with our running game, and we weren’t going to stop because it was working so well," Ripley said. "We weren’t having to search for answers."
Even though things seemed to be heading in the right direction, Ripley still believes there is room for improvement.
“If you look back on our season last year, we just were not good on offense,” said Ripley, who was 2-7 in his first season. “We’ve got to get better in our passing game and have our defense develop the tempo to give us a shot at putting the other team away. That’s where we got to get too.”
“That’s our mentality, bringing our people up and wearing the other team down," he added. "I felt like we could do it, and we did, and we’re going to go to work, so there’s more of this to come. This is only going to get better.”
