- December 20, 2024
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Cocoa crushed Mainland 51-0 on Aug. 30 at Daytona Stadium in a football game that was interrupted by a lockdown.
The loss left the Bucs 0-2 for the first time in three years. Cocoa is ranked 11th in the nation and No. 2 in the state by MaxPreps.
“We didn’t execute offensively or defensively,” Mainland head coach Jerrime “Squatty” Bell said. “We gave up a lot of points early. That is a really good football team with a really, really good player (wide receiver Jayvan Boggs). He was responsible for five touchdowns for them. Against a good team like that, we have to execute.”
After Mainland wide receiver Jameil Patrick grabbed a first down on the first play of the game, Cocoa began its barrage of points with nine minutes left in the first quarter on a field goal by senior Marcus Trout.
The Tigers scored 24 points in the first 18 minutes of the game. With 1:52 remaining before the half, administrative personnel and law enforcement officers directed everyone to exit the football field and bleachers and remain in stadium corridors. The stadium was locked down while a Volusia County Sheriff’s helicopter circled overhead and Daytona Beach police officers searched for a juvenile who attempted to carry a firearm into the venue.
Monique Morris was there supporting her daughter Talisa Clarke who is a senior airman with the Mainland Air Force JROTC.
“I don’t know what I think about this lockdown,” Morris said. “It’s so scary for the kids. They are just here to enjoy themselves and then this thing happens.”
After approximately an hour, law enforcement determined the area was safe and the game resumed. Cocoa immediately responded with a touchdown.
Boggs caught 11 passes for 222 yards and four touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown. Freshman Javeon Scott ran for two scores and Nicholas Teeter caught a touchdown pass. Trout kicked five PATs in addition to his field goal and Joshua Gauthier had one extra point.
Boggs had 1,493 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns his junior year and earned the Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Football award. He had 29 college offers and committed to the University of Central Florida on Aug. 6. His Cocoa teammate, offensive lineman Jaques Joiner, is also a UCF commit. Cocoa junior quarterback Barry Hart committed to Michigan in June. His offers included Florida, Florida State and UCF.
Bell said defensive lineman Christian Hudson was one of the few Mainland players who had a good game against the Tigers. Hudson, who committed to UCF in July, will be a teammate with Boggs and Joiner next season.
“Christian Hudson is amazing,” Bell said. “He was unblockable. No matter who they’ve got. They’ve got two Division I offensive linemen — one is his UCF commit buddy (Joiner). It didn’t matter. You can’t block that kid.”
The Bucs will travel to Flagler Palm Coast on Thursday, Sept. 5, in a game that was moved up day. Bell said FPC is a well-coached football team. If the Bucs don’t come out and execute, he said, they will lose their third in a row.
Mainland has not started a season at 0-3 in 31 years. The Bucs and Bulldogs did not play last year, but FPC quarterback Hayden Hayes played against Mainland last season when he was with Seabreeze. The Bucs won that game 48-14.
“Hayden took a beating last year at Seabreeze against us and I know he’s chomping at the bit to go make plays against Mainland,” Bell said. “They have some kids that grew up playing with our guys that are excited for their game. They are going to show up. We got to bring our A-game.”