- December 3, 2024
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Matanzas running back Wiley Conner (34) runs past Andrew Jackson's Davon Womack. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas defensive back Kenny Robinson breaks up a pass to Anthony Jones. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas cheerleaders Aubrei Sleep and Morgan Price before the game. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas captains Caden Burchfield (7), Braden Russell (2), KJ Roberts (52) and Jaylon Owens (71) await the coin flip. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas quarterback Caden Burchfield tucks the ball to run. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jeffrey Powell (17) tackles Andrew Jackson receiver Tay Lawson. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Defensive lineman Jaxson Saterfield takes a breather on the sideline while the Pirates' offense is on the field. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Joseph Lundy carries the Pirates' flag to lead the Pirates onto the field for their homecoming game. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Pirates charge the field for their homecoming game Sept. 13 against Andrew Jackson. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas junior Kenny Robinson wraps up Andrew Jackson's Tay Lawson. Photo by Brent Woronoff
A rainbow over the visitors stands before the Pirates' homecoming game against Andrew Jackson of Jacksonville. Photo by Brent Woronoff
A double rainbow over the Ship before the Pirates' homecoming game. Courtesy photo
The Matanzas defense gave the Pirates a chance to win their Sept. 13 homecoming game. But they could not convert two red-zone opportunities in the fourth quarter, and Andrew Jackson High escaped a very muddy Matanzas stadium with a 6-0 victory.
“Our defense is playing really good right now,” Matanzas coach Matt Forrest said. “They’re giving us a chance to win ball games. But we have to figure out our red-zone woes. When we get the ball down there we have to figure out ways to punch it in.”
It was the third game in a row that the Pirates (2-2) have allowed seven or fewer points. It was also the first time they were shut out this season. In their previous game against Deltona they scored the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Against Andrew Jackson (2-2), they moved inside the 15-yard line twice in the final eight minutes.
The Pirates took over at the Tigers’ 19 after Andrew Jackson’s Tay Lawson shanked a 7-yard punt. But on fourth down from the 11, Caden Burchfield’s pass to Thomas Larywon in the end zone fell incomplete.
The Pirates got the ball back with 3:16 remaining after Andrew Jackson coach Bobby Ramsay opted to go for fourth-and-1 from the Tigers’ 32-yard line instead of punting. The Pirates’ defense held.
Ramsay said his decision had nothing to do with Lawson’s previous punt.
“Tay is a great player and a good punter,” Ramsay said. “We’re a first-year coaching staff and we want our players to have a win-the-game attitude. (Matanzas) just made a play. That’s a credit to them. They're a well-coached team. They have a very sound, solid team.”
Ramsay said not punting with the ball in Tigers' territory could have made him “either the smartest guy in the stadium or the dumbest guy in the county.”
After Burchfield tossed a 6-yard pass to Andrew Bass and then scrambled 14 yards, it began to look like the decision might be second-guessed. But just as it had all game, the Tigers’ defense came up with a big play when it needed to, sacking Burchfield on fourth down with 1:32 left to secure the win.
“We were just a step off all night offensively,” Forrest said, noting Matanzas was held to 3.0 yards per carry after averaging 5.3 through their first three games.
We’re trying to be a team that takes pride in running the football. We have a really good offensive line, a really good running back and a mobile quarterback.
— MATT FORREST, Matanzas football coach
“We’re trying to be a team that takes pride in running the football,” Forrest said. “We have a really good offensive line, a really good running back and a mobile quarterback.”
The Tigers held the Pirates to 88 yards rushing and 49 yards passing. Burchfield ran for 55 yards, while running back Wiley Conner ran for 33 on 12 carries.
“We had opportunities to complete some passes and just couldn’t do it,” Forrest said. “Andrew Jackson is a real tough defensive team. Just the aggressiveness they played with caused us to make a lot of mistakes.”
The Pirates’ defense was nearly as flawless. Andrew Jackson had a short field early in the game and moved to the Matanzas 9-yard line late in the first quarter, but Ladarian Baker intercepted a Jamarion Dixon pass on fourth-and-8 from the 12 and returned it to the 37.
The Tigers, however, got on the scoreboard with 3 minutes left in the second quarter on Dixon's 41-yard touchdown pass to Lawson, and that would be all they'd need.
"We just didn't execute on offense," Burchfield said. "The defense was playing really well. We just missed a couple of opportunities. And that's all it takes to lose a game like that."
The Tigers possessed the ball eight minutes longer than the Pirates, Forrest said. As a result, the visitors’ defense was fresher in the fourth quarter, he said.
“We couldn’t come away with a touchdown. It was frustrating, but we have to put it in the rearview mirror,” Forrest said.
Matanzas will meet Seabreeze on Friday, Sept. 20, at Daytona Stadium. The Sandcrabs (0-2) have allowed a combined 85 points to Spruce Creek and Rockledge.
“I know their season hasn’t gone the way they’ve wanted to,” Forrest said of the Sandcrabs. “But I have all the respect in (first-year coach Mike Klein). They’re going to give it all they got, so we’ve got to be ready Friday.”
