St. Cloud, Gateway fall in shutouts
-
Harmony's Jada Bloodworth, who made two big plays on defense Thursday, tries to speed away from the Celebration defense on a rushing play in Thursday's 13-0 Class 2A win. PHOTO/KEN JACKSON -
Priscilla Rodriguez, who intercepted a pass for St. Cloud against Royal Palm Beach, runs the ball for yardage Thursday. PHOTO/KATIE WILLIAMS
Much like another 64-team tournament people know about, it's "survive and advance" in the FHSAA state flag football tournament, and the Harmony Longhorns did just that Thursday.
The Longhorns, an at-large team after last week's overtime upset loss to St. Cloud, went on the road got some big defensive plays and just enough offense to win 13-0 at Celebration, a district champ.
The news was not as good for St. Cloud, who lost 18-0 to Royal Palm Beach, and Gateway, who fell 25-0 to Brandon.
In the second half, with Harmony (13-3) clinging to a 6-0 lead, freshman Jada Bloodworth picked off Leena Bolejack's pass across the middle near midfield. The offense then marched 42 yards and turned the turnover into points when Martha Edwards hit Alex Ceballos in the back of the end zone with a minute left in the third quarter.
Celebration drove to the goal line on its next possession of the fourth quarter, thanks to Isabel Meadow's 30-yard pass on a reverse to Val Martinez. But on fourth-and-goal from the 4, Bloodworth batted away a pass in the end zone. The offense picked up two first downs to run down most of the remaining clock.
"Kids in their first playoffs, you never know what they'll do, but Jada did a great job as a freshman in there," HHS Coach Paul Strauch said. "We knew it'd be close, Bolejack is a talented quarterback with her arm and her feet."
Harmony took a 6-0 lead 15 seconds before halftime on a 15-yard pass from Edwards to Kinzie James. Edwards was 16-for-24 passing for 130 yards.
With the win, the Longhorns will travel to Martin County on Tuesday in a Region 4 semifinal.
"They have phenomenal speed and are well coached," Strauch said of Martin County. "We'll need another like (Thursday). Our defense played great."
