Football Game Preview: Cocoa Tigers vs. Cardinal Mooney Cougars + Official Tickets

The Cocoa Tigers will take on the Cardinal Mooney Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Cocoa sitting on six straight wins and Cardinal Mooney on 11.

Cocoa is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They came out on top against Bradford by a score of 17-10.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Mooney's offense rose to the challenge against a Spartans defense that boasted an average of only 12.23 points allowed on Friday. The Cougars blew past Lakewood 49-29. The Cougars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 12 games by 20 points or more this season.

Cocoa better keep an eye on Connail Jackson. He was instrumental in Cardinal Mooney's win, rushing for 351 yards and five TDs while picking up 14.6 yards per carry. That's the most rushing touchdowns Jackson has posted since back in November of 2024.

Cardinal Mooney was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 463 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.

One reason for the win was Cardinal Mooney's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for eight sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Elijah Golden and Bryce Fulda, who racked up four sacks between them. Fulda is on a roll when it comes to sacks, as he's now posted at least one in each of the last three games he's played. Cardinal Mooney got some further help from Jayden Burnett: he made 17 total tackles (4.0 for loss) and defended four passes.

Cocoa's record now sits at 8-4. As for Cardinal Mooney, their record is now 12-1.

Cocoa was able to grind out a solid victory over Cardinal Mooney in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, winning 31-21. Do the Tigers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Cougars turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.