Football Recap: Marco Island Academy Finds Playoff Glory Versus Babcock

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Marco Island Academy had no problem doing just that on Saturday. They claimed a resounding 35-0 victory over the Babcock Trailblazers. That 35 point margin sets a new team best for the Rays this season.

Noah Smith

Rushing Yards (Career)

11/01/25 @ Babcock	87
10/17/25 @ Canterbury	44
10/24/25 vs SmartEn Sports Academy	30
09/26/25 @ Saint Stephen's Episcopal	29
08/30/24 vs Jordan Christian Prep	23

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Marco Island Academy to victory, but perhaps none more so than Noah Smith, who rushed for 87 yards and one score. Those 87 rushing yards gave Smith a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Axton Middlebrook, who rushed for 104 yards and one TD.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Marco Island Academy was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 219 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 61.5 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last five matchups they've averaged 163.

Marco Island Academy didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Kai Schretell and Ryan Winterick. Winterick got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.

Marco Island Academy has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a massive bump to their 4-5 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 13.5 points on average over those games. As for Babcock, they are on a five-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 1-9.

Coming up, Marco Island Academy will venture away from home to square off against Windermere Prep at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Rays will need to watch out since the Lakers have now posted at least 31 points in their last three contests. Babcock does not have any more games scheduled as of now.