The Manatee Hurricanes will take on the Pinellas Park Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Pinellas Park is hoping to do what Braden River couldn't back in October: put an end to Manatee's winning streak, which now stands at five games. Manatee blew past Braden River 41-0. Given the Hurricanes' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 13th, while the Pirates are ranked 355th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Manatee had a senior duo take command as Andrew Heidel threw for 293 yards and five touchdowns while completing 81.8% of his passes and Jalen Bryant picked up 119 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Those 293 passing yards set a new season-high mark for Heidel. Another player making a difference was Keith Smith, who rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
Meanwhile, Pinellas Park won against Osceola last Friday with 49 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Thursday. Pinellas Park breezed by Braden River to the tune of 49-13. That's two games straight that the Patriots have won by exactly 36 points.
Jaden Casanova went supernova for Pinellas Park, throwing for 240 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 passes, while also rushing for 45 yards and a touchdown. Casanova has become a key player for Pinellas Park: the team is 6-1 when he posts at least three passing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Zahmir Mcneil, who rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries.
Pinellas Park didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Anthony Roman, Ray Vega, and Kaiden Nobles picked up one apiece. Roman has been hot for a while, having also posted five or more total tackles the last 11 times he's played.
Pinellas Park pushed their record up to 7-3 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 40.4 points per game. As for Manatee, their victory bumped their record up to 7-1.
Everything went Manatee's way against Pinellas Park in their previous matchup back in September, as Manatee made off with a 34-10 win. Does Manatee have another victory up their sleeve, or will Pinellas Park turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
