Cypress Bay gave their fans exactly what they wanted out of a home opener on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 48-22 margin over the Stoneman Douglas Eagles. This was payback for the Lightning, who suffered a 30-16 defeat the last time these two teams met.
Cypress Bay had a senior duo take command as Jake Balanovich threw for 284 yards and four touchdowns on only 17 passes and Santi Paz picked up 181 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Paz's longest reception was for an impressive 61 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per catch total.
One reason for the win was Cypress Bay's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for seven sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Bryan Guzman and Sean Pineda who racked up five sacks between them. Guzman's also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, picking up three sacks, making four total tackles (3.0 for loss), and defending a pass. Another thorn in Stoneman Douglas' side was Zacharia Halum, who forced a fumble and made six total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Cypress Bay will take on Archbishop McCarthy at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Stoneman Douglas, they will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Deerfield Beach at 7:00 p.m. on September 6th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
