Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Flagler Palm Coast). They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat the Matanzas Pirates 68-26. With the Bulldogs ahead 40-14 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Flagler Palm Coast's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Braylyn Simmons led the charge by rushing for 125 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries, while also picking up 55 receiving yards and a touchdown. Simmons' longest rush was for an incredible 82 yards. Another passer making a difference was Hayden Hayes, who threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 16.0 yards per attempt.
Flagler Palm Coast's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB six times. The heavy lifting was done by Colby Cronk and Melique Joseph, who racked up five sacks between them. Joseph also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 12. Flagler Palm Coast got some further help from Zaiden Greene: he picked up a sack and made 12 total tackles (5.0 for loss).
Flagler Palm Coast was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 284 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Matanzas only rushed for 31.
Matanzas' loss came despite strong showings from Darwin Harris and Ladarian Baker. Harris gained 104 total yards and two touchdowns, while Baker picked up 108 receiving yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance also gave Harris a new career-high in rushing yards (57).
Flagler Palm Coast's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-1. As for Matanzas, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-6.
Flagler Palm Coast has the luxury of staying home for another week and will welcome DeLand at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Flagler Palm Coast is facing DeLand at the right time seeing as DeLand is stuck on a three-game losing streak. Matanzas does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
