The Sunlake Seahawks will face off against the Springstead Eagles at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Sunlake is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Monday. They breezed past Wesley Chapel to the tune of 53-0. Give the Seahawks' defense some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.
Sunlake found their leader in sophomore Kate Smith, who threw for 131 yards and five TDs while completing 74.1% of her passes, and also rushed for 45 yards and one touchdown. Smith's passing game has become a key predictor of the Seahawks' success: the team is undefeated when her passer rating is 100 or higher, but only 1-4 otherwise. Reese Gerhart was another key player, picking up 53 receiving yards and a pair of scores.
Reese Gerhart
| 04/14/25 vs Wesley Chapel | 19 |
| 04/09/25 @ Fivay | 12 |
| 04/07/25 @ Cypress Creek | 7 |
| 04/03/25 @ Nature Coast Tech | 6 |
| 03/26/25 @ Springstead | 7 |
| + 8 more games |
Sunlake didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Ellie Perez, Gerhart, and Sofia Bonilla picked up one apiece. Gerhart continues to improve, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. Perez got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Springstead had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Monday. Everything went their way against the Coyotes as they made off with a 27-6 victory. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 65th, while the Coyotes are ranked 329th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.
Sunlake's win bumped their record up to 12-4. As for Springstead, their victory bumped their record up to 10-5.
Sunlake and Springstead were almost perfectly matched up in their previous matchup back in March, but Sunlake suffered an agonizing 14-13 loss. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Eagles' J'Ziyah Munford, who rushed for 80 yards and one TD, and also threw for 98 yards and one touchdown. Now that the Seahawks know the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
