The Cypress Bay Lightning will face off against the Archbishop McCarthy Mavericks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both might be coming in a bit winded given how much these teams ran up and down the field in their prior games.
Cypress Bay is looking to give their home crowd another W after opening their season at home on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 48-22 margin over Stoneman Douglas. Given the Lightning's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 144th, while the Eagles are ranked 334th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
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.
Meanwhile, Archbishop McCarthy had to kick off their season on the road on Friday, but they showed no ill effects. They took down Community School of Naples 23-6. The win was familiar territory for the Mavericks who have now won ten games in a row dating back to last season.
Robert Kerns went supernova for Archbishop McCarthy, rushing for 131 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries, while also throwing for 110 yards and a touchdown. Backing up that air attack was Damien Grant, who rushed for 121 yards.
Archbishop McCarthy didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Mahki Vance and Jacarri Watson. Another thorn in Community School of Naples' side was Ji'Koi Highsmith, who picked up a sack, made five total tackles (3.0 for loss), and defended a pass.
Archbishop McCarthy was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 336 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 217 rushing yards in ten consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Cypress Bay took their victory against Archbishop McCarthy in their previous matchup back in August of 2019 by a conclusive 20-0. Does Cypress Bay have another victory up their sleeve, or will Archbishop McCarthy turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
