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Naples throttles the Wave in 41-0 romp at Staver Field
In their first ever playoff meeting, the Fort Myers Green Wave found out just how difficult it is to knock off the Golden Eagles at home in the playoffs. The powerful Green Wave looked more like a ripple as the Eagles defense limited them to 1 first down all night long and Fort Myers never made it into Eagle territory. The offense, missing Steven Williams and Billy Crook due to injuries, didn't miss a beat as they kept the befuddled Green Wave defense off balance from their first possession. The win propels the Eagles into the Regional Championship Game at Daytona Beach Mainland on Friday December 2.
Cody Christner & Patrick Goodall lead the Naples defense that crushed the Green Wave. Photo courtesy of the Fort Myers News Press
The Eagles kicked off to the Green wave and they started their drive on their 35. On the very first play, the Wave try to set up a reverse, but it is disrupted by the Eagle "D", and Nathan Jones is there to make the tackle for an 8 yard loss. What the fans did not know at this point was that the Golden Eagle defense was so dominant that the Green wave would make it past their own 35 yard line 1 time in the entire game. The were forced to punt on every series in the first half. Meanwhile the Eagles had little difficulty solving the Fort Myers Defense. Manny Morgan lead the charge on the first series with a 16 yard run, then a tackle breaking blast of 32 yards for the initial points of the game. TK Okubo added the first of 5 PAT's for the 7-0 lead. Next possession the Eagles revived the "hook and ladder" play made famous by the Miami Dolphins as Thomas Martin caught the Kilton Anderson pass and flipped it back to a speeding Morgan for a 26 yard gain. Now fearful of the pass, Ike Dutes takes the handoff and rips off a 38 yard run into the red zone. A couple of penalties set the Eagles back 20 yards, but set up one of the best catches you will ever see in a high school game. Anderson leads Jeff Zieminski just enough were he sticks out one hand, grabs the ball, pins it again his shoulder and pulls it in for the 27 yard reception. Anderson takes it in on the next play from the two, and now it is 14-0. The Green wave go to the air, desperately trying to get a first down, but Deac Conti is there to knock the ball down. Naples takes punt #3 and starts another scoring drive. The offensive line is opening up huge holes now and Morgan runs through one for a 32 yard gain. Anderson finished off the drive with a 20 yard run, as he hurdles over a Wave defender into the end-zone. 21-0 Naples with 3:02 left in the first quarter.
Naples can't be stopped, at least by Fort Myers, but a fumble does de-rail the next drive. For the Green Wave - another 3 and out turns the ball back over to Naples. Anderson goes to the air again with a 12 yard pass to Martin and a 20 yarder to Dutes. Anderson picks up 25 on a quarterback keeper and finishes this drive off with a 5 yard burst for a 28-0 lead. The next Eagle drive features two huge plays. Morgan runs into the line but finds nothing but Green Wave defenders. He continues to the right and circles back, now being 18 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The Naples blockers are in place and Morgan has a full head of steam and somehow turns a big loss into a 36 yard gain. Next play is a sideline pass to Martin, who then breaks a tackle, skirts the sideline and leaps into the end zone for the 35-0 lead at intermission.
The third quarter starts with an 11 play drive for Naples, but they have tortured the Green Wave fans enough and turn the ball over on the Ft Myers 26. Not much has changed here as the defense forces a 3 and out for the eight straight series. Okubo is able to put up one of his two second half field goals for the 38-0 lead. The fourth quarter invokes the mercy rule and the running clock, just in time for the weary Fort Myers fans, who did fill up the visitors bleachers. Unfortunately for them, the cheering ended after the first series as the Dollar Defense stuffed everything they tried to do. Patrick Goodall "only" had 4 tackles, but three of them were quarterback sacks. Also getting in on the sack brigade were Sammy Lubin, Cody Christner, and Andy Chery. The defense must have looked more like vultures while the offensive line appeared to be the rock of Gibraltar. They blew out the Greenies and opened huge holes for the running game. Anderson was protected all night long and was only sacked one time
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