VERO BEACH – St. Edward’s came into Friday’s night game against Faith Baptist Academy with the chance to go undefeated in the regular season for the first time since 1989. And they didn’t disappoint.
The Pirates handily beat their opponents 44-0 and go into postseason with a perfect record.
“Boys are excited,”Coach Bill Motta. “It is something we didn’t talk about. We just prepared for each game as they came. But now that the regular season is over, we are excited about it. But we must now prepare for the next week.”
St. Edward’s is averaging 38 points on offense this season, the highest in the region. Kicker Dillon Benson has been perfect all season, going 40-40 on extra points.
Just two minutes in the game, St. Edward’s running back Cortez Brown ripped off a 53-yard touchdown run. With 3:07 left in the first quarter St. Edward’s quarterback hooked up with wide receiver Juan Santini for a 20-yard touchdown completion. By the end of the first quarter, St. Edward’s led 14-0.
One minute into the second quarter, Collier Proctor found running back Jamari Williams for a 40-yard touchdown pass. With 5:19 left in the first half, Cortez Brown found the end zone once again, this time on a 12-yard touchdown run.
“Every week he gets better,” Coach Motta said of Cortez Brown. “He gets a lot of yards after the catch. Last night we started a little slow on the offensive line, but he was about to get a lot of yards on his own.” With 3:24 left in the first half, Faith Baptist Academy snapped the ball out of the end zone for a safety. On the following punt, J.D. McGee returned the kickoff 80-yards for the touchdown. At half time, St. Edward’s led Faith Baptist Academy 37-0.
In the third quarter, St. Edward’s David Cicco found the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run with 47 seconds left in the quarter. The final score was St. Edward’s 44, Faith Baptist Academy 0.
“We started off really well,” Coach Motta on his defense said. “They had several three and outs. They were never able to get comfortable in the pocket to the throw the ball.”
Kicker Dillon Benson was 6 for 6 on extra points, keeping his perfect streak going. St. Edward’s improves to 9-0 while Faith Baptist Academy falls to 2-7.
St. Edward’s hosts Seven Rivers next week in the first round of playoffs for the Sunshine State Athletic Conference.
