VERO BEACH — The Vero Beach Fighting Indians hosted William T. Dwyer High School at the Citrus Bowl for their annual Spring Classic Game. A crowd of over 1,000 fans were on hand along with scouts from all over the United State to watch the two teams compete.
Unfortunately for Vero Beach Dwyer stole the show. College scouts from West Virginia, Florida, Penn State, and Florida State watched from the sidelines of Billy Livings Field as Vero Beach tried to put together some protection for backup quarterback Carter Stanley who was filling in for an injured Dalton Stokes.
Neither team could get anything going on their first offensive series but the Panthers found their groove at the 8:43 mark in the first quarter when quarterback Daniel Parr hit receiver Ezra Saffold on a 45 yard touchdown pass to put Dwyer up 7-0. Vero Beach recovered a poor Panther snap on the Dwyer 2 yard line after the Panther’s center snapped the ball over the punter’s head. Vero’s Carter Stanley scored on a quarterback keeper that evened the score at 7 with 5:56 to go in the first quarter. The Panther’s answered Vero’s score with 3:56 to go in the first quarter on a touchdown by running back Alonso Smith and ended the first quarter 14-7.
The Panthers continued their offensive display scoring twice in the second quarter. Receiver Johnny Dixon put Dwyer up 21-7 when he caught a 12 yard touchdown pass from Parr on a drive that started at the Panther’s own 16 yard line. Then with less than 20 seconds to go in the half Dixon caught another touchdown pass from Parr for a 70 yard score and a 28 – 7 halftime lead.
After punting the ball away on their first series in the 3rd quarter it appeared as though the Dwyer return man muffed the punt and Vero Beach defensive back Ira Graham recovered it for a score. The referees discussed the play and ruled it a touchback. Dwyer takes over first and ten from their own 20 yard line and the momentum switches back to the Panthers. On the next play Panther running back Alfonso Smith scores an 80 yard touchdown. Vero Beach continued to stall on offense and Dwyer led at the end of the third quarter 35-7.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter Vero Beach started left-handed quarterback Ryan Hiser. Hiser completed a couple of passes but dropped balls and penalties halted any sort of offensive momentum Vero Beach was trying to create. Panther’s wide receiver Eddie Giles scored Dwyer’s sixth touchdown of the game with 7:42 to go in the game. The point after attempt was blocked by the Fighting Indians and the Panthers dominated Vero Beach with the 41-7 win.
The Spring Classic may not mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things at Vero Beach when it comes to wins and losses next season but let’s hope that the players realize that there is work to be done over the summer.