SEBASTIAN — Javid Ellis threw three touchdown passes to Ryan Kemp as Port St. Lucie West Centennial defeated Sebastian River 27-0 Friday night to spoil Senior Night at Sharks Stadium.
The first touchdown pass might have been the most significant. Statistically, the Eagles ran up and down the field at will in the first half. But, they didn’t have much to show for it as they clung to a 6-0 advantage.
With 1 minute 18 seconds to play in the second quarter, Ellis lofted a 31-yard scoring pass to Kemp in the left corner of the end zone. Ellis, the Eagles’ third wide receiver who wasn’t listed on the depth chart, outran the Sharks’ defense to haul in the pass. Ellis then ran for the two-point conversion to give Centennial (2-4) a 14-0 lead.
“That was big,” Sebastian River first-year coach Kevin Pettis said. “And, we missed that field goal earlier. We’ve got a good kicker (Ignasio Severino). He could have made that kick and we would have only been down 6-3 going into the half. I don’t want to take anything away from Centennial though.”
Centennial racked up 235 of its 369 total yards in the first half. The Eagles also recorded 14 of their 20 first downs in the opening 24 minutes.
After Severino was short on a 38-yard field-goal attempt early in the second quarter, the Eagles drove 76 yards on 12 plays to the Sebastian River 4-yard line. Ellis ran the ball three times for 28 yards and completed each of his two passes in the drive for 16 yards. Elijah Richardson, who finished with a season-high 115 yards on 16 carries, ran the ball four times for 20 yards.
Richardson, however, was careless on a run from the Sharks’ 4 on second down on a second effort after initially being stopped for a 2-yard gain at the 2.
Sebastian River’s Christopher Harper stole the ball from Richardson and ran to the right before being stopped at the Sharks’ 28.
“That ball strip could have been big,” Centennial coach Ron Parker said. “We talked about starting fast to get our motor going and to get our confidence.”
Sebastian River was unable to get a first down after the big play on defense and it was forced to punt from its own 17 after a holding call.
Taking over at its own 44, Ellis recovered after a dropped first-down pass to complete consecutive passes of 11 and 10 yards to Brayvon Jones. Richardson then ran 4 yards up the middle to the Sharks’ 31 to set up the long scoring pass to Kemp.
“We played good defense and controlled the line of scrimmage and the clock,” Parker said. “We were able to get more than one back to the ball and more than one helmet to the ball (on defense).”
Nick Cooper finished with 153 yards rushing on 29 carries for Sebastian River. He rushed for 143 of those yards on 19 carries in the second half when Centennial had a commanding lead.
“They took Nick Cooper away from us,” Pettis said. “We’ve got to do a better job. This bye week couldn’t come at a better time for us.”
Sebastian River (2-5) will resume play in Class 7A, District 12 in two weeks with a home game against Eau Gallie. The Sharks, who are 1-1 in the district, will play Melbourne the following week to conclude the district schedule.
Ellis, who completed 9 of 13 passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns, found Kemp wide open over the middle at the Sharks’ 10 and the senior ran untouched to complete the 28-yard touchdown pass with 6:48 to play in the third quarter. Josh Lewis kicked the extra point to extend the margin to 21-0.
With 27.5 seconds to play in the third quarter, Ellis found Kemp open at the Sebastian River 5 and he rolled past the defense to complete the 12-yard scoring pass. The conversion kick failed, but the Eagles held a commanding 27-0 advantage.
Sebastian River played without starting quarterback Sloan Drummons, who is out for at least two weeks with a broken collar bone. Injuries also left them without starting noseguard Zach Finnegan and outside linebacker Jeremy Falzarano.
Ellis also rushed for 90 yards on 11 carries, with one touchdown run and one successful two-point conversion run.
Centennial took a 6-0 lead with 4:57 to play in the first quarter on Ellis’ 1-yard scoring run, which capped an eight-play, 52-yard drive. Richardson ran five times for 30 yards during the drive.
