'I definitely took it personally': Mainland puts loss behind it, crushes Satellite 62-0

DAYTONA BEACH — On Friday, it only took Mainland 1:16 of game time to do what it couldn’t across 48 minutes in a 33-0 loss to Lake Mary last week in its regular-season finale: Score.

And once the Bucs (10-1) found the end zone, they basically moved in.

Clearly, any thoughts of a possible hangover were put to bed early and often as the top team in Class 3S used a 41-point second quarter in steamrolling to a playoff-opening 62-0 win over Satellite at Daytona Stadium.

With the victory, the Bucs moved on to the Region 3 semifinals where they will host fifth-seeded Rockledge next week. The Raiders outlasted No. 4 seed Jensen Beach 19-16 in overtime on Friday.

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It was a Mainland team that certainly came out like a squad eager to put last week behind it, after all that defeat to the Rams ended the Bucs’ chances at a perfect season.

“We were upset, obviously, you don’t want to come out and get shut out … it’s Mainland High School,” Bucs coach Travis Roland said. “You had to see all the hate from different people on social media, but we’re thankful. The sun came up and we were going to the playoffs and we had a chance to come out and right our wrongs.”

Specifically on the offensive end. Particularly in the passing game.

Rodney Hill gave the Bucs some immediate room to breathe and leeway to work. After receiving the opening kick, Hill lined up in the Wildcat formation and carried four straight times, gaining 11, 6, 46 and 2 yards, the last of which provided the first points of the game to put Mainland up 7-0.

The Scorpions (5-6) held off the onslaught for a while, thanks largely to Mainland mistakes. The ensuing Satellite drive burned 9:25 off the first-quarter clock with three first downs provided by Bucs penalties. But after a 41-yard field goal attempt came up short, Mainland wasted little time, driving down to the Satellite 6 as the first quarter ended.

Then, the second quarter happened.

Quarterback Dennis Murray Jr. hit Phillip Moore on a 6-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the period, and it was only a precursor and the first of four, one-play touchdown drives in the second. Aided by four Scorpion turnovers, the Bucs exploded for six second-quarter touchdowns, taking advantage of optimal field position including drives starting at Satellite’s 9-, 1- and 5-yard lines.

Murray threw two more touchdown strikes of 19 yards each, with Marquis McCants and Tyree Weatherspoon on the receiving end of one each. The initial score was Moore’s first catch of the season, and Weatherspoon caught a team-best three passes for 37 yards after entering with just two receptions on the season.

And it was part of the plan as Roland sought changes in the pass game a week after Lake Mary shut down Mainland’s offense while selling out to stop the run.

“People are going to come out and play zero (coverage) because they feel like we can’t throw the ball,” Roland explained. “Tonight, you saw three new big guys emerge (Weatherspoon, Moore and E’zaiah Shine). Sometimes you’ve got to get a little bigger and do some things. We’ve got to continue to develop our passing game and make sure we can threaten people in that way. Our running game is our running game. Everybody knows that’s what we want to do, but if you’re going to give us zero, we have more than enough capable guys.”

Corey Hill (1-yard run), Trell Edwards (5-yard run) and Khamani Robinson (9-yard run) all notched rushing touchdowns in the second quarter with Corey Hill adding another in the second half. Murray completed 10 of 15 passes for 139 yards.

And then there was the vaunted Bucs defense, which pitched its sixth shutout of the season.

Three Scorpions quarterbacks combined for just 2 of 14 passing with two interceptions, and Satellite gained just 20 yards on 26 carries. Mainland finished with a 360-24 advantage in total yards.

And at the center of it all, as usual, was Florida Gator commit LJ McCray, who delivered punishing shots on Satellite passers throughout the first half, setting a bar of physicality the Bucs met on each drive.

“I definitely took it personally, for sure, I mean, we didn’t score any points last week,” McCray said. “Defense, we played decent, but at the same time we let up 33 points. So, I feel like we all as a defense set the tone pretty well.”

Ramon McCullough had a fumble recovery with Zavier Mincey and David Hall each picking off a pass. Backup quarterback Sebastian Johnson played the entire second half for Mainland, hitting on 6 of 9 passes for 46 yards including a 5-yard scoring toss to reserve defensive lineman Amare Campbell.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia-Flagler football: Mainland blows out Satellite in playoff win