Melbourne Central Catholic claims District 4-1S championship with win over Halifax Academy
MELBOURNE — Melbourne Central Catholic's dominant 56-0 win over Halifax Academy propelled the Hustlers to finish the regular season as District 4-1S champions.
MCC took an early lead in the first quarter when Joseph Allen connected with Ramel Hernandez for a 52-yard touchdown pass. With seconds left in the first quarter, DayDay Farmer intercepted a pass and returned it 103 yards for a touchdown.
Coming into this game, the Hustlers' plan was to get out to a quick lead in the first quarter.
"It was fantastic, and it was actually our first time all year getting above the 50-point margin, and to have this as a district championship game and to have a running clock score before halftime was huge," assistant coach Knox Robinson said. "But we challenged the guys before the game. We knew we were a better football team, but we said the first 12 minutes were critical and we needed to come out and jump on them."
The scoring for the Hustlers only picked up more in the second quarter with Brian Oesterle scoring on a 2-yard run with 8:10 left in the quarter. Allen threw two more touchdowns before halftime with one going to Caden Kelley and the other to Justin Woulard.
To match the big scoring night for the Hustlers, defensively MCC performed just as well by holding Halifax Academy scoreless and bringing the pressure. Christian Maynard scored a defensive touchdown for MCC when he recovered a fumble that was forced out by the Hustlers' defense in the end zone.
"I'm just so proud the way the team handled this, and they did exactly what we asked them to do which was come out and be the better football team," Robinson said of the team's all-around performance.
This win adds to the big turnaround made by the Hustlers compared to the last two seasons. The team went from winning three games over the last two years to now being district champions with a winning record of 8-2.
The Hustlers are off in Week 11 and will also have a bye in the first round of the playoffs. With that time off, Robinson is confident his team will continue to be focused ahead of the postseason.
"This program was 3-17 in the last two years, so we have a group of seniors that are hungry," Robinson said. "The ones that have stayed and our guys that came in, they changed the complexion of this program and they're not going to let us have a letdown. I really believe that."
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: MCC claims District 4-1S title after big win over Halifax Academy
