Ocala Trinity Catholic 38, MCC 14 in FHSAA regional football final
MELBOURNE — Ocala Trinity Catholic eventually found a way to slow down the Melbourne Central Catholic offense, and the Celtics left town with a 38-14 win in the FHSAA Region 2-1S final on Friday.
MCC finished with nine wins and three losses. That was seven more wins than the Hustlers produced last season.
Trinity Catholic inched closer to a .500 record at 5-7, but the Celtics have played one of the tougher schedules in 1S and were last season's 1S runner-up.
For a time, it looked like the top-seeded Hustlers would battle to the end with the visitors. In fact, MCC took a 14-7 lead on two touchdown passes from Joseph Allen to Ramel Hernandez.
More Brevard high school football: Cocoa advances to 2S state semifinals with 34-14 win over South Sumter
Trailing by a score, the first Hustlers touchdown came when Hernandez lined up with two other receivers on the MCC side of the field and sprinted past the defense. Allen hit him with no defenders nearby, and he was off to tie the game at 7 with less than a minute of clock time gone from the Trinity Catholic opening score.
Hernandez caught the other one, too, connecting with Allen for a 35-yard play.
The Celtics did most of their damage on the ground, Austin Holder scoring twice on a pair of 5-yard runs. Antwon Blanchard and Amani Armstrong also ran for touchdowns.
What's next: FHSAA state semifinal high school football pairings
Gerald Lawton took a Preston Wright pass 27 yards for another Trinity Catholic score.
With MCC trailing, 28-14 early in the final quarter but nearing the red zone, Gavin Davis intercepted an Allen pass and returned it 50 yards to the Hustlers' 18. The MCC defense stiffened, but Cooper Badics converted a 37-yard field goal to increase the lead.
Badics had missed an earlier attempt when Brian Oesterle got just enough of his hand on the kick to make it flutter through the air and fall short.
Ocala Trinity Catholic 38, MCC 14
1st quarter
TC- Austin Holder 5 run (Cooper Badics kick), 8:05
MCC- Ramel Hernandez 72 pass from Joseph Allen (William Stewart kick), 7:11
Second quarter
MCC- Hernandez 35 pass from Allen (Stewart kick), 10:50
TC- Gerald Lawton 27 pass from Preston Wright (Badics kick), 6:17
TC- Amani Armstrong 5 run (Badics kick), 3:35
Third quarter
TC- Holder 5 run (Badics kick), 1:18
Fourth quarter
TC- Badics 37 FG, 9:30
TC- Antwon Blanchard 25 run (Badics kick), 3:25
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: MCC football falls in FHSAA regional final to Ocala Trinity Catholic
