Live updates: High school football scores for Bradenton, Manatee County teams in Week 2
Hurricane Idalia threw a slight wrench into the Week 2 high school football schedule.
Palmetto’s home opener, which doubled as an unveiling of the Tigers’ new turf field for their fans, against Braden River was postponed. There is no makeup date scheduled.
Parrish Community High’s home game against Englewood Lemon Bay was pushed back to Saturday.
However, the remaining games were set involving Manatee County programs.
That included Manatee High.
After a week with sporadic practices due to Idalia, the Hurricanes fell behind to visiting Sarasota after the opening possession at Joe Kinnan Field at Hawkins Stadium.
The Sailors marched 78 yards on 11 plays to take a 7-0 lead.
Manatee head coach Jacquez Green had a message.
“I told them they needed to tackle better,” Green said. “When they first came out, (I said) ‘We got to tackle, we’ve got to set the edge and make the quarterback stay in the pocket.’ And they responded to it.”
The Canes (2-0) obliged. Fixing miscues on the opening possession, Manatee’s defense held firm en route to a 27-14 victory on Friday.
Manatee limited Sarasota to 84 rushing yards. And the Sailors added just 52 passing yards in the first half.
Canes senior Tyreek’e Robinson blocked a pass at the line of scrimmage and was one of several defensive lineman wreaking havoc for Sarasota’s offense.
“He’s a very good athlete,” Green said. “When he first came here, you’re like, ‘Yeah, if he does the right thing, he’s gonna be a powerful-type player.’ He’s strong, he’s athletic, he’s not a guy who’s sloppy looking, he’s put together well and he’s a 4.3 student. He’s just a good kid.”
Offensively, Cory Sanders and Kei’Shawn Smith scored rushing touchdowns to propel Manatee to a 14-7 halftime lead. That advantage stretched to two scores after junior quarterback Andrew Heidel found receiver Jalen Bryant for a 23-yard touchdown reception in coverage.
The score put Manatee ahead 21-7 with 9 minutes, 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Senior linebacker Elijah Perry set the Canes’ fourth-quarter scoring drive in motion when he made a fourth-down tackle on the opening play of the quarter to force a turnover on downs.
When Sarasota got the ball back after trailing by two scores, it was Manatee junior defensive lineman Damani Davis that provided the next pivotal stop.
Davis tracked down Sailors quarterback Johnny Squitieri from his blind side for a sack to force another turnover on downs.
Heidel connected with Bon Bean Jr. for the Canes final points.
“We’re OK, considering we didn’t practice last week,” Green said. “I thought we took a big step Week 2 against Lake Minneola, because we got a full week of practice. And we had a lot of stress this week with the hurricane, whether we’re going to play or not. Whether it’s going to be Friday night, whether it’s going to be Saturday, whether it’s going to be Monday. So we’re going through all that.”
Here’s a look at the rest of the Week 2 games with scores and updates below:
Sarasota Booker 43, Southeast 13
Cardinal Mooney 41, Lakewood Ranch 6
Bayshore 42, LaBelle 14
Bradenton Christian 41, Riverview Bell Creek Academy 0
St. Petersburg Northside Christian 6, Saint Stephen’s 0 (Q3)
IMG Academy White 41, Key West 21
Parrish Community vs. Englewood Lemon Bay (Saturday)
Swipe below for scores involving Bradenton-area programs:
