Middleton, Fla. — The Villages High School football team witnessed how defending state champion Cocoa earned every bit of its title Friday night in Middleton.
The Buffalo were outmatched and outgunned in a 54-0 loss on Senior Night at The Range at H.G. Morse Stadium, ultimately suffering their third shutout defeat of the season in the Class 2A-District 6 opener.
Playing for the first time in two weeks following Hurricane Milton, VHS (4-3 overall, 0-1 district) found itself trailing 41-0 at halftime against the Tigers (4-3, 1-0) in its home finale, and now faces all but must-win territory with two road games to play following an open week.
"We knew all week long what type of challenge we were up against, but our kids never quit on us all night long," said Buffalo head coach
Richard Pettus. "There's a lot to learn from a game like this. We've got to rest up and then get back to work in practice, because we've still got two games left — two big games — and we've got to be ready to go."
Cocoa jumped out to a 14-0 lead through one quarter of play, scoring twice on the ground — a touchdown each from Nicholas Teeter and Latrison Lane — to offset a lost fumble at the VHS 3-yard line on its first possession of the night.
The Tigers extended their lead with 27 points in the second quarter, largely on the arm of junior quarterback Brady Hart. The University of Michigan commit tossed three touchdowns in the period — two to UCF commit Jayvan Boggs — to push Cocoa out to a 41-0 lead at the half.
VHS was limited to just five first downs in the first half, with three coming by way of a Cocoa penalty.
The Tigers removed all doubt with a methodical seven-play, 80-yard drive to open the third quarter, capping off the series with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Hart — his fourth of the night and 21st of the season — to Zack Pillow for a 48-0 lead.
Cocoa added a late score in the fourth quarter with a 39-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Troy Silberzahn to DL Hardison for the exclamation point and the night's final margin.
Prior to kickoff, the Buffalo honored a total of 19 seniors, along with a handful of student managers, in a pregame Senior Night ceremony. The group will have at least two more opportunities to suit up together — road tilts at Mount Dora (Nov. 1) and Astronaut (Nov. 7) — as VHS looks to remain alive in the Class 2A postseason race.
"I'm proud of this group of seniors because they've done a lot of great things," Pettus said. "I'm thankful for them and their loyalty, as well as our coaches, too. Everybody has really been in this thing together."
Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment via email at cody.hills@tvcs.org.
