PORT ST. LUCIE — After the Vero Beach High offense turned the ball over deep into Treasure Coast territory, the coaching staff gathered together the defense.
“The message was this is nothing we should ever get down about,” Vero Beach defensive coordinator Randy Bethel said. “Now you get the opportunity to show people – by the grace of God – exactly how good you are.”
On the second play from the Vero Beach 20-yard line, Kaden Huggins punched the ball out causing a fumble. Senior linebacker Javorie Lockhart scooped up the loose ball and rambled 72 yards for a score to give the Fighting Indians a three-touchdown lead.
Vero Beach went on to a 24-0 whitewash of Treasure Coast to win the Class 6A-District 8 championship Friday, Oct. 23 at South County Regional Park.
“I saw my teammate Kaden Huggins punch the ball, and I knew I had to go for it,” Lockhart said. “I was tired. I just gave it all I had.”
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Leading 14-0 midway through the second quarter, the Fighting Indians went for it on a fourth-and-3 situation from their own 28. The play resulted in a 5-yard loss.
“We talk about sudden change,” Vero Beach coach Lenny Jankowski said. “That was really just a bad deal overall. There was confusion. There was a snap issue. It was mismanaged by me. I should have just called a timeout and regrouped. Instead we tried to wing it. And it was a debacle.”
Bethel saw it as a time to shine for his defensive unit.
“Our offense turns the ball over and our backs are against the wall. We strive for those moments,” Bethel said. “And that’s what we want them to do. Let’s go to work.”
And Jankowski certainly has confidence in a defense that had allowed just more than 13 points per game.
“The message to the defense was we’re backed up. We’ve been in this situation before,” he said. “Let’s turn it up a notch. And we get the big fumble and fumble recovery for a touchdown.”
The defensive intensity remained throughout, as Vero Beach posted its third shutout of the season and lowered its points allowed per game to 11.9.
“Really just trusting everyone. We’re all focused,” Lockhart said.
It was beneficial Vero Beach had a week off before the Treasure Coast game, not only to focus on the district title game, but also getting more time to plan for the Titans’ single wing.
“It did. It forced us to be focused,” Lockhart said. “We had an extra week to focus on the defense. We just followed our keys and did what the coaches told us to do. And we came out on top.”
Since Treasure Coast doesn’t throw the ball much, Vero Beach could pack the line of scrimmage to smother the run.
“We prioritized the run, but we stayed to our keys because you never know,” Lockhart said.
“We only see it once a year,” Bethel said. “It’s time we have to use during practice to get prepared for something we probably won’t see again.
“Every week we had a different game plan. What we do is our basics: We get off the football. We get off the ball. We’re going to tackle. We want to cause havoc every time we get there. That’s the biggest thing for us.”
If the linemen are getting pressure, it helps the defensive backs cover. If the defense backs are covering well, the line has more time to rush.
“We play together,” Bethel said. “We work hard. Our work ethic is different. Every day it’s: Can we do better than we did the next day? That’s really it.
“We believe in each other. We understand if we run the wrong play, we’ll run it together.”
VERO BEACH TAKEAWAYS
Third straight district title
It was the third straight district crown for the Fighting Indians, who extended their winning streak to six games.
“More than anything it’s great to see the guys excited,” Jankowski said. “They put in a lot of work for a limited number of game opportunities, just the way the sport is set up. It’s a good feeling.”
With its only blemish against nationally ranked St. Frances Academy out of Baltimore, Maryland, Vero Beach (8-1) closes the regular season Friday at Eau Gallie.
Offense sputters at times
The offense scored all its points in the first half. On its first possession, Makai White connected with a wide-open Marcus Melbourne for a 43-yard touchdown. A dynamic 37-yard punt return by Marc Johns set up a one-play scoring drive, as Jayden Lockhart scored from 16 yards out to make it 14-0 early in the second quarter.
Jayden Lockhart had 73 yards on 19 carries. White went 12-for-17 for 165 yards. Latravious Woods caught four passes for 37 yards, all in the second half. Melbourne had three receptions for 51 yards.
“We didn’t do everything perfect tonight,” Jankowski said. “It was a very complementary game. Offense, defense and special teams did some good things throughout. Our defense was lights out again. Very proud of our guys. It was definitely one of those team wins.”
Kicking game making strides
Senior kicker Snyder Arbelaez capped the scoring with a 31-yard field goal with 5 seconds left in the first half. It was his longest field goal of the season.
Arbelaez has made 3-of-5 field goal attempts and converted 20 of his 22 PAT tries. His kickoffs also have improved since the start of the season.
But, as Jankowski points out, it takes an entire unit to perform well in the kicking game.
“In his first year. I’m really proud of Snyder and the whole operation,” Jankowski said. “We’ve got some good coaches working with that group. There’s a lot of different dynamics to that. There’s a snapper, there’s protection, there’s a holder. There’s a lot of that stuff that’s happening and sometimes you’re working with different guys in those situations. Some guys stepped up.”
Friday, junior Hudson Ott was that guy. Ott stepped in as the emergency longstapper.
“And did a great job,” Jankowski said. “We talk about it all the time. At a Wednesday or Thursday practice we mention it to them that somebody in this huddle that doesn’t understand they are going to have a significant role in the outcome of the game. That happens each and every week. That’s why this is the ultimate team sport.”
TREASURE COAST TAKEAWAYS
Titans going through quarterbacks
After sophomore quarterback Easton Keene departed the team a month ago and his replacement Xavier Williams was injured two weeks ago, Treasure Coast used sophomore Luke Laterra and Aiden Pierre behind center.
Pierre mainly ran the wildcat, rushing 17 times for 47 of the team’s 59 yards on the ground. Laterra completed one pass for no yards.
Fake punt surprises Vero Beach
The Titans’ most productive play of the night came on the element of surprise.
Trailing by 24 midway through the third quarter, Treasure Coast faced a fourth-and-5 from midfield. In punt formation, upback Cristian Taylor took the snap and found a wide-open El’drick Warren over the middle for a 17-yard gain.
The Titans advanced the ball to the Vero Beach 17-yard line before a 34-yard field goal attempt went wide left.
It was Treasure Coast’s longest drive of the night, starting at its 27.
Stealing a page from the Titans’ playbook as far as ball-control and clock management, Vero Beach ran 29 plays in the second half, including a 14-play march that ended on the Treasure Coast 4.
“That’s one thing about Lenny: He adapts to what he has,” Titans coach Irvin Jones said.
Jones was happy with the fight to the end
“All I’ve asked from my kids is fight. And they fought all the way through,” Jones said after the Titans fell to 5-4 with their second straight loss.
“Of course you’re always upset when you lose.”
Treasure Coast closes the regular season Friday against Legacy.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Football: Vero Beach blanks Treasure Coast, wins third district title in a row
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