Prep Football 2016: First Baptist cruises past Marco Island Academy

MARCO ISLAND --  Friday night’s high school football game between First Baptist Academy and Marco Island Academy turned out to be “a total team effort,” according to First Baptist coach Billy Sparacio.

Quarterback Julien Tirado threw for 237 yards and three scores as the Lions easily handled winless Marco Island Academy in a 41-7 District 2A-7 win in Marco Island’s Winterberry Park.

The Lions came out of the chute for five first-period touchdowns, which essentially put it away very early.

“It was just a great game for us, a real team effort,” Sparacio said. “We worked hard on our game plan all week, and we executed it really well out here. We came out and played really physical, which was what made me the happiest.”

Drake Woods caught three passes from Tirado for 98 yards.

“It’s hard to say what performances stood out to me,” Sparacio said. “We threw the ball better than we have all season. After the first quarter, we put in some substitutions and Marco played a little better on defense.”

Jayce Howell rushed for 124 yards, most of which came on his long touchdown run early in the first quarter. The Lions (3-2, 3-0)  face  Community School, which also is unbeaten in the district, on the road next week.

Vinnie Moller rushed for 72 yards on the night for the Manta Rays (0-5, 0-3).

“First Baptist is a marker of where we eventually want to be,” said Marco coach Damon Coiro. “It will take us a while to get there, just like it took them a long while to get there. Our guys played hard and continued to fight. We played a little timid tonight, and that was a big negative for us. Our immaturity as football players may have shown a little bit.”

The Manta Rays were held to only 189 yards of offense.

First Baptist controlled this one right from the start. On the Lions’ first play from scrimmage Howell peeled off a 72-yard touchdown run. First Baptist scored again on a 4-yard run from Tirado.

Tirado threw three more touchdown passes in the first to Joseph Sparacio, Damon Hoge and Zach West. That staked the Lions to a 34-0 lead.

The Manta Rays got a break when they recovered a Lions fumble at the First Baptist 34-yard line. Marco then traveled all the way to the First Baptist 7-yard line, where Moller punched it in for the Manta Rays’ first and only score.

It was 34-7 at halftime.

So where do these two teams go from here at the midway point of the season?

“We’re really looking forward to these next few games,” Coiro said. “These are games we can compete in and win.”

Said Sparacio: “We’re just going back to work tomorrow morning. We’ll be breaking down the film and hopefully we’ll correct whatever mistakes we made.”

The Manta Rays played without Bon Deese, one of their top players, who was suspended after video surfaced of him throwing a punch at a St. John Neumann player last week.

FIRST BAPTIST 41, MARCO ISLAND ACADEMY 7

FBA  34  0  7  0  -- 41

MIA  0  7  0  0  -- 7

First quarter

FBA -- Jayce Howell 72 run (Austin White kick)

FBA -- Julien Tirado 4 run (Austin White kick)

FBA -- Joseph Sparacio 47 pass from Julien Tirado (kick failed)

FBA -- Damon Hoge 39 pass from Julien Tirado (Austin White kick)

FBA -- Zach West 12 pass from Julien Tirado (Austin White kick)

Second quarter

MIA -- Vinnie Moller 7 run (Josh DeCruz kick)

Third quarter

FBA -- Jayce Howell 1 run (Austin White kick)