FOOTBALL

Prep Football: FBA, Marco Island meet in rescheduled game at First Baptist

Marco Island quarterback Kyler Howard (4) hands the ball off to runningback Austin Brooks during Saturday afternoon's game between Marco Island Academy and St. John Neumann.

Editor's note: The game is at First Baptist. The location originally was reported incorrectly.

After weeks of rainouts, lightning delays and postponements, the First Baptist and Marco Island Academy football teams finally caught a break when it comes to scheduling.

The two former district rivals were set to play on Sept. 8 in Week 3 of the season. With Hurricane Irma headed toward Collier County, making landfall two days later, the game was put off.

Luckily the Class 2A teams had the same bye week. The Lions’ and Manta Rays’ schedules remain in flux, but this is one game they’re able to make up.

Marco Island (2-2) plays at First Baptist (1-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. It’s no longer a district battle – the FHSAA did away with districts in the smaller classifications under its new playoff points system – but the winner will receive a boost in the postseason standings with four weeks left in the regular season.

Prep Football: Defense leads Marco Island to victory

The Manta Rays are coming off a shorter-than-normal week after yet another weather delay forced them to play on Saturday, beating St. Petersburg-Keswick Christian 16-14. First Baptist hasn’t played in two weeks after its game at Clearwater Academy International was rained out last week.

Marco Island has never beaten First Baptist since the Manta Rays added football in 2012. The closest the Rays have come to the Lions is 20 points.

With the victory last week, Marco Island equaled the number of victories it had each of the past two seasons. The Rays have only won more than two games once in five seasons of football, going 4-6 in 2014.

Football: First Baptist falls in overtime to Tarpon Springs

Both teams have run the ball well this season. First Baptist is led by senior Joe Sparacio, who is committed to Boston College as a linebacker but has become the Lions’ primary source of offense this season. Sparacio has 457 rushing yards in three games and has 71 of the team’s 103 rushing attempts.

The Rays have been led by the duo of Austin Brooks and Wendy Luders. Brooks has 341 rushing yards this season, good for fifth in the area, while Luders is ninths with 226 yards.

First Baptist is coming off two straight losses, but they came to much larger public school programs. The Lions held their own against both.

Against Class 6A Barron Collier, First Baptist led for most of the first half and was tied 7-7 at halftime. The Lions eventually lost 42-19. Two weeks ago against 5A Tarpon Springs, the Lions lost 26-19 in overtime.

Marco Island Academy (2-2) at First Baptist (1-2), 7:30 p.m.

Key players: FBA – QB Cole Burlison, RB/LB Joe Sparacio, WR Drake Woods; MIA – RB Austin Brooks, RB Wendy Luders, DB Tyler Pasko.

What to watch for: This is a makeup game after the originally scheduled meeting was moved by Hurricane Irma. Both teams had the same bye week and were able to reschedule. First Baptist hasn’t played in two weeks after last week’s game at Clearwater Academy International was rained out. Marco Island has one less day of rest than normal after beating Keswick Christian 16-14 on Saturday. Sparacio has 457 yards rushing in just three games, No. 3 in Collier County. Brooks is fifth in the area in rushing (341 yards) and Luders is ninth (226).