Seahawks endure shutout, face Vernon at home Friday
It wasn’t a very inspiring evening Friday at Arnold High School, as the Seahawks fell 42-0 in their season opener against the North Bay Haven Academy Buccaneers.
“With a 42-0 loss, to the naked eye nothing good happened,” said coach John Cooper. “And I and my coaching staff bear full responsibility.
“The kids are still working hard, and we know it’s a long season. Our task is to get a place at the dinner table at the end,” he said.
In analyzing the results, which saw the Seahawks trailing 14-0 after the first quarter, 28-0 at the half, and 42-0 after three quarters, Cooper said Franklin County was on the verge of scoring at least six times, but couldn’t punch it in.
“We were inside the red zone six different times,” he said. “The theme of the game we didn’t finish. We just have to learn how to finish.”
The Seahawks proved to be more effective on the air than the ground, amassing 244 yards in the air, about six times as many as the 40 yards they had on the ground.
Senior Cody Abercrombie completed 6 of 13 passes for 184 yards, while sophomore Owen Juno nailed 4 of 12 passes for 60 yards, with each throwing three interceptions.
Freshman Sadiq Jones carried the pigskin 6 times for 33 yards, and senior Logan Bentley 3 times for 7 yards.
On the receiving end, senior Ethan Kembro snared 4 passes for 95 yards, while senior Lonnie O’Neal caught 3 passes for 110 yards. Junior Ajaylen McNair caught one pass for 16 yards, junior Garyson Millender 1 for 13 yards, and Jones 1 for 10 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore Eric Smith led with 5 tackles, including 3 solos, while senior Terry Proctor tallied 4, including a sack. O’Neal and Abercrombie each had 3, including two solos. McNair had 2 solos and freshman Jeremiah Allen 1 solo and 1 assist. Senior Chase Millender and Kembro each had a solo tackle.
O’Neal had a pair of successful pass defenses.
“We’re very young in the secondary and they’re going to get better as the season goes along,” Cooper said.
The Seahawks have their home opener Friday night against Vernon, and Cooper said the team is healthy and prepared.
“We’ll be putting in different packages that better fit our skill set,” said the coach. “We’re going to have a lot more answers with problems that might come our way.”
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.