Mainland solves Matanzas, 21-6

PALM COAST — The expected blowout victory by Mainland did not materialize.

Instead, this was an old-fashioned, broadside cannon battle between district rivals with the Mainland Buccaneers sinking the Matanzas Pirates 21-6 in a game that was played to the final whistle.

Mainland coach Scott Wilson, who watched his team improve to 5-3 overall and 3-0 in District 13-6A play, was not in a celebratory mood before he addressed his Bucs in the north end zone.

“We just beat Matanzas in a good district win,” Wilson said. “I’m very pleased with the team and winning another district game.”

This had all the looks of a trap game after Mainland lost to state power Cocoa last week and tangles with a new district rival next weekend.

“We have two more district opponents in the next two weeks and we will move forward and see what we can do there,” Wilson said.

At the other end of the field, Pirates coach Don Mathews tipped his hat to his team, which compiled four turnovers and held the mighty Mainland offense to just one touchdown in the first half.

“We are still young and we don’t know how to win yet,” Mathews said. “We don’t know how to finish. It’s a maturing process.”

The Pirates dipped to 2-5 and 1-2 for the season.

Bakery open

The order of the day in the first half of this game was turnovers.

The first play of the game was a fumbled snap recovered by Mainland at the Pirates 16.

The second play was an interception by Matanzas in the end zone.

On the Bucs’ second possession, D’Andre McMillian fumbled on the Matanzas 7-yard line.

There were two more fumbles, one by each team, in the second quarter.

Mainland gave it up on the Matanzas 35 when Andrew Plummer let the ball go after being gang-tackled in the open field.

Three plays later, the Pirates gave it right back, when Will Cowles watched the ball pop out of his arms at the Matanzas 45.

Mainland’s mighty offense, which gave the ball over on downs twice in the first half, finally came to life with time expiring in the second quarter.

Starting from their own 43, the Buccaneers worked the ball down to the 20 before quarterback Taron Keith hit Ra’Mello Dotson with a bullet pass in the end zone surrounded by Pirates defenders.

That was accomplished with no time left on the clock. Mainland was penalized for a personal foul after the touchdown, leaving kicker Ethan Gettman with a 35-yard extra point, which he nailed.

Slippery field

It didn’t rain here Friday, but it did Wednesday and Thursday as Hurricane Michael spun feeder bands over the area.

“It was soaking wet,” Mathews said. “The ball was a little slippery, but we were getting after it and doing the best we could.”

Adding to the mystery of the night was the dead scoreboard, which got zapped by lightning back in August. Time was kept on the field.

On the plus side for Mainland was running back D’Andre McMillian, who ran for 114 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns.

“McMillian is a very good running back behind a very good offensive line,” Wilson said.

Mainland’s defense was pitching a shutout until Matanzas wide receiver Noah Cundiff nabbed a tipped pass from backup quarterback Demontre Neely.

“We are proud of the defense for that,” Wilson said of holding the Pirates scoreless most of the game.

The Matanzas touchdown covered 51 yards midway through the fourth quarter. The point after was not good, but the score tightened to 14-6 and this game was within reach of the Pirates.

“The biggest thing for us is that we started believing in ourselves,” Mathews said. “That was the difference.

“Our hats off to Mainland; they are always a great team and they are the best team around. We just wanted to compete from start to finish and we did that.”

Next week

Mainland travels to New Smyrna Beach in a key district game, while the Pirates head southwest to meet Pine Ridge in Deltona. Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.