- April 28, 2024
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It was homecoming, but a flurry of young Flagler Palm Coast football players led the Bulldogs to a dominating 28-7 win over University on Friday night in a nondistrict matchup.
“A win is a win,” coach Caesar Campana said after the game. “That’s five wins, and we haven’t had five wins here in a long time. It’s a great tribute to our athletes, our coaches and our entire program.”
Using a bruising running game and a shutdown defense, FPC (5-2, 2-0 District 1-8A) limited opportunities for mistakes and controlled the time of possession battle.
To start the game, the Bulldogs received the kickoff and scored 2 minutes, 34 seconds later when junior running back Devonti Emanuel scored on a 26-yard run.
Emanuel’s TD run capped a eight-play, 64-yard drive, and gave FPC a 7-0 lead. FPC ran the ball seven of the eight plays.
After forcing University into a three-and-out, FPC brought the punt block and Sammie Cooper blocked the kick. Sophomore Marcel Willliams caught the ball out of the air and ran it in from the 5-yard line.
FPC led 14-0 just four minutes into the game.
Another three-and-out by University gave FPC the ball for a third time in seven minutes.
Four plays and 51 yards later, Emanuel scampered in from nine yards out for his second TD. With 3:46 left in the first quarter, FPC led 21-0.
FPC's defense continued to shutdown University. After another possession without a first down, the Titans punted the ball away.
FPC began its fourth drive at University’s 42-yard line.
Three different Bulldogs ran the ball on the first three plays, and then on the fifth straight running play, Williams took the direct snap as a running back and ran off the left edge 24 yards for his second touchdown of the game.
With a 28-0 lead, FPC was able to run the ball and limit mistakes. University scored a consolation touchdown midway through the third quarter.
Emanuel finished the game with 11 carries for 53 yards and two TDs. Jimmie Robinson had 11 carries for 80 yards.
Freshman quarterback Dalton Thomas was efficient, going 6-for-10 for 37 yards and no turnovers.
Although FPC started out with 28 points in the first 13 minutes of the game, University made defensive adjustments and slowed FPC’s offense.
“It’s always good to learn from a win when you didn’t play well, and we’ll learn from it,” Campana said.
Penalties and communication problems hurt the Bulldogs in the second half, Campana said.
“We were in a spot where we didn’t want to do something stupid,” he said. “We have to get better at (communicating) ... and we had some big penalties that put us behind the eight ball on first downs. We have to fix the mistakes we made.”
Although Campana has yet to watch the game tape, he said he was impressed with how Thomas played in his second start of his high school career.
“Dalton played real well,” he said. “He just did a couple of things communicating on the line of scrimmage we have to fix.”
Next week will be the biggest game of the season so far for the Bulldogs.
Fletcher (5-1) is coming off a bye week after a Week 6 loss to district foe DeLand. FPC closes its season with three straight District 1-8A games. A win next week would allow FPC to control its own destinty as it closes out its regular season schedule against Sandalwood and DeLand — both district games.
FPC hosts Fletcher 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, at Sal Campanella Memorial Stadium.
