Central High School (now 4-3) beat the Branford Buccaneers (now 5-3) 28-27 on Friday night Oct. 14 in an intense battle that went into overtime.
In the first quarter, Central quarterback Brayden Joyner No. 14 threw an amazing 32-yard touchdown pass to No. 12 Fr. Ethan Bergantino. With the extra point, Central put 7 on the board in the first quarter, while Branford amassed 14 points.
Another Central highlight in the first quarter was Central No. 5’s 24-yard run to close in on Bradford’s 30-yard line.
Both teams would put an additional 7 on the board in the 2nd quarter.
In the 2nd quarter, Joyner threw a 30-yard pass to No. 1 Seth Hamlet (Jr.) which landed Central just in front of the goal line.
The third quarter was scoreless for both teams, but despite this Central had some excellent plays.
Central No. 5, Evan Spears (Sr) had a brilliant 30-yard run placing Central near Branford’s 30-yard line.
Under pressure, Central QB Brayden Joyner scrambled and successfully evaded Branford’s defense, completing a 10-yard pass to Spears who made it to the 30. It took at least three of Branford’s defenders to bring him down.
Joyner had a ten-yard touchdown pass to No. 7 Caden Bergantino in the fourth quarter. With the extra point, Central tied it up. Branford did not score in the fourth so the game went into overtime.
In overtime, Branford managed to get a touchdown but missed the opportunity for extra points. Central scored a touchdown and made the extra point, which put them ahead by one when the whistle blew.
Central (4-3) plays Nature Coast Tech (4-3) Friday night Oct. 21, at 7:30 pm at the Shark Tank. It’s been a while since both teams have had the same record, so this will be an exciting game to watch.
