Barron Better in Shootout with Lely

There were plenty of fireworks when crosstown rivals Lely and Barron Collier squared off Friday night at Trojan Stadium. But it was the Cougars who had a few more arrows in their quiver, putting away the Trojans with a 27-point fourth quarter in a 47-29 win. The two teams combined for 42 points in an electric fourth quarter.

A restrained Lely head coach Ben Hammer kept things in perspective after the game.

“The kids played hard,” Ben Hammer said. “We’ve got to execute better. Barron did a nice job. Their coach had a nice plan.”

Every time the Trojans got knocked down Friday night, they bounced back. Trailing 7-0, Lely answered with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Colin Raymond to Gage Rice. A two-point conversion attempt failed.

The Trojans (4-4) trailed 14-6 at halftime but struck immediately in the second half when Loveguens Avena returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. The Trojans tied it up when Raymond found Trevon Charelus open for the two-point conversion.

Barron (6-2) then blazed Lely with three straight scores to make it 33-14 with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter. But the Trojans didn’t fold the tent.

"I'm proud of the guys’ effort,” Hammer said. They fought till the end. But the penalties and turnovers - we've just got to execute better. We've got to tackle. We've got to block. It goes all the way around.”

When the Trojans were good, they were real good. Rice added a second touchdown catch, a 46-yarder with seven minutes left in the game. Raymond fooled everyone when he took the snap as the holder for the extra point kick, popping up and bolting for the left corner of the end zone, diving in at the pylon under heavy pressure from the Barron defense.

Rice, a transfer from Marco Island Academy, continues to make big plays for the Trojans. His two touchdown catches on Friday give him a team-leading five touchdown catches.

Junior Jayce Cora, expecting a big junior season, suffered a collarbone injury in the beginning of the season. He returned last week against Naples and made his presence felt against Barron, connecting with Raymond on a 50-yard touchdown reception. Cora also made plays on defense.

Another Lely standout who was injured early in the season is sophomore running back Jayvian Tanelus. Tanelus is hoping to return to action, but Hammer’s not sure of his return date.

"That is up to the medical staff,” Hammer said, "I'm not sure.”

One thing that is for sure is that Hammer will have a formidable one-two punch if Tanelus is able to return in the final two weeks of the regular season. Tanelus was one of the leading rushers in the area, gaining 454 yards before suffering a broken bone in his leg in a week four win over Bradenton Southeast.

Freshman Nino Joseph has been spectacular at times in Tanelus’s absence, gaining 563 yards, including 159 against Barron. 

Meanwhile, Raymond is quietly putting together a solid senior season with 610 yards passing and 10 touchdowns against four interceptions. Raymond has also proved capable of running the ball.

Hammer saw bright spots in the loss to Barron.

"I mean, we moved the ball some offensively in spots,” Hammer said. "We were good defensively. There are bright spots. We've just got to execute. We can't shoot ourselves in the foot. And we've got to be more detail-oriented from the head coach all the way down.”

Hammer’s inaugural season at the helm continues with a road game against another crosstown rival Golden Gate (6-2). The Titans were riding high - including a big win over county power Naples - before recruiting violations were revealed last week. Self-imposed sanctions include suspensions to their head coach and defensive coordinator. The Titans suspensions, which are in-game only, didn’t seem to hurt the Titans in their 49-7 running clock win over Bonita Springs Friday night.

Hammer is focused on the immediate job at hand.

“We meet as coaches on Sunday,” Hammer said. "We put together a game plan for Golden Gate, and we practice on Monday and work on getting better."