Golden Gate Shuts Down Lely

Lely had a glimmer of hope for a playoff berth and a winning season when they visited Golden Gate Friday night, October 27, but both vanished at the hands of a strong Titans team that clinched the district title and a playoff spot with an easy 38-7 win. An interesting sidebar to the game is the ongoing saga of recruiting violations against Golden Gate involving the Titans' quarterback, Sam Powell, who transferred to the school after playing his freshman season at Lely.

Golden Gate recently announced self-imposed suspensions to their head coach Nick Bigica for six weeks and defensive coordinator P.J. Gibbs for two weeks for “improper recruiting related contact with a family member of a student not enrolled at the school.”  The suspensions are for in-game coaching only. Both coaches are permitted to coach team practices. Gibbs was part of the Palmetto Ridge coaching staff when their head coach received sanctions from the Florida High School Athletic Association in 2021. It is unknown whether FHSAA sanctions are forthcoming.

Hammer was more interested in his own team after Friday’s loss.

“We've got to finish strong,” Hammer said. “We've got to keep working to build a foundation. Just because the scoreboard doesn't go your way one way or the other doesn't mean you fold up shop or give up or don't come to work or anything like that. We've got to continue to learn and continue to continue to get better and continue to improve.”

Golden Gate (7-2) dominated the Trojans on the ground, picking up 254 compared to 108 for the Trojans. The Titans also passed for 130 yards. Lely was hurt by three turnovers (two interceptions and one fumble) while the Titans played turnover-free football. One bright spot for the Trojans was freshman running back Nino Joseph who picked up 125 yards rushing. Joseph now has 848 yards rushing after coming on to replace sophomore Jayvian Tanelus, who was one of the area’s leading rushers with 454 yards rushing before being injured in Week Four. Golden Gate was led by running backs Trayvon Jean (171 yards and two touchdowns) and John Lee Honorat (73 yards running, 29 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns).

The Trojans (4-5) were 4-2 before facing a gauntlet of the area’s strongest teams: Naples (7-2), Barron Collier (7-2), and Golden Gate. All three opponents delivered stinging defeats to the Trojans.

Hammer can salvage a .500 record in his first year at Lely by defeating a much-improved Immokalee (5-4) team on the Trojans’ home turf on Friday, November 3.

Hammer found positives in his team’s performance against Golden Gate.

"I thought we did a decent job running the ball,” Hammer said. “When we didn't put our defense in tough spots, they did a nice job preventing Golden Gate from driving the full field. We just put them in a couple of tough spots and then towards the end of the game they wore down."

Hammer delivered a strong message to his team about how to finish the season as their final game approaches.

“The message after the game to the whole team,” Hammer said, "was your effort—what kind of teammate you are, your ability to be on time—all of that is a direct reflection of how much you care about the program, the team, next week, and more importantly, how much you care about the senior class.”