Friday, November 13, 2026
Dustin Davis uses the Orange-Black scrimmage to do some coaching.
Lely Head Coach Ben Hammer meets with the referees before the game. The game was a training ground for several new referees.
South Naples Trojans' Jody Jacques looked poised at quarterback. His dad is the Lely defensive backs coach and longtime basketball coach.
Can’t catch me! Zephaniah Diamond races toward the end zone as a big crowd chases.
Cannon Boyd heads toward the goal line with a pass reception.
Lineman Kerwins Servius takes a break during the Orange-Black scrimmage.
Standout wide receiver Zephaniah Diamond looked pretty good at quarterback during the scrimmage.
Several food trucks were popular with the crowd at Trojan Stadium.
Richard Joseph brings down quarterback Luke Trebilcock.
Quarterback Luke Trebilcock is ready to unload a pass.
Brandon Baptiste looks for an opening on a pass reception.
Zephaniah Diamond has his eyes on the goal line.
Former Lely standout quarterback Jayvian Tanelus is now coaching the South Naples Trojans.
Big things are expected from the South Naples Trojans.
Pick-up games were going on all over the stadium.
South Naples Trojans gang up on the Naples Gators running back.
The Lely defensive backs of Max Noel, Chris Butterfield, and Ricky Garcia seem to have improved since last season.
Eberson Yonard makes a nice catch for the orange team.
High-flying Nino Joseph is lifted off the ground by Exavier Gilbens. Joseph was on pace to break the all-time SW Florida rushing leader when he broke his left collarbone in the Coconut Bowl against Naples. He’s back and looks stronger than ever.
Nino Joseph returns to action after breaking his collarbone against Naples last season. He looks better than ever.
There was something for everyone at Friday’s Orange-Black fundraiser. The main event was a hard-hitting varsity scrimmage, and an even harder-hitting scrimmage between the Naples Gators and Jr. Trojans at halftime. Add in food trucks and pickup games throughout the campus and you have a family-friendly night of entertainment at Trojan Stadium.
In the varsity scrimmage, the score absolutely did not matter as the orange team and the black team practiced all of the elements of the game. But in the Pop Warner scrimmage the Naples High feeder team, the Gators, and the Lely feeder team, the Trojans, were playing for keeps. The Coconut Bowl, the annual rivalry game between Lely and Naples, is one of the top 10 longest-running rivalries in the state and a highlight of the regular season schedule. But the Jr. Coconut Bowl, played between the feeder teams, is every bit as hard-fought. Friday night’s Gators-Trojans scrimmage felt like the Junior Coconut Bowl, especially the way the Jr. Trojans celebrated when they won the scrimmage. You’d have thought they’d won the Super Bowl.
Lely head coach Ben Hammer was focused on the big picture following the scrimmage.
“It was exciting entertainment for the community,” Hammer said. "People came out. I think it was a solid fundraiser for us. The kids had fun. The kids competed. We'll be able to answer some questions about position battles using the film. We're healthy, which you're always excited about. Always good to come out of an intrasquad scrimmage healthy. Proud of the kids. Really thankful to the community that came out today. Thankful to the food trucks that participated, and the referee’s association for coming out, and with a half and half crew. It was a half-experienced crew, half new crew. So, it was awesome to help take part in that and help people learn. Then at halftime, I got a taste of what it's like to be an official. So, I was pretty tired, pretty worn down. But I thought from top to bottom, our coaches and our kids did a nice job, and hats off to the youth kids that came out to play as well. There's great youth football in our area."
Lely will conclude their Spring session with a game against Riverdale on May 22.
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