ORLANDO – If at first you don’t succeed, then try again. That saying has stood the test of time with regards to never giving up, and that’s precisely what the Raines Vikings and Head Coach Deran Wiley did on Thursday evening, defeating defending 4A Champions Cocoa, 13-10, and winning their first title since 1997. After making an appearance in the 2015 finals against Booker T. Washington and falling short 43-23, Wiley questioned whether or not they were just happy to be in this position and it showed on the final scoreboard. This time around simply being here wasn’t going to be good enough. From the opening kickoff the Vikings were in the earholes of Cocoa’s best player Javien Hawkins, holding him to a paltry 46 yards on 22 carries.
SIX PACK
- Cocoa scored 63, 62 and 49 points in their first three playoff games. Raines held the Tigers to 10 points.
- Raines racked up 300 yards of total offense while yielding only 153 to Cocoa. Just 91 yards on the ground.
- The defensive front seven…especially the front three of Roderick Billingslea, Jamon Goodwine and Deante Bush suffocated the Cocoa running game. Louisville commit, Javian Hawkins was held to 46 yards on 22 attempts, averaging just 2.1 yards per rush.
- 9 Raines defensive players were credited with a TFL. Elijah Spivey totaled 10 Tackles, .5 sacks and 1.5 TFLs.
- One blemish in the championship contest was the the penalties yards. Raines – 19 for 191 yards; Cocoa – 11 for 74 yards. The teams combined for 265 yards of penalties.
- Of Cocoa’s 11 offensive possessions, 7 of them ended in punts. No drive produced more than 50 yards.