Pics: Brahmans fall to FPC in home opener

Posted 9/3/21

The Okeechobee Brahman varsity football team fell to the Fort Pierce Central Cobras 48-6 in their home opener. A series of back-to-back blocked punts returned for touchdowns early in the first …

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Pics: Brahmans fall to FPC in home opener

Posted

OKEECHOBEE- The Okeechobee Brahmans fell to the Fort Pierce Central Cobras 48-6 in their home opener on Sept. 3.

A series of back-to-back blocked punts returned for touchdowns early in the first quarter put the Brahmans in a hole early that was hard to get out of. The Cobras scored on their first possession on offense , going up 7-0 with six minutes left in the first quarter. Then, when the Brahman offense stalled out at their own 10-yard line and attempted to punt, FPC defenders tore through the Okeechobee line and blocked the kick.

The Cobras returned that blocked punt 10-yards for a touchdown to go up 14-0.

Again the Okeechobee offense stalled out on their next possession, with the Brahman offensive line struggling to block the FPC defensive line. And again when Okeechobee lined up to punt, the Cobras blocked it and returned it for a touchdown, putting the Brahmans behind  21-0 near the end of the first quarter.

When the Okeechobee offense took the field again and were faced with another fourth down near their endzone, the elected to go for it. But the fourth and 11 was still a longshot, and the Brahmans turned it over on downs. The Cobras scored after taking back over on offense, but at the very least, going for it on fourth down gave the Okeechobee defense a chance to make a play, as opposed to the two walk-in blocked punt returns for touchdowns.

After the extra point missed Fort Pierce Central was up 27-0 in the second quarter.

That kind of big lead early changes the dynamics of a game. If those two blocked punts hadn’t of happened, how would things have played out? The Okeechobee offense is still coming together, but there were glimpses of what the team is capable of during the game.

In the second quarter OHS junior quarterback Michael Burgarelli connected on a huge 52-yard pass to junior John Williamson. Burgaerelli, who had been facing pressure all night, escaped out of the pocket to buy time for the play to develop. Williamson got behind the defense and made a spectacular catch.

Throughout the second half of the game Burgarelli used that evasiveness in the pocket to make plays. Many of the first downs the Brahmans were able to get in the third and fourth quarter came from his running ability.

Okeechobee’s lone score of the game came near the end of the fourth quarter when Burgarelli hit senior Braelon Pelt for an 8-yard touchdown.

Okeechobee hosts another home game this week when Frostproof comes to town to take on the Brahmans on Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

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