TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Bradford’s defense was as advertised. Cocoa’s was even better.
The Tigers repeated as Class 2S state champions on Friday night, using their own powerful defense to smother the Tornadoes 20-6 at Florida A&M. Bradford’s offense scored on its second drive and never came close again. Cocoa choked out the Tornadoes for just 189 yards of offense.
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Bradford (14-1) played a remarkable defensive game against the high-powered Tigers, holding them to 316 yards but forcing four turnovers and sacking Cocoa’s Brady Hart twice. It just couldn’t atone for an offense that struggled mightily in its final two games of the season.
It was Bradford’s first state championship game appearance since 1985. The loss put a cap on the 2023 high school football season, which ended with three teams playing for championships but none bringing home a title. St. Augustine lost to Daytona Beach Mainland 21-19 on a walk-off field goal Thursday. Mandarin lost to Columbus 38-19 earlier Friday.
Last season, the first of the Metro-Suburban split, the area was shut out of the finals for the first time since 2000.
And with the future of the playoff system up for debate and an overhaul next week, there’s no clear path on what next year’s postseason will look like.
For Bradford, a team that has thrived in two seasons under coach Jamie Rodgers, will look quite a bit different.
The Tornadoes, one of the best defensive teams in the state two years running, will graduate six of its top seven tacklers including four-year players Chason Clark, Chalil Cummings and Torrin Brazell. Offensive stars Daejon Shanks and Willie Pollard will also graduate.
Cummings had 52 yards on five catches and the lone touchdown. He also picked off Hart.
The Tigers were poised to go up two scores when quarterback Hart tucked it and took off toward the goal line. But Devon McBride popped him and Hart fumbled it out of the end zone to give Bradford the ball at its own 20. The Tornadoes were tough and physical on defense, but largely erratic on the offensive side of the ball. Bradford fumbled five times and lost two of them.
They ran into similar issues against Pensacola Catholic in the state semifinals, blanked for three quarters before dialing up a miraculous rally to win 22-21 in overtime.
Shanks tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cummings on Bradford’s second series of the game for a 6-0 lead, but Hart hit Nicholas Teeter on a 36-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive, a busted coverage play with no Tornadoes player in sight.