- April 24, 2024
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Preseason games like the one the Matanzas Pirates played against the Eagle's View Warriors on Thursday night serve a valuable purpose: They’re a dress rehearsal. But like dress rehearsals, they can be sloppy at times.
“I know we’re much better than we played tonight,” Matanzas head coach Keith Lagocki said after the 13-9 loss. “I also told (the players) we’re a good football team but we’re not good enough to beat our opponent and ourselves.”
The Pirates’ first offensive drive was derailed after a false start penalty pushed them to a third and long situation. They were forced to punt and pinned the Warriors offense at their own 5-yard line.
Aided by three Matanzas penalties, including two inside the red zone, the Warriors put together a 95-yard scoring drive that was capped off with a touchdown pass to Andre Winfield from within the 10. The Warriors missed the extra point and led 6-0 early in the first quarter.
Following the Eagle’s View touchdown, the Pirates again struggled to find consistency on offense. After a 30-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Wilson to Marquese Jones put Matanzas in Warriors’ territory, a Brandon Fagan fumble gave the ball back to Eagle’s View.
Junior receiver De’Undre Lumpkins, who played for Flagler Palm Coast last season, was a key offensive player for the Pirates despite only three points from the varsity unit. Lumpkins is still working to get settled into Matanzas’ fast-paced offense.
“He definitely brings speed and athleticism,” Lagocki said of Lumpkins. “He’s just still not really fully comfortable with the offense. And that’s a process.”
Lagocki said that since the team doesn’t huddle after each play, there is added pressure on the players to recognize what they need to do more quickly than if they were huddling in a slower offense.
Down 13-0 with 38.6 seconds left in the first half, Lagocki put sophomore kicker Ian Hubbs on the field to attempt a 35-yard field goal. Hubbs was on the field the previous drive to attempt a 41-yard field goal, but a poor snap had prevented him from making an attempt.
Hubbs made the 35-yard kick with plenty of leg to bring the score to 13-3 at halftime.
“He’s got a big leg,” Lagocki said. “I mean the kid is only a sophomore and he’s strong and he’s got a good leg. I’ll let him kick from 45 (yards and) in, without even thinking about it.”
Matanzas and Eagle’s View pulled their varsity players after the third quarter, with the score 13-3 in favor of the Warriors, and the Pirates junior varsity squad played a 10-minute quarter against Warriors’ JV players.
Sophomore receiver Matt Esposito caught a short pass and took it 68 yards for a touchdown, bringing the score to 13-9. The extra point attempt, which was moved back to the 18-yard line because of a celebration penalty, was missed.
Matanzas kicks off its regular season 7 p.m. Aug. 31, hosting FPC.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was corrected Aug. 27 to reflect that it was Jeremiah Wilson who threw the 30-yard pass for Matanzas.
