- May 1, 2024
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Bennie Garnett (42) celebrates a tackle for a loss. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Robbie Dailey (8), Mikhail Zysek (15) and Jordan Gales celebrate Dailey's touchdown catch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC receiver Robbie Dailey (8) catches a pass against Celebration on Oct. 20. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Charlie Perry (left) and Zaiden Greene tackle Celebration's Ashton Braswell. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Flagler Palm Coast Air Force JROTC Color Guard presents colors during the national anthem before the Bulldogs' homecoming football game on Oct. 20. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Bulldogs run onto the field for the start of their homecoming game. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Chase Magee boots his first of five extra points in FPC's 39-0 win against Celebration.
Corinthians Watson (0) congratulates Zyquan Neal (1) after Neal intercepted his second pass of the game. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mikhail Zysek makes a move after catching a pass in the first quarter. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC tight end Roman Caliendo (81) caught a 41-yard pass to set up the Bulldogs' second touchdown. Photo by Brent Woronoff
A potential touchdown pass pops out of Zyquan Neal's hands late in the first quarter. But Neal put FPC on the scoreboard with a pick six on the first play of the second quarter. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC quarterback Caden Gonzalez (13) congratulates Robbie Dailey (8) after the junior receiver caught his first career touchdown pass to put the Bulldogs ahead 14-0 against Celebration. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Alexis Rumnock cheers on the Bulldogs during the first half. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Gabbie Enborg cheered on the sidelines and played clarinet during the halftime show. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Gabbie Enborg is a cheerleader and a member of the FPC band. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC coach Daniel Fish talks to the team after the game. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mikhail Zysek (15) catches a pass from Caden Gonzalez. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Charley Perry (48) and Zaiden Greene (32) tackle Celebration's Ashton Braswell. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The football game began as many end — with an onside kick. Celebration High School recovered its opening kickoff, and Flagler Palm Coast proceeded to turn the ball over again on its next two possessions.
It was not the start the Bulldogs were anticipating in their homecoming game on Oct. 20 against a team that arrived at Sal Campanella Memorial Stadium with a 1-6 record. But FPC went on to score five touchdowns and a safety in the second quarter to defeat the Storm 39-0.
FPC (3-5) snapped its four-game losing streak. While coach Daniel Fish was not happy with the Bulldogs’ six turnovers, he was pleased with his team’s defense, which produced its first shutout of the season. Two goal-line stands in the second half kept Celebration off the scoreboard.
“Our defense played well,” Fish said. “But we’ve got to do a better job protecting the ball, and we just got to be a little more productive in every phase of the game.”
The Bulldogs were extremely productive in the second quarter as Robbie Dailey caught two touchdown passes from Caden Gonzalez, and running back Marcus Mitchell ran for two scores.
Zyquan Neal intercepted two passes in the quarter, returning one for a touchdown.
Neal's pick-six came on the first play of the second quarter and opened the floodgates for the Bulldogs. By halftime, they led 37-0. With a scoring margin over 35 points, the entire second half was played under a running clock.
On FPC’s final possession of the first quarter, Neal dropped a potential touchdown pass in the end zone on fourth down.
“I don’t know how I dropped that,” the junior said. “As soon as I came down, it hit my knee and popped out.”
He quickly made up for it when Benny Garnett hit the Storm’s quarterback as he was releasing the ball, and Neal picked off the pass and ran it back to give FPC a 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs followed with touchdowns on their next four possessions.
A 41-yard pass from Gonzalez to tight end Roman Caliendo helped set up an 8-yard touchdown pass to Dailey, the junior’s first touchdown of his varsity career, to make it 14-0. Dailey’s 14-yard catch put the Bulldogs up 30-0 with 1:27 left in the first half.
“It feels great,” Dailey said of his first two touchdown receptions. “On the first one, (Gonzalez) looked up at me pre-snap and gave me the signal and hit me on the slant. On the second one, he pulled it and made a great read. I was open in the middle, and I made it to the end zone.”
Caden (Gonzalez) is really spinning it. He’s in rhythm, and he’s giving us a chance to win.
— JAKE MEDLOCK, FPC offensive coordinator
Gonzalez passed for about 200 yards with big passing plays of 41, 34 and 25 yards to Caliendo and 45 yards to Mikhail Zysek. Offensive coordinator Jake Medlock said the Bulldogs focused on not dropping the ball after receivers dropped 14 passes from Gonzalez in a 58-43 loss to Nease on Oct. 13.
Medlock was happy to see the improvement.
“Caden is really spinning it," Medlock said. "He’s in rhythm, and he’s giving us a chance to win. And the offensive line is doing an unbelievable job of protection.”
Neal’s second interception helped set up Mitchell’s 6-yard touchdown run with 7.6 seconds left in the half. Mitchell also scored on an 18-yard run that put FPC up 21-0. Josiah Hathaway’s tackle in the end zone for a safety made it 23-0.
The Bulldogs added another safety in the third quarter as an errant snap on a Storm punt attempt went through the end zone.
FPC’s defense helped the Bulldogs overcome six fumbles, including three on special teams.
“It was homecoming week, with all those distractions,” Medlock said. “But we stopped our losing streak. That’s a positive.”
With their tough schedule, the Bulldogs believe they can slip into the playoff picture with wins in their final two games against Tocoi Creek (Oct 27) and DeLand (Nov. 3), both at home. But they would likely need help. They were ranked 12th in the region, one spot behind Tocoi Creek, heading into the Celebration game. Eight teams in each region make the playoffs with four district champs earning automatic bids.
