- December 4, 2025
Jaden Dormevil (8) intercepts a pass with less than a minute left. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Jaden Dormevil, whose earlier pick was ruled a breakup, hauls in this interception with less than a minute left in the game. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Jaden Dormevil leaps to intercept a fourth-down pass. The officials ruled he didn't get a foot in bounds when he landed, but the Rattlers turned the ball over on downs anyway. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Wiley Conner lands on the ground with a splash. Photo by Keishia McLendon
The Pirates raise the Jolly Roger after their Homecoming win. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Ladarien Baker (3) makes the tackle. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Matanzas receiver Thomas Larywon caught three passes for 45 yards and a touchdown. Photo by Keishia McLendon
The Pirates take the field for their Homecoming game on Oct. 10. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Wiley Conner gets a handoff from Cole Walker. Conner carried the ball 36 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Matanzas band plays in the stands. Thirty-five band alumni joined the band members for Homecoming. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Wiley Conner (34) snaps the ball on special teams. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Matanzas cheerleaders. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Matanzas defenders gang tackle a Belleview ball carrier. Photo by Keishia McLendon
A Belleview defender wraps up Ladarien Baker (3) after the Matanzas receiver caught a pass. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Matanzas quarterback Cole Walker gets a pass off under pressure. Photo by Keishia McLendon
The Matanzas Pirate. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Cole Walker (7) passed for 135 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Photo by Keishia McLendon
The Matanzas band plays in the stands. Photo by Keishia McLendon
When Matanzas defensive back Jaden Dormevil broke up a fourth-down pass with four minutes remaining, all but assuring a Pirates Homecoming victory, he looked to the track where the Corvettes were parked.
The Flagler County Corvette Club provided rides around the track at halftime for the eight Homecoming court winners.
“Our plan was to run to the Corvettes and celebrate,” Dormevil said. “But they were already gone. So that's why I kind of ran over there.”
Homecoming 2025 was a day of adjustments for the Pirates. The field had been soaked by rain for days on end with more rain falling shortly before kickoff. A soft turf became a muddy mess in spots.
An expected easy victory against Belleview (1-7) was only a one-possession game midway through the fourth quarter until the Pirates (5-3) scored two touchdowns in the final six minutes to win 26-6.
“It would have been real easy for our kids to make excuses, to blame the weather and the field conditions and all that,” Matanzas coach Matt Forrest said. “But they found a way to stay ahead in the game and kind of have control of the game. They found a way to win.”
Running back Wiley Conner could have let his first-quarter fumble into the end zone affect him the rest of the game, Forrest said. But after losing the ball on a handoff at the Belleview 1-yard line, Conner went on to score two touchdowns. He would finish with a team-record 36 carries for 163 yards rushing in the mud.
“It was tough on him to fumble when we're about to punch it in on the first drive,” Forrest said. “For him to rebound from that and have the night he did, I was very proud of him. It could have been very easy for him to plan an exit, like, ‘well, it's just not my night,’ or ‘the ball's wet,’ or whatever the case may be, and he didn't do that. He just kept plugging along, just kept chugging.”
Each team turned the ball over three times. A forced fumble by Rilee Roberts and recovery by Javonte Patton led to the Pirates’ first touchdown, a 1-yard run by Conner.
It would have been real easy for our kids to make excuses, to blame the weather and the field conditions and all that, but they found a way to stay ahead in the game ... They found a way to win.”
— MATT FORREST, Matanzas football coach
Ladarien Baker caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Cole Walker to put Matanzas up 13-0 midway through the second quarter. But after Cole Dockhorn blocked a Belleview punt and the Pirates moved the ball to the 1-yard line again, the Rattlers locked down on defense, turning the Pirates away on fourth down as time ran out in the half.
Belleview took advantage of a Matanzas fumble at the Pirates’ 20 in the third quarter. Keondre Fillmore scored on a 2-yard run to pull the Rattlers to within a touchdown at 13-6. But after McCoy forced and Baker recovered a Belleview fumble, Walker fired a 31-yard touchdown pass to a diving Thomas Larywon with 5:25 left in the game.
Dormevil’s breakup at the Belleview 21-yard line— he picked off the Rattlers’ fourth-down pass but was ruled out of bounds — set up Conner’s 6-yard touchdown run with 1:53 remaining. Dormevil then grabbed an interception that counted, his third of the season, to clinch the victory.
The Pirates held the Rattlers to 96 yards on offense, all on the ground. Belleview did not complete a pass.
Dormevil was one of 22 Matanzas seniors who might have played their final game at “the Ship.” The Pirates have a chance to make the playoffs with wins in their final two games at Menendez on Oct. 24 and at Palm Bay on Oct. 31, but if they are to play at home again this season it would likely be in the new Florida Invitational Tournament for the top 16 teams in each classification that do not make the playoffs.
Dormevil said the Pirates had fun, even enjoying the adverse conditions.
“It was just a great time. I'm forever going to remember this game,” he said. “It felt like a party out there. It was electric. It was nasty, it was muddy, but it was fun. I love games like that because it really tests who you truly are. People were getting hurt (several players limped off). It was definitely dangerous, but that's what football is.”
