Seabreeze offensive lineman Miles Venables (72) blocks Matanzas' Brennon Friendly (0) and Jez McCoy (1). Photo by Keishia McLendon
Seabreeze quarterback Noah Bogdanowicz rolls out. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Seabreeze's Sebastian Tocco runs back a kick. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Seabreeze's D'Marion Pompey tries to take down Matanzas running back Wiley Conner. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Seabreeze's Nolan Penney kicks and extra point in the kickoff classic. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Zayne Patel gives Tristan Miller a boost after Miller scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter against Matanzas in the kickoff classic. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Brady Walters (14) looks for a forward handoff from Noah Bogdanowicz in the kickoff classic. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Seabreeze's Austin Miller (right) tackles Matanzas quarterback Devin Davis. Photo by Keishia McLendon
Seabreeze captains Jeremias George (2), Ben Frankin (5), Danny Spada (4) and Matthew Wells (1) walk to midfield at Matanzas High for the coin toss. Photo by Keishia McLendon.
Seabreeze senior Matthew Wells has always wanted to play Father Lopez. In his final high school football season, Wells is getting his chance.
The Sandcrabs will visit the Green Wave in the season opener Friday, Aug. 21. It’s the first time the Daytona Beach teams have met in a regular-season game since 2021, when Seabreeze won 34-0. They haven’t played each other many times throughout their rich football histories.
“I’ve always wanted to play them,” Wells said. “I grew up with a lot of kids over there.”
On Friday, the team bus leaving Seabreeze High School will take a familiar game-night route. But instead of turning into Daytona Stadium for a home game, it will make the turn across LPGA Boulevard onto the Father Lopez campus.
[We’re] excited to go play those guys. We play on one side of LPGA. They play on the other. They're calling it the melee on LPGA.
— MIKE KLEIN, Seabreeze football coach
“[We’re] excited to go play those guys,” Seabreeze head coach Mike Klein said. “We play on one side of LPGA. They play on the other. They're calling it the melee on LPGA, so we'll see.”
The teams have developed a relationship, Klein said. He and Green Wave coach Mark Gabbard started a 7-on-7 league for local high school teams to play during the summer. Father Lopez hosted the league.
“We were kind of tired of going to the crazy 7-on-7 tournaments [around the state], and we just wanted something that was more about work and coaching, so we … got a bunch of local teams involved, and he hosted it all,” Klein said. “They did a great job with it.”
Klein said he has a lot of respect for Gabbard and the Green Wave. Lopez reached the playoffs last season in Gabbard’s first year as the Wave’s head coach. Klein said Gabbard asked about scheduling a game.
“Coach Gabbard’s doing a great job with that program,” Klein said. “He had reached out and said, ‘Coach, I kind of want to make it a thing again and try to make it back into a little rivalry.’”
The disparity in the size of the schools and their football programs — Seabreeze is a Class 4A team while Father Lopez plays in Class 1A — is an obvious reason why the teams haven’t faced each other much over the years. But their proximity and the players’ familiarity make for a natural rivalry.
“They don’t have quite as many kids as us, but it’s always gonna be fun to go play them,” Wells said.
Two Seabreeze seniors, offensive lineman Miles Venables and defensive end/tight end Nick Viscomi, transferred from Father Lopez. They are two of Wells’ best friends.
“I grew up with Nick,” Wells said. “He’s been my buddy my whole life. I’ve known Miles for like six years now, so it was really cool getting them over here. I've known their families for forever.”
Wells joked that while he grew up with a lot of Lopez’s players, “I could only get those two to come over.”
The Sandcrabs also have two Spruce Creek transfers in running back/linebacker Cameron DiBernardo and defensive end/tight end Jacob Dougherty. The newcomers help make up for a large senior class that graduated in May.
The Sandcrabs’ newcomers and holdovers got their first taste of competition this season in a preseason kickoff classic Aug. 14 at Matanzas. Seabreeze lost 17-14 but responded after Matanzas scored two first-quarter touchdowns and intercepted two passes.
“We started off really slow,” Klein said. “Defensively, we were we were out of gap at times. We weren't quite doing what we were supposed to do at times, and so they were able to put some drives together. And then on offense, same thing, just some alignment mistakes, a few blocking mistakes. All things you kind of expect in the preseason game.”
Nine different players ran the ball for the Sandcrabs, combining for 124 yards rushing. Sophomore Beckett Fowler and senior Tristan Miller each ran in a 3-yard touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Noah Bogdanowicz recovered from his two first-half interceptions to finish 6 of 11 passing for 44 yards. His 50-yard scramble on third down set up the Sandcrabs’ first touchdown.
The defense had a couple of goal-line stands and held the Pirates to just a field goal in three trips to the red zone.
“I’m proud of the guys for stepping up,” Klein said. “Once we got through those first few series of not doing what we're supposed to, we got that fixed a little bit. If we play like we're supposed to, we're pretty darn good.”
