Trojan Time

As the heat and humidity wilts their opponents and the play count rises, the Lely Trojans begin to play harder. Never was this more obvious than Friday night at Trojan Stadium as Lely came out of the locker room after a 20-20 first half with Gulf Coast and put up 48 points, while holding the Sharks to 16, to come away with a 68-36 win. Lely head coach Ben Hammer has a name for the phenomenon. He calls it Trojan Time.

“Our coaching staff made great adjustments at halftime,” Hammer said. “Our kids played hard. We talk about it all the time. When most teams are used to the game being over, that's Trojan Time. That's when we want to make great things happen because we've driven that play count way up. Our kids are used to playing that game. Other teams are not. They did it tonight. Our kids did a great job.”

Last week, the Trojans shut out Calvary Christian in the second half before coming up four points short. It looked like they might do the same Friday before Gulf Coast scored twice after the game had already been decided.

Hammer credits superior conditioning for a lot of the success.

"We practice hard,” Hammer said. “We practice fast, we get a lot of reps. I think that pays off in the long run, but we've still got to keep getting better. We've got a lot further to go."

The Sharks relied mostly on their running game in playing the Trojans to a draw in the first half.

"Gulf Coast was executing,” Hammer said, "doing their job the way they're supposed to. And they had a great game plan."

The Trojans hard hard-hitting defense seemed to wear the Sharks down.

"I think our kids played hard,” Hammer said, "played with a lot of resilience, played with a lot of discipline, and played physical football. Our defensive front seven, although they got pushed around a little bit, seemed to really pick it up and play physical in the second half. Aydin Herrera and Noah Brown stand out. Steve St. Surin played a little bit of defense. He's been an offensive lineman. We switched him over.

Gulf Coast (1-2) appeared to be keying on Lely’s star running back, junior Nino Joseph, who came into the game averaging 198 yards on the ground. Joseph fought his way for 167 yards, including TD runs of 55 and 44 yards. “Obviously, Nino was Nino,” Hammer said. “He has great ball security.”

Like usual, a bevy of Trojans made big plays on offense Friday night. Senior utility man Ty Collins got the scoring started with a spectacular 91-yard punt return touchdown down the left sideline. Collins also picked up 96 receiving yards, including an amazing 50-yard touchdown grab where he spun away from a defender at the 40, broke another tackle at the 30, then blazed the rest of the way untouched. Collins also plays defense when the Trojans need him. He made some big hits against Gulf Coast.

Standout sophomore quarterback Brady Quinn runs the Trojans' high-octane offense like it’s a race car. He passed for three TDs, including a 29-yarder to Jayden Pino and a 40-yarder to Zephaniah Diamond. But he is equally dangerous running the ball. He used a little sleight of hand by selling a fake to Joseph, then peeling off the other way for a 20-yard first half score. On his 40-yard TD in the second half, Quinn again faked to Joseph, then flashed some impressive speed of his own.

The Trojans (2-1) have a bye week before hosting Sarasota Booker (2-1) on Friday, September 19 at 7:30. It will be a tall task for the Trojans as Booker, who shut them out in the season opener last year, returns with a roster loaded with Division 1 talent.

"They beat us pretty good last year,” Hammer acknowledges. "We'll be ready, I promise. We're going to work to get ready. We’ve got to keep getting better. We’re going to compete all week long."