Trojans Dispatch Barron Collier With Strong Second Half

After the dust had settled and his team emerged with a convincing 42-18 win over crosstown rival Barron Collier, Lely head coach Ben Hammer looked out over a somber group of warriors. “I see a lot of long faces,” Hammer told his weary warriors as they looked back at him. He wanted his team to be happy about their hard-earned win.

"It's hard to win in the sport of football,” Hammer said, "so we're always going to be happy and excited about winning. But we've got a lot to fix. We've got to get a lot better. We talk all the time about how it's us versus us. It's not us versus whatever opponent we're playing across from.”

All of the ingredients were in the mix for a letdown for the Trojans’ football team when they hosted their winless crosstown rival Friday night, September 26. The Trojans had performed well in a measuring stick game against state power Sarasota Booker the week before. And in Barron Collier, they were facing a team they hung 90 points on last season. But Hammer’s not sure his team had a letdown.

"I don't know about a letdown,” Hammer said. "Barron was well prepared. Their kids played really hard. Their coaching staff does a great job. I just think we've got to do a better job of discipline and execution.”

The Cougars (0-5) under first-year head coach Brannon Tidwell are used to playing good teams this season. Their four losses are to teams with a collective 14-7-1 record, including local rivals Naples and Immokalee, who have only loss each.

Lely battled Barron to a 22-6 halftime lead, thanks in part to an acrobatic interception by linebacker Aydin Herrera that kept the Cougars from scoring late in the first half. But the Trojans were mistake and penalty prone. Aside from a brilliant 93-yard dash by running back Nino Joseph, who ended up with 201 yards rushing and three touchdown runs, the Trojans’ offense struggled in a penalty marred first half.

"It seemed like a couple coverage mistakes, a couple alignment mistakes, were the big plays we gave up defensively,” Hammer said. "But our kids played really, really hard pursuing and running to the ball.”

The second half got off to a rough start for the Trojans when the Cougars executed a successful onside kick, one of two they pulled off on the night.

"It's just something that we do every week,” Tidwell said. "Our kickers are good and they can put the ball in the right spots. We practice it all the time.”

Another strength for the Cougars is the play of their 6’4” dual-threat quarterback Sam Powell, who gained over 100 yards rushing and passing. He was particularly effective in extending plays, like a first-half touchdown pass he completed with a Trojan defender hanging on him.

"Sam Powell is a great kid,” Tidwell said. "He's the longest tenured starter in the area. It's his third year starting at quarterback. He’s played a lot of snaps. He made a lot of plays to keep us in this game tonight."

After the defense was flagged for celebrating after a big play in the second half, Coach G got his players’ attention on the sideline.

“We weren't doing a great job of running to the ball,” Hammer said, “and Coach G kind of lit a fire under some of the guys, and it seemed to work pretty well. They had a little lull in the third quarter. They continued to run to the ball and play hard. They've got to defend a lot of possessions. We'll take giving up 18 points to a talented team.”

Two seniors appeared to put their teammates on their backs during Lely’s second-half surge, where they outscored Barron 20-12 to put the game away. One on defense, the other on offense.

“Noah Brown and Ty Collins,” Hammer said. "Noah's a captain. Ty's a great athlete. Ty has the potential to make great plays. And Noah's come so far in terms of his leadership and his work ethic. And he really did a nice job in the second half. He changes the other team's offense a lot. We kind of play him all over the place, but when you put him in the interior, you can't really run away from him.”

Collins, who scored twice against Barron, hits the holes differently than his running mate Joseph, giving the Trojans an effective one-two punch.

“Ty was on fire,” Hammer said of Collins’ second-half performance. Tidwell noticed, too.

"He's a quick runner,” Tidwell said. “And that's tough when you have Nino, who is more of a power straight ahead and then get out of there and outrun you type. Then Collins comes in, and he's just kind of a shifty scatback. That was a nice coaching job by Coach Hammer and his team to just have a little change of pace. Noah Brown is a great D-lineman. I mean, he made plays. I've told him a couple times tonight he's a good football player. Sometimes those guys can take over games, especially at this level. So yeah, he did a good job.”

And has been the case through the first half of the season, the Trojans appeared to wear down their opponent in the second half.

“We've got kids playing both ways,” Tidwell said. “At the beginning of the year, we didn't. So they're playing some iron man right now. We did get worn out there late in the game."

Lely (3-2) hosts county rival Immokalee (4-1) on Friday, October 3 at 7:30 PM. Immokalee’s only loss is to Naples High.

"We'll enjoy this one tonight,” Hammer said, "and start preparing for Immokalee in the morning."