Trojans Roll Rogers

Aubrey Rogers waved the surrender flag on their home field with 10 minutes left in the second quarter of their Friday, October 10, mismatch with the Lely Trojans, requesting a running clock immediately after falling behind by 35 points instead of waiting till the start of the second half to initiate the mercy rule. Lely agreed to the early running clock: why wait any longer to start preparing for the one thing on everyone in Trojan Nation’s mind: ending their 15-year drought in the annual Coconut Bowl against Naples.

The Trojans couldn’t have handled their tune-up game any better, blanking Aubrey Rogers, 58-0. But more importantly, they refused to let thoughts of toppling Naples in the annual Coconut Bowl on Friday, October 17, interfere with the business at hand.

“The one that the kids are really, really excited about and really want to win is the Collier County Championship,” said Ben Hammer, Lely coach. “And to me, that’s next week. That's going to be a big one. Our biggest battle all week was getting them to not talk about the Naples game. Not only the kids, the coaches, too.”

Lely senior Ty Collins proved his head was in the game by returning the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. It’s the fourth time this season Collins has scored the first time he touched the ball at the beginning of a game. Last week, he took the first play from scrimmage 60 yards for a touchdown.

Lely (5-2) scored at will against the Patriots (2-5), with Noah Brown, Nino Joseph, Brady Quinn, Zephaniah Diamond, and Romeo Sararo all crossing the goal line in the abbreviated game. Brown’s TD was perhaps the most fun as the big defensive lineman intercepted a pass in the first quarter and rumbled into the end zone from 22 yards out. Which begs the question whether the agile lineman should be considered as a short-yardage option for an offense that features two talented, but compact running backs in Joseph and Collins.

“We challenged Noah Brown at the beginning of the year to be the best defensive lineman in Southwest Florida,” said Hammer, who saw his defense hold district foe Aubrey Rogers to 35 yards rushing and -5 yards passing. His defense picked off three passes and had the Rogers quarterback running for his life all night.

“Our kids prepared hard all week,” Hammer said. "We had goals from the beginning of the year to win a district championship. The kids want to go back to back. They played hard and did what they were expected to do tonight. We expect to be district champions. That's kind of where the bar is."

Naples has won the Coconut Bowl 15 times in a row. Hammer refuses to make that number an issue.

"You don't get any extra points for that,” Hammer said of Naples’ streak in the series. “When we start the game, it's going to be 0-0. Coach (Rick) Martin does a great job. Naples is a historical program. We're excited for the challenge. Excited for the opportunity."

When Hammer was hired to coach Lely three years ago, one of his focuses was to beat Naples and become the top dog in the county. But that’s not his only goal.

“Yeah,” Hammers admits. "And not just that. I mean, our ultimate goal is to win state. Right? Lely's never won a state championship. That's what we want to do. We want to produce young men of character that work hard and do things the right way and get good grades and are eventually great husbands, brothers, and fathers. It's all a process, and we want to get one percent better every day.

Hammer said he won’t have any trouble keeping his players focused this week.

“Between the community and the alumni we have on staff, and our teachers and their kids in school, you don't have to do anything to keep them focused this week. Last week, it was sometimes tough to get them going for practice, but for Naples they'll be locked in and ready to go."

With a big 50th class reunion planned, a big crowd is expected. But Hammer’s not about to change his preparation going into the showdown with Naples (5-2-1).

"That's for administration and other people to worry about,” Hammer said. “All we've got to worry about is 53.3 x 120 yards of turf. You’ve got to line up and see the other team eye to eye, toe to toe, and one team's going to score more points than the other. I'm sure it'll be a great game next Friday at Lely. We believe in what we do, and we're going to keep doing it. We just need to score one more point than they score."

Coconut Bowl 52 will kick off at 7:30 on Friday, October 17. Lely principal Jennifer Bledsoe expects Trojan Stadium to be packed.

"We're expecting a really big crowd,” Bledsoe said. "Obviously, Naples travels well. And the more we do here on the field and the more we succeed, the bigger the crowds we're getting. So that's kudos to Coach Hammer and his boys. I'm excited about it."