Seabreeze records first win of the season, 28-21 over Satellite

Ormond Beach Observer
Sports

After starting the season with a brutal schedule against four schools in the largest suburban classification, Seabreeze finally played a school its own size on Oct. 7. The Sandcrabs held on to defeat Satellite 28-21 on the road for their first win of the season.

Seabreeze (1-4) now has its first two district games scheduled over a three-day period due to Hurricane Ian postponements. The Sandcrabs host winless Pine Ridge for homecoming on Friday, Oct. 14 and then return to Daytona Stadium on Monday, Oct. 17 for a game against 5-1 Deltona.

"Obviously, football is meant to be played once a week," Seabreeze coach Pat Brown said. "We'll take preventative measures to take care of our bodies. We're making sure they hydrate from now all the way on."

Brown said it helps that they have a coach in Josh Roberts, who was an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Stetson and understands the science of recovery.

The Sandcrabs jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead against the Scorpions (3-4). Denali Campbell scored three rushing touchdowns and Sam "Sosa" Gonzalez added a rushing score. Crawford Olsen collected two Satellite turnovers, recovering a fumble and intercepting a pass.

Gonzalez started at quarterback for Seabreeze and passed for 83 yards while adding 63 yards rushing. The senior began the year as a receiver, a position he will likely play in college, but he gives the offense stability when he's under center, Brown said.

"He's played quarterback his whole life," said Brown. "He's got that experience and leadership and ability to keep everybody calm."

After Satellite pulled within a touchdown with three scores in the second half, Seabreeze got the ball back with 1:20 left and ran out the clock.

"We stopped ourselves a lot with penalties and dropped passes. It just wasn't a clean second half," Brown said. "But we did enough to hold on. It's been a long time coming for the group. They see what it means to play a tough schedule early on. We have some first-time varsity players, and we're seeing their confidence grow each week."