- April 23, 2024
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Seabreeze’s fourth-quarter comeback attempt in the season opener against Spruce Creek on Thursday, Aug. 25, left the Sandcrabs stranded at the end of the game with a 21-14 loss to the Hawks.
Mainland High School transfer, E’Zaiah Shine, did exactly that in his first game as the Hawks’ quarterback. Shine exhibited his dual-threat ability to pass and run the ball without hesitation. He threw for 203 yards and delivered three touchdown passes to wide receiver Tony Kinsler — one in the final seconds of the second quarter to put the Hawks up 14-0.
With 6:39 left in the third quarter, the Hawks scored again to make it 21-0.
Seabreeze began to rally in the second half with two blocked punts by Eli Campbell, followed by a run to the 1-yard line by Denali Campbell. Zeli Hayworth bulldozed his way into the end zone for the Sandcrabs' first touchdown.
Denali Campbell threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Sam “Sosa” Gonzalez for the Sandcrabs’ final touchdown.
“When we are a focused football team, we are a very tough team,” receivers coach Mark Lewis said. “When we are unfocused and not concentrating, it doesn’t matter whether we are at practice or a game, we are beatable. Our mental toughness has to come up a notch. Our concentration levels have to come up a notch.”
As the game’s starting quarterback, Hayworth completed 50% of his passes for 69 yards. As a punter, he averaged 40 yards on seven punts. Hayden Hayes came in as quarterback and completed two passes to Gonzalez.
“With my boys, I preach to them that nobody cares when it comes to excuses. So, as their leader, I can’t place the blame on the refs. We had opportunities to make plays and we didn’t throughout the game. That’s on us as coaches and players with play-calling and play-making.”
PAT BROWN, Seabreeze head coach
“Zeli and Hayden both have to continue to attack, process and get better,” Seabreeze head coach Pat Brown said. “Both have essentially zero varsity game experience, so we expect it to be a process. I am looking forward to them getting better each week.”
Eli Campbell had an outstanding game on defense with 15 tackles — nine solo, six assists and three tackles for loss. Giovanni Mitchell, Micah Karr, Jackson Snowden and Michael Shropshire each had seven tackles.
“Eli was Eli,” Brown said. “He made game changing plays with two blocked punts and double-digit tackles. No standouts, but I left impressed with how our defensive line played as a unit. They were consistent throughout the game and drew the toughest matchup.”
For 11 years, senior Tayshawn Galery has played football. He played some defense his freshman year, but has predominantly played offense. He agreed to make the switch from wide receiver to defense this summer because he really wanted to help.
“I think I played pretty good, for the most part,” he said. “We can’t wake up the second half and wait to score at the end of the game. We run out of time and can’t do anything about it. We lost. It’s over with. Bounce back.”
Guard Aiden Ford pulled a tendon in his foot on the first play of the game, but he came back to be part of the offensive drives in the first half and played the entire second half.
“I wasn’t able to use it the same the whole game,” he said. “I had to use my left foot for power and explosion. I played 48 minutes with one foot.”
Offensively, Denali Campbell was the standout.
“With my boys, I preach to them that nobody cares when it comes to excuses,” Brown said. “So, as their leader, I can’t place the blame on the refs. We had opportunities to make plays, and we didn’t throughout the game. That’s on us as coaches and players with play-calling and play-making.”
Seabreeze hosts Bartram Trail on Friday, Sept. 2 at Daytona Stadium.
