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TORNADOES WALK THE WALK OVER WEST NASSAU WARRIORS

October 8, 2018
David Rodgers

Good Evening Tornado Nation and Fans, this is Mr. Friday Night David Rodgers Voice and Play by Play Announcer for your Bradford Tornadoes bringing you this Edition of the WEAG Eagle Country 106.3 Blog for Tornado Football 2018.

There is an old saying, “If you’re going to talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk”. Hard lesson to learn for a bunch of 15-18 years olds this day in age.

All week long both Bradford and West Nassau took to twitter taking turns jabbing at each other calling each other out in fun in preparation for the big game Friday in Callahan between the two.

The fun began with a set of tweets from West Nassau players simply saying “365 days, revenge tour on Bradford”, as the Tornadoes were the last team to beat West Nassau in the regular season last year.

Among the several tweets back and forth over the days was a Bradford player tweeting at my list of undefeated teams last week saying, “Be ready to take West Nassau off”.

Turns out he was right after all.

Unfortunately, the Warriors will have to wait another year for revenge as Bradford hung another defeat on West Nassau 31-20 Friday night.

Early on it looked like West Nassau was going to back up its claims as the Warriors option offense controlled the clock and kept the Tornadoes offense off the field holding them to just three plays in the first quarter.

West Nassau appeared to catch a break after a quick three and out forced a punt but the Tornadoes had 12 guys on the field and gave the Warriors a first down. However, two plays later, a Christian Nobles fumble was recovered Tylan Davis at the 46 yard line.

However, the Warriors defense led by Jeremy Starling and Seth O’neal held them in check and forced a quick three and out, that would be the last time the Tornadoes would touch the ball for a while.

On their second drive of the game, the Warriors began the drive at their own 12 and behind quarterback Dallas Mumford, Javon Wright and Nobles the Warriors put together a 19 play, 88 yard drive that consumed the rest of the first quarter.

Wright capped the long drive with a one yard score on fourth and goal giving West Nassau a 7-0 lead with 11:08 left in the second quarter.

A well rested Bradford offensive line went to work feasting on the Warriors defensive line as the Tornadoes answered the Warriors long drive with a lengthy drive themselves to tie the game.

Faced with fourth and 11 from the 14 yard line, senior quarterback Adrien Ciena connected with J’cobi Harris for a short gain, Harris out jumped two Warrior defenders and fought off a tackle at the same time to walk in the end zone for a 14 yard reception tying the game at 7-7 with 5:50 left till halftime.

After seeing what West Nassau did on its last drive, Bradford coaches made the decision to keep the momentum going by catching the Warriors off guard with an onside kick.

Taking over at midfield, the Tornadoes kept their foot on the gas as sophomore tailback Erric Smith busted off four straight runs to move the Tornadoes inside the 21 yard line.

Several plays on the drive, faced with fourth and 13, Ciena connected with junior receiver Nathaniel Davis, who made a diving catch in the end zone to give the Tornadoes a 15-7 lead with 3:07 left till half.

Things just kept getting worse for the Warriors as a high snap on the ensuing play after the kickoff sailed over the head of Mumford and out of the back of the end zone for a safety and two more points for the Tornadoes and 17-7 lead.

Receiving the pooch punt after the safety, Bradford knew they still had plenty of time to score again and take control of the game going into half starting the possession at midfield.

Travis Lee carried the ball on the ensuing play from scrimmage and along with a facemask call on the Warriors, the Tornadoes were down to the 16 yard line.

Ciena found Jeremiah Vaughn wide open on a fourth and 11 play and Vaughn was able to just pick up the first down before being tackled at the 7 yard line.

Three plays later, Smith broke through a gaping hole and scored from 7 yards out to give Bradford a stunning 23-7 lead with less than a minute left in the first half.

A wild and crazy second quarter finally ended as Bradford carried a 23-7 lead into the locker room at the half.

 

Down two scores and kicking off to Bradford to start the third quarter, the Warriors executed a perfect onside kick and took over at the 40 yard line.

Wright busted off runs of 11 and 4 to put the Warriors at the 25, setting up Kaleb Crandell’s 25 yard touchdown run cutting the lead to 23-13 barely a minute into the second half.

West Nassau initially was going to go for two points but a delay of game changed their mind and they opted to kick the extra point attempt, which was blocked by Malik Hankerson.

The Warriors tried another onside kick and the Tornadoes were ready for it and recovered it at midfield.

Neither team could have seen what was about to happen as both teams had a hard time holding on to the ball as both teams combined for 7 turnovers in the third quarter (4 fumbles, three interceptions).

Three plays after the score, Ciena and Smith fumbled the exchange on a handoff and Deebo Coleman was there to pick it up for the Warriors.

The momentum was short lived though as Mumford was picked off by James Martin as Mumford pass was thrown right across the middle and right to Martin

Two plays later, Martin nearly had his second interception but officials ruled he was out of bounds, but one play later Davis recovered a fumble giving the Tornadoes the ball back again.

Mumford fumbled the ball away on the Warriors next drive and Tyrie Oliver recovered the ball for the Tornadoes at the 17 yard line.

Four plays later, Ciena was picked off by Coleman at the 7 yard line on another fourth and long play for the Tornadoes at the 7 yard line.

Mercifully the third quarter finally came to an end for both teams after 7 turnovers combined as Bradford carried a 23-13 lead into the final quarter.

Once down 16 at the half, the Warriors had cut the lead to three with a little over 6 minutes left in the game putting a lot of pressure on the Tornadoes offense.

With the momentum now back on the Warriors side and the home crowd back in it, Bradford needed to pick up several first downs to come away with a possible victory. They did even better than that.

From its on 40 yard line, the Tornadoes faced a lot of pressure and things didn’t start well with a false start and a 5 yard loss on a catch from Smith, to set up second and long. Ciena hit Vaughn on a screen pass and Vaughn shook defenders picking up 13 yards on the play and Ciena found Davis open for a 13 yard completion at midfield and a first down to keep the drive going.

Smith picked up a tough 7 yards on a third and 4 play to pick up another first down and Brian Foster broke the Warriors back with a  22 yard run down to the 16 yard line with less than three minutes left in the game.

Two plays later, on his thirtieth and final carry of the game, Smith scored his second touchdown of the game this time on a 15 yard run to put the Tornadoes up 31-20 with 2:35 left in the game.

Smith was a beast for the Tornadoes accounted for 141 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries on the night, while also picking up several key first downs and moving the chains.

 

Following the score, the Tornadoes set up for the extra point but a low snap forced holder Nathaniel Davis to scramble and make a play. Davis was under pressure but fought off defenders before his line pushed him across the goal line for the two point conversion.

When things are going your way, anything can happen.

Now down 11 with under three minutes left, the Warriors still fought to the whistle getting across mid field in the closing minute before Tylan Davis closed it out with a interception with 20 seconds left in the game.

Martin and Davis both had huge nights defensively for the Tornadoes as Martin had two interceptions, only one counted though and Davis recovered three fumbles (two counted) and also had an interception.

The duo are a few of the reasons why the Tornadoes have now won three in a row and looking like the state semifinalists they were last year.

Wins over Fort White, University Christian and now West Nassau have the Tornadoes on a three game winning streak and winners of four of their last five. Quite a turnaround from a 1-3 start, which saw the Tornadoes drop two games by a combined 13 points.

More impressive is the fact all three wins have come on the road as well, which will help come playoff time.

While people have been counting them each week they continue to feed off of that each week. That continues this week as the Tornadoes (4-3) host state power Cocoa Friday night at David Hurse Stadium.

 Come out live and supports your Bradford Tornadoes but if you can’t make sure you tune into the Live Radio Broadcast with The Voice of The Bradford Tornadoes Mr. Friday Night David Rodgers, Color Commentator Big Kevin Howe and The State’s Best Producing Team Chuck Kramer, Lyn Veliz, and Mary Kramer with the Pregame Show at 6:45 and Kickoff at 7:00 right here on WEAG Eagle Country 106.3.