2016 Space Coast High School Playoffs Preview: Five Space Coast Teams Kickoff Tonight

By  //  November 11, 2016

#SecondSeason

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Viera went on to defeat Kathleen 13-7 Friday night in Viera. (Colin Zimmer, Space Coast Daily Image)
“Playoffs?!” Yes Jim Mora, it’s playoff time in Brevard County High School football. Five local area teams will take the field under the Friday Night Lights tonight with a chance to survive and advance. (Colin Zimmer, Space Coast Daily Image)

VIERA VS EAST RIVER

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LISTEN LIVE: Friday Night Locker Room’s Steve Wilson and Orville Susong will be on the call for play-by-play coverage, heard here on Space Coast Daily. Kickoff set for 7:30, pregame coverage at 7 p.m.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

MCC VS CARDINAL MOONEY

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WATCH LIVE: Space Coast Daily’s and FNLR’s Zach Clark and Alan Zlotorzynski will be on the call for play-by-play coverage, heard here on Space Coast Daily. Kickoff set for 7:30, pregame coverage at 7 p.m.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – “Playoffs?!” Yes Jim Mora, it’s playoff time in Brevard County High School football. Five local area teams will take the field under the Friday Night Lights tonight with a chance to survive and advance.

Cocoa, Melbourne Central Catholic, Merritt Island, Palm Bay and Viera will represent the Space Coast this 2016 playoff season.

COCOA VS BISHOP VEROT

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Cocoa (8-1) has once again proven they are a force to be reckon with and will look to overcome their regular annual nemesis Booker T. Washington in a couple weeks, but first, they must take care of business to get to that point.

Tonight, business gets started with their matchup at home against Bishop Verot (6-4). Led by senior quarterback, USF commit, Bruce Judson, the Tigers are looking to win their first state championship since 2010.

MCC VS CARDINAL MOONEY

Melbourne Central Catholic defeated Satellite in week 2 41-0. (Zach Clark, Space Coast Daily Image)
Undefeated, heading into tonight’s game against Cardinal Mooney (8-2), the Hustlers have succeeded on both sides of the football to near perfection.(Zach Clark, Space Coast Daily Image)

Melbourne Central Catholic (9-0) has been one of the biggest surprises in the state of Florida this season. Undefeated, heading into tonight’s game against Cardinal Mooney (8-2), the Hustlers have succeeded on both sides of the football to near perfection. The offense is led by Brevard County’s leading passer, junior Joaquin Collazo. Collazo, has flourished through the aerial attack with nearly 2,000 yards passing and 24 touchdowns. Perhaps the Collazo’s greatest asset is his ability to avoid mistakes and make great decisions in the pocket with only five interceptions on the year.

Defensively, Hustlers are lead by Cameron Rivamonte with 116 tackles on the season and 10 tackles-for-loss. The defense has played stellar this year. No team has scored more than two touchdowns on MCC the entire year.

Space Coast Daily’s and FNLR’s Zach Clark and Alan Zlotorzynski will be on the call for play-by-play coverage, heard here on Space Coast Daily. Kickoff set for 7:30, pregame coverage at 7 p.m.

MERRITT ISLAND VS BISHOP MOORE

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Merritt Island Mustangs (7-3) and Coach Jeff Mclean will have their hands full tonight as they travel on the road in their opening playoff game against Bishop Moore (9-1). (Space Coast Daily Image)

One of the most storied high schools in the county, Merritt Island High School, is in the playoffs again. After finishing second in their district, behind undefeated Palm Bay, the Merritt Island Mustangs (7-3) and Coach Jeff Mclean will have their hands full tonight as they travel on the road in their opening playoff game against Bishop Moore (9-1).

Mustangs head into Friday night’s game riding an impressive stretch by winning six of their last seven games. If Merritt Island pulls off an upset, they would play the winner of the Eustis and Palm Bay game. Setting up a potential revenge, rematch game with Palm Bay next week.

PALM BAY VS EUSTIS

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B.J. Daniels and his Palm Bay Pirates look to continue magical season tonight against Eustis. (Space Coast Daily Image)

Palm Bay Pirates (9-0) may have one of the best team’s longtime head coach Dan Burke has ever coached. Palm Bay takes on Eustis at home Friday night, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.

The Pirates’ defense has only given up 50 total points all year. Combine the stellar play of the Pirate defense and a potential starting D-1 running back in B.J. Daniels, the Pirates have all of the ingredients to make a deep run in the playoffs. Daniels has accumulated more than 1,500 rushing yards and accounted for 22 rushing touchdowns on the year. That leads the Space Coast in rushing. The 6-foot-two running back has all the pieces to make the plays necessary to win a state championship.

VIERA VS EAST RIVER

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The Hawks and Tim Demorat take on East River (6-4) tonight in Viera. (Space Coast Daily Image)

Finally, the only team to make it to a state championship last season, the Viera Hawks (7-2) look to get back to the state championship game this year after falling hard to a star studded St. Thomas Aquinas team in last year’s state final game. The Hawks take on East River (6-4) tonight in Viera. After losing a lot of key pieces on the offense side of the ball last year, first-year starting quarterback Tim Demorat has adjusted nicely for the Hawks offense. Demorat has surpassed over 1600 yards passing and has fired 17 touchdowns through the air. His ability to distribute the ball to his many wide receivers  ( Atkins, Jones and Richard) gives opposing defenses fits on how to defend this offense. Combine that with his ability to escape the pocket and scramble, makes this offense lethal in many areas of the game.

WATCH: SCD, FNLR Previews Prep Football Playoff Games At Beef O’ Brady’s In CocoaRelated Story:
WATCH: SCD, FNLR Previews Prep Football Playoff Games At Beef O’ Brady’s In Cocoa

The Hawks defense has played solid all year, led by junior linebacker and leading tackler (95) Brandon Mays. After giving up a surprising 34-points two weeks ago to South Forke, Viera’s defense  bounced back nicely by delivering a shutout victory over Winter Springs last week 37-0. If Viera wins, they play the winner of the Martin County and Lake Nona game next week.

Friday Night Locker Room’s Steve Wilson and Orville Susong will be on the call for play-by-play coverage, heard here on Space Coast Daily. Kickoff set for 7:30, pregame coverage at 7 p.m.

ABOVE VIDEO: Watch Alan Zlotorzynski, Orville Susong and Steve Wilson of the Friday Night Locker Room  – Space Coast Daily team at Beef O’ Brady’s in Cocoa discuss this week’s high school football playoff games. (Show produced by Zach Clark)