4A Preview: Cocoa & Cardinal Gibbons

When Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons and Cocoa met in the 2020 state 4A semifinals, the Tigers were at home, unbeaten and had outscored the opposition, 469-80. Overwhelming! When the dust had settled on that Dec. 4 evening on the Space Coast, the Chiefs had dismantled Cocoa in every possible way, sending the crowd home not happy at all. Cocoa lost 45-15. In the past 378 days, this matchup was on everyone's mind – as these two teams were going to meet, whether as a state semifinal or a final – and this evening (7:00), the two programs will kick off the first ever FHSAA State Football Championships at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The roles have switched this year. Both schools are hot and playing their best football, but this time, it's the defending state champion Chiefs and head coach <strong>Matt Dubuc</strong> who are four miles from the stadium and are at “home” for all to see. As head coach <strong>Ryan Schneider</strong> returns to the area where he gained fame as a quarterback at Plantation High, this UCF product comes home with a very talented team and a fan base that is hungry for a state championship. <strong>Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs (Fort Lauderdale)</strong> <strong>Record: </strong>10-2 <strong>Head Coach: </strong>Matt Dubuc <strong>10 Players To Watch: </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="50046" first="Tray" last="Brown"], Sr., LB, [player_tooltip player_id="50233" first="Jackson" last="Crozier"], Sr., OL, Tre'Mone Drisdom, Jr., S, Elisha Edwards, Sr., WR, [player_tooltip player_id="111704" first="Isaiah" last="Farris"], Sr., DB, [player_tooltip player_id="50195" first="Davon" last="Kiser"], Sr., WR, [player_tooltip player_id="50263" first="Ahmad" last="Moten"], Sr., DT, [player_tooltip player_id="128090" first="Kamari" last="Moulton"], Jr., RB, [player_tooltip player_id="128343" first="Dylan" last="Rizk"], Jr., QB, [player_tooltip player_id="111567" first="Mason" last="Thomas"], Sr., DE <strong>2021 Schedule:</strong> West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman, W 40-14 Fort Lauderdale Stranahan, W 37-8 Gainesville Buchholz, W 16-7 Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian, W 35-21 Plantation American Heritage, L 23-20 Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest, W 56-7 Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, L 39-14 Venice, W 28-22 Pembroke Pines Flanagan, W 44-8 Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest, W 42-0 Miami Gulliver Prep, W 36-33 St. Petersburg Lakewood, W 36-18 <strong> </strong> <strong>Cocoa Tigers</strong> <strong>Record: </strong>11-1 <strong>Head Coach: </strong>Ryan Schneider <strong>10 Players To Watch: </strong>Donte Cook, Sr., WR, D.J,. Grimes, Sr., Athlete, Cedrick Hawkins, Jr., CB, Samadrae Hawkins, So., OLB, Marcus Hopkins, So., OLB, Malik Lewis, Sr., CB, Jmariyae Robinson, Sr., WR, [player_tooltip player_id="50011" first="O.J." last="Ross"], Sr., Slot, Loren Ward, So., DE, Davin Wydner, Sr., QB. <strong>2021 Schedule:</strong> Vero Beach, W 42-41 Kissimmee Osceola, W 21-20 Venice, L 21-20 Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast, W 56-55 Orlando Dr. Phillips, W 19-15 Viera, W 39-14 Port Orange Spruce Creek, W 27-14 Lake Minneola, W 42-6 Rockledge, W 20-14 Bushnell South Sumter, W 41-0 The Villages Charter, W 54-21 Jacksonville Bolles, W 35-24 <strong>SIGN UP FOR FLORIDA STOCK RISER EVENT - TODAY: </strong><a href="https://events.prepredzone.com/info?website_id=4&event_id=397">https://events.prepredzone.com/info?website_id=4&event_id=397</a> <em><strong>You Can Contact [player_tooltip player_id="111610" first="Larry" last="Blustein"] with prospect or team information at: Floridakids1@aol.com</strong></em>