Cocoa High School wins second straight state football championship

COCOA, Fla. — The Cocoa High School Tigers won their second-straight Class 2S state football championship Friday after taking down the previously undefeated Bradford High Tornadoes out of Starke.

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Before the game, Cocoa Head Coach Ryan Schneider told Channel 9 Sports that he knew the matchup with Bradford would be a tough one.

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Cocoa won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half.

The Tornadoes would capitalize by jumping out to an early lead on a touchdown pass from Quarterback Dae’Jon Shanks to Calil Cummings, but it would be their only score on the night.

The Tigers answered with 20 unanswered points starting with a touchdown pass from Quarterback Brady Hart to a wide-open Nicholas Teeter.

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Later in the second quarter, Running Back Latrison Lane punched one in on the ground from 10 yards out to cap off a 99-yard drive.

Cocoa went into halftime ahead 14-6 and would add to their lead in the second half with two field goals, essentially controlling the game for the rest of the night.

Cocoa would go on to win the game by a final score of 20-6, handing Bradford their only loss on the season and becoming back-to-back class 2S State Champions.

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“We didn’t play great. I called some really crappy calls and put us in some bad spots, but we talk all the time about how we’re going to handle adversity. How are we going to handle the good moments and the bad moments? And I think our kids did a good job handling that, staying focused and pushing forward,” Coach Schneider said after the big win. “I’m proud of our guys. They fight every day to be the best they can be on and off the field, to be the best, not just player but human they can be. Our coaches did an unbelieveable job coaching them, staying through the good moments and bad moments and we were able to pull it off.”

It’s the sixth state title for Cocoa in school history.