Friday Night Lights are back! Marco Island Academy’s very own Manta Rays traveled all the way up to Belle Glade to compete against the Glades Day Gators.

Starting out the game with the Gators kicking off, Glades Day attempted an onside kick which they successfully recovered, starting them off in Ray’s territory. The Gators took this opportunity to charge down the field and score six points, but missed their kick, to convert their extra point. Despite attempting the same onside kick again in the next kickoff, the Gators did not recover the ball and the Rays started their offense at midfield. Unable to convert, the Rays turned over on downs, giving the Gators an opportunity to score seven more points. With the Rays being unable to push the ball downfield the Gators scored another two touchdowns in the first quarter. 

Despite the overwhelming momentum that Glades Day had accumulated, the Rays’ defense got much more acclimated and held the Gators to one touchdown in the second quarter. This slight momentum shift gave MIA enough motivation to charge down the field. Junior Gavin Wall scored six points but failed to find the end zone for an extra two points, ending the half with the Gators at 34 and the Manta Rays at 6.

With this shift in MIA’s favor, the Rays charged onto the field ready to compete and continue strong through the second half. However, halftime gave the Gators time to regroup and revitalize themselves to bring their full force through to the end of the game. The Rays had issues gaining yards on offense and weren’t able to stop the Gators’ relentless run game on defense. Ultimately the second half ended with a final score of 61-6 in an unfortunate defeat.

In terms of how our Rays performed on defense, sophomore Ryan Winterick led the team defensively with five tackles and one assist. Freshman Matthew Asbell put great pressure on defense forcing out two fumbles.