Bishop Verot (Florida) football defeats defending state champ FBA
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA – The Bishop Verot football team continued to roll over opponents, and continued to prove its the best team in Southwest Florida with a huge win in Week 4.
The Vikings (4-0) won 49-22 at home Friday against First Baptist Academy from Naples. It was a showdown of perhaps the best teams from neighboring Lee and Collier counties, and a match-up of the area's top private schools.
Bishop Verot, which went to the Class 2S semifinals last season, had an easy time beating defending Class 1S state champ FBA. The Vikings' other two wins on the field this season are against Dunbar, a Class 3S semifinalist last year, and Port Charlotte, which went to the playoffs in 2022. Verot also has a forfeit victory.
Vikings start slow, then sprint to the finish
Bishop Verot actually trailed in this game. The Vikings went scoreless in the first quarter, failing to convert fourth down attempts on both drives.
FBA scored on the first play of the second quarter, a 2-yard run by Logan Bartley. The two-point conversion put the Lions ahead 8-0.
That was all the motivation the Vikings would need. Bishop Verot scored touchdowns on its next seven possessions. Verot found the end zone on all five possessions of the second quarter, getting five TDs in less than 10 minutes to go up 33-8.
Photo by Adam Fisher
Bishop Verot has a fully loaded arsenal
By now, everyone knows about Carter Smith. The 6-foot-4 junior QB, who has more than 20 Division I scholarship offers, had six passing touchdowns and six rushing touchdowns in Bishop Verot's first two games.
But the Vikings are dangerous because of their variety of weapons. Six different players scored touchdowns for Verot. Ryan Gadson, Matthew Turner and Jack Janeway all caught touchdown passes from Smith. Leroy Roker, Gadson, Smith and Deshon Jenkins had rushing TDs.
Roker's was especially electric. He took a pitch 89 yards to the end zone in the second quarter to give the Vikings the lead for good.
Verot did all this without one of its best weapons. Timmy Lawson, a 6-foot-5 tight end committed to North Carolina, missed the game with a knee injury.
FBA suffers its first loss
The Lions started the season 2-0, outscoring opponents 82-29 despite returning just five starters from last year's state championship team.
However, FBA's offense stalled Friday after it took an 8-0 lead. In the next quarter and a half, as Verot built a 49-14 lead, the Lions gained just three first downs. Two of those came by penalty.
Bishop Verot out-gained FBA 348 yards to 171 in the first half.
Lions junior quarterback Ethan Crossan threw two touchdown passes, to Jayden Petit and Andrew Azunque. Crossan has 10 touchdown passes and zero interceptions this season, while Petit has six touchdown receptions.
