Our Sonic Player-of-the-Game for Thursday, Oct. 26, is Luke Matthews of the Gainesville football team.
Matthews helped lead the Hurricanes to a 49-14 win over South Lake (Groveland) on Senior Night at Citizens Field, completing 13 of 16 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns.
The junior threw three touchdowns in the second quarter as Gainesville pulled away to a 42-7 halftime lead and played the second half with a running clock.
The defense set the tone early for Gainesville, which took a 14-0 lead in the opening quarter on a fumble return and interception return for TD’s, then the offense took over, scoring on the next five drives.
Matthew’s first touchdown pass was 15 yards to junior Jordyn Howard which answered a South Lake TD to extend Gainesville’s lead back to 28-7.
He then followed up on the next drive with a 31-yard scoring pass across the middle to junior Jalen Kelsey, then capped off the first half with a 54-yard bomb down the left sideline to senior Taurean Hill right before the half to extend the Hurricanes lead to 42-7.
Matthews added his fourth touchdown pass to his fourth different receiver in the third quarter, tossing an 9-yard score to senior Christian Miller-Cardwell.
The win improved Gainesville’s record to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in District 5-6A, and while the ‘Canes can’t win the district, as Vanguard (Ocala) has already wrapped up the title, they can continue to add points to try to qualify as a wildcard.
GHS will host Lake Weir (Ocala) in their final district game on Monday night, in a game that is being made up due to Hurricane Irma. You can hear the game ‘live’ Monday on 92.1 FM & 1230 AM in Gainesville, as well as audio online at The Prep Zone, beginning with our pregame coverage at 6:45 p.m.
Every game The Prep Zone will recognize a Sonic Player-of-the-Game. The recipient receives a $10 gift card & certificate courtesy of Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville & Ocala.
