Green Sea Floyds tops Military Magnet for first playoff win in 13 years
Tony Sullivan sounded a little bit like Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Friday night.
With his team ahead just 7 points at halftime against a Military Magnet team it had beaten by 47 points earlier this season, the Green Sea Floyds football coach told his players to simply relax.
That the Trojans did as they opened the second half with newfound energy that led to a 52-23 win over the Eagles in the first round of the Class A playoffs.
“The trip down – it’s about three and a half hours with traffic and stuff – so it took us a while to get down here. With a big, long drive like that when you haven’t done it, you don’t know how you’re going to respond,” said Sullivan, whose team led 23-16 at halftime. “… I knew what the problem was. I think we were just pressing ourselves and putting pressure on ourselves to win the playoff game. I just went at halftime and said ‘Look, guys, just relax. All we’ve got to do is play football and everything will work out.’ It was a totally different team in the second half. They came out relaxed and we got two quick scores on them there in the second half and was able to rally a little bit and get a big lead. We just relaxed and started playing football.”
The result was Green Sea Floyds’ first postseason victory since 2003. Sullivan said the Trojans also broke school records for points scored in a season and rushing yards for a campaign, but the totals weren’t immediately available Friday night.
“Just amazing. Very blessed. We want to give all the credit to God, No. 1. God is here. [We’ve been] putting faith in Him and practicing hard and buying in – not just on to the game plan but just to what we’re trying to accomplish as a team. That’s where all the credit has to go right now,” Sullivan said. “We’re just so blessed to be going to the second round of the playoffs and have the opportunity to play again. Our kids are just thrilled to death and it’s just something very, very special for our community.”
Mohammad Graham ran 19 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns – eclipsing 1,000 yards for the season – Akil Gause had 10 rushes for 101 yards and two scores and Shaquan Gilliard ran three times for 70 yards and a TD for GSF, which piled up 423 yards on the ground and limited Military Magnet to 226 total yards.
Next up for the Trojans is a trip to C.E. Murray for a second-round matchup.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game. We’ve got a long ride, about a two-hour trip for us. The good thing about this one is we’ve made that trip now, so we should be accustomed to it, we should be ready,” Sullivan said. “We’ve just got to take care of ourselves and the bumps and bruises we’ve got – that everybody has at this time of the year – get back next week and just make sure that we’re healthy and focus on the things we’re doing – running, blocking and tackling. We’re looking for an opportunity to win another week.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2016 at 12:17 AM with the headline "Green Sea Floyds tops Military Magnet for first playoff win in 13 years."