Brevard County High School Football Game Night Live Updates

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Brevard County High School Football Game Night Live Updates

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Final preseason scoreboard Aug. 27

Astronaut 25, Titusville 21

Melbourne 35, St. Lucie West Centennial 0

Strawberry Crest 21, Heritage 6

Rockledge 21, Eau Gallie 6

Space Coast 35, East River 19

Viera 28, University 6

Satellite 48, Gateway 7

Palm Bay 31, Palm Beach Lakes 0

Thursday:

Bayside 28, Merritt Island 3

MCC 39, Florida Air 13

Holy Trinity 34, Cocoa Beach 27

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Brevard County High School Football Game Night Live Updates

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Brevard County High School Football Game Night Live Updates

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Palm Bay plays Friday

Note that if you're planning to attend the Palm Bay football game, it is a Friday game rather than a Thursday game. Palm Bay plays its preseason game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Palm Beach Lakes.

If you can't attend a game, remember you can sign up for text updates at floridatoday.com. Quarter scores will come to your phone for any school or schools you choose. Just go to our www.floridatoday.com/highschoolsports and sign up. Also, tonight and every night we have high school football games, you can follow along with our online updates at www.floridatoday.com/highschoolsportsblog. It's the quickest way to get updated scores.

Also, our 30-minute television show premiers tonight at 8:30 on WBCC-TV. You can watch that on channel 5 if you have a Bright House digital box or on channel 68 if you have Dish Network, DirecTV or AT&T Uverse.

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Melbourne High football practice

One thing that has Melbourne High football coach Todd Wilson pleased thus far is effort.

"I think our kids have really worked hard," Wilson said during Wednesday's practice. "It’s not to say that we don’t have our moments, and not to say that we don’t make a mistake, but our kids have done a good job for us."

The Bulldogs went 6-6 last season and advanced to the regional finals of the Class 5A playoffs, losing to Bayside. They earned a 4-0 first-round victory against Santaluces. This season, Melbourne is young in a few spots, including the offensive line, which does not have a returning starter. Sophomore Sterling Munich takes over at quarterback. He was praised by Wilson for his mobility and leadership skills.

Melbourne spent time working on several different drills on Wednesday, including running, passing, one-on-one physical drills, fumble recovery and linemen fundamentals. The Bulldogs also worked quite a bit on special teams, something Wilson said has been a main focus at practice.

The preseason opener is Friday, Aug. 27 at St. Lucie West Centennial. Melbourne's regular-season opener is Friday, Sept. 3 at Merritt Island.

"I just want our kids to go out and compete," Wilson said. "We do that and good things will happen."

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Eau Gallie High football practice

At Eau Gallie they have something called an "eye-opener" drill. Each practice after calisthenics, the team does a different drill, first-year head coach Tim Powers explained, "to get the juices flowing." On Tuesday, the drill was a one-on-one battle between teammates surrounded by players and coaches who yelled words of encouragement. Players lined up against each other, met at the whistle, drove their legs and locked up for several seconds in some cases. The drill seemed to meet the coach's desired result.

The Commodores are young. They're coming off a 1-9 season and they're changing their offense from the spread to a power running game. For that to work, the players will have to be tough, which is something Powers has been preaching since he took over the job.

The running game is solidified with talented senior Irvin Rutledge and sophomore Jordan Benton, whom coaches are high on. Powers also likes his defensive line, which he says is very athletic.

Three players are in the mix for the starting QB job: Sophomore lefty Grant Trower, junior Javon Pressley and freshman Torrance Brown. There are about 40 players out for varsity this season, Powers said. Eau Gallie plays at Rockledge on Friday, Aug. 27 in a preseason classic.

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Holy Trinity practice

The Tigers had six out on Tuesday, but the regular number of varsity players is 24. The practice was still lively as the team worked on special teams early. It was another hot day in Brevard County, and water breaks were frequent.
Marcus Maye, still with two seasons to play for Holy Trinity, has played all over the field because of his abilities. Because of his size -- 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds -- he should see more time at linebacker this season. He still prefers safety and expects that to be his position once he moves on from Holy Trinity.
Coach Eddie Edwards said his offensive and defensive lines are his deepest units, but that's considering depth is an overall problem as the numbers battle continues. Like other private schools, HT will need its team to stay healthy just to have full practice squads.
There are five Tigers seniors this season.

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Florida Air Academy football practice

Finally, the Falcons' turn. The Florida Academy football team had its first practice of the season on Monday -- one week after the rest of the county. FAA had just 25 players in uniform, though head coach John Kraynik said he expects between 27 and 30 by the start of the season.

Though the numbers are low, the quality should be good. The Falcons feature one of the top running backs in the county in senior J.J. Keels. He has added about 12 pounds in muscle weight and looks great. Siricia Mitchell (6-1, 220) and Latray Bell (6-2, 240) -- both seniors -- also bring size, talent and experience to the table.

FAA will have a new quarterbck in junior Loliya MacHarry, a transfer from New York Military Academy. He demonstrated a nice touch and some speed on Monday. Starting Tuesday, the team will begin practicing two-a-days.

The Falcons are coming off a 9-3 season in which they advanced to the Class 1B Regional semifinals. Kraynik said expectations are to win the district championship. FAA meets Melbourne Central Catholic in a preseason classic on Aug. 26.

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Satellite football practice

Satellite's overall size was noticeably bigger on Monday. The Scorps lined up for photo day, 40 on the varsity in all. About 30 are seniors, but many of those are first-time players for the Satellite program. There are seven transfers, including former Melbourne Central Catholic star J.T. Washington. He will immediately improve the team's speed.
Look for another big year from Josh Massanova. He learned a lot from his first year as a quarterback, and the new weapons will make him more dangerous. Receiver Cody Cooper also drew praise on Monday, both from coach Andrew Disney and Massanova.
Disney said chemistry will be one of the main challenges as Satellite goes through growing pains. The increased number of players -- including some who are new to the team -- could take away touches from some players who are used to having nice statistics.
Disney said last year's four wins -- up from zero -- was not fulfilling. He wasn't ready to talk playoffs because the district includes Cocoa, Astronaut and Rockledge, but both he and Massanova expect big things.
As for other strengths, Disney is optimistic about both front lines.

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Bayside practice

The Bears have 55 varsity players, and size is the most impressive thing upon arrival. That includes a number of large freshman who will be helping the Bayside football program for years to come.
Bayside is going to be senior-heavy on offense, led by quarterback Richard Burrows, running back Johnnie Hicks and receiver Jhomo Gordon. Hicks worked a bit on kicking on Friday. He'll likely get some help on extra points this year, though his strong leg will still be available for field goals.
The defense is younger, but Smith likes the progress he sees from his team overall, saying "We're way ahead of where I thought we'd be."
Part of the reason could be the success and the path of 2009. The Bears played Lakeland, Manatee and long-time rival Palm Bay, along with Cocoa.
"Playing teams like that has built an air of confidence," Smith said. "I think we've built an air of confidence that we can play with, not only any team in the state, but in the country. That's not to say we would beat every team in the country, but we could play with anybody."

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