Bloomingdale advances to region final with 24-14 win over Armwood

Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Times

VALRICO, FLORIDA— The Bloomingdale Bulls and the Armwood Hawks faced off in the season opener of the 2020 season; the Bulls won that matchup 15-14. However, Friday night’s matchup meant a lot more, whoever won would advance to the Region Final, and whoever lost would see their season come to an end. Bloomingdale, led by 4-star wide receiver and Alabama commit, Agiye Hall, were undefeated on the season, and looked to keep that going. They knew they’d have a test tonight in Armwood, who is 5-3 after not having lost more than 2 games in a season over the last 15 years. Bloomingdale knew where they stood against Armwood; they had already beaten them this season, but they’d just have to do it again.

The Bulls started the game off strong, as they marched down the field all the way to the Armwood 19-yard line. However, quarterback, Tre Simmons’, pass was intercepted, and the Hawks took over from their own 25-yard line. The Bulls’ defense then came up with an interception of their own to give the offense the ball back, and they took over at their own 36-yard line. Bloomingdale took advantage, as Simmons completed a 64-yard pass to Jac’son Boone to give the Bulls a 6-0 lead (PAT no good). After a Bloomingdale sack for an 11 yard loss, Armwood was forced to punt. The Bulls came all the way to the Armwood 19-yard line, but couldn’t get in the end zone. They were forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal, and ended the first quarter with a 9-0 lead.

The Bloomingdale offense came up with another big sack to start the second quarter, pushing Armwood back all the way to their 4-yard line. As a result, Armwood was forced to punt. After Simmons ran 8-yards to the Armwood 27-yard line, and completed a pass to DJ McQueen to bring them to the Armwood 9-yard line, the Bulls couldn’t get in the end zone. They were forced to settle for a field goal attempt, which was no good. However, the Bulls’ defense forced a turnover on downs at the Armwood 48-yard line. However, Simmons’ pass was intercepted by Kye Stokes in the end zone for a touchback, and the Hawks took over at their own 20-yard line. After both teams went 3 and out, the first half ended with Bloomingdale up 9-0.

After Armwood punted to start the 2nd half, Bloomingdale started to find an offensive rhythm. Simmons completed a pass to Jayden Segarra for a 1st down to their own 43-yard line, and he completed a pass to Agiye Hall to the Armwood 33-yard line for a 1st down. Simmons then ran it himself to the Armwood 11. Brycnn Bennett then capped off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run, and gave Bloomingdale a 15-0 lead (PAT no good).

The Bulls weren’t ready to give the ball back, however, as they recovered an onside kick, and took over at their own 43-yard line. Bloomingdale took advantage, as Tre Simmons completed a pass to Agiye Hall for 45 yards and a touchdown (2 point conversion no good). After Armwood was forced to punt, Simmons completed a pass to Unique Lewis for a 1st down to the Armwood 15-yard line. The Bulls couldn’t get in the end zone, and were forced to settle for a 36-yard field goal. Bloomingdale ended the 3rd quarter with a 24-0 lead.

Armwood knew they needed to give all they had to get back in the game with one quarter left, or their season would come to an end. They started it off as quarterback, Cam’Ron Ransom completed a long pass to the Bloomingdale 5-yard line. Ransom then ran the 5 yards into the end zone to make the score 24-6 (PAT no good). After a forced Bloomingdale punt, the Hawks took advantage yet again. Ransom found wide receiver, Richard Ousley for a 45-yard touchdown to make the score 24-14. The Hawks wanted to see if they could cut the score to 8 by attempting a 2-point conversion. However, the Bulls came up with their 6th sack of the night to keep them out of the end zone. After a forced Bloomingdale punt, the Bulls’ defense then forced a turnover on downs, which secured a 24-14 win, and a trip to the region finals.

Bloomingdale will improve to 11-0, continuing their perfect season. The Bulls will take on Tampa Bay Tech next week in the region final, on Friday, December 4th, at 7:30 PM. The Armwood Hawks season has come to an end, and they end with a record of 5-4.