Prep football: Immokalee runs past Lely in district opener

Immokalee runs past Lely

Indians get 56-13 victory.

IMMOKALEE — Competing with the Immokalee Indians at Gary Bates Stadium is always a tall order. Stir in some special ingredients such as district implications, brand-new uniforms and homecoming, and this one wasn’t close.

After an explosive first quarter, the Lely Trojans had no answers for coach Jerrod Ackley’s Indians, who reeled off a 56-13 victory.

“It was a good homecoming. Our kids did a good job of staying focused,” Ackley said. “It is one step closer to where we want to be, but we still have a long way to go.”

With the district opener for both teams in the books, the Indians (5-1, 1-0) and Trojans (1-5, 0-1) will have to see how the three-team Class 5A-District 12 chase ultimately shakes out. Upcoming matchups with Golden Gate will tell the tale. Lely is at Golden Gate on Oct. 21, while Immokalee hosts the Titans on Nov. 4.

Next week, Lely is at home against Gulf Coast while the Indians entertain Cape Coral.

Against Lely, Immokalee demonstrated again its dangerous blend of passing and running. Sophomore D’Ernest Johnson stepped off 161 yards on 13 carries and capped off his night in the fourth quarter with a 16-yard touchdown run.

The Indians made a statement in the district by using their speed. Tshumbi Johnson rushed for 96 yards, including a 66-yard TD burst early in the game. He also passed for 192 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers: J.C. Jackson, Jummy Victorin and Xavier Richardson.

Ackley praised the work of the Indians’ offensive line.

“Those guys did a great job tonight,” Ackley said. “They get better very week. They are the unsung heroes of our team.”

Immokalee held Lely to just 79 yard rushing. The running clock went into effect late in the third period.

Lely quarterback Karbel Dirogene, showing no signs of a tender knee, was able to complete just 8 of 27 passes for 80 yards. One of his early attempts was picked off by the Indians’ Xavier Griffin and returned 92 yards for a touchdown.

Another bright spot for IHS was place-kicker Jesus Velazco, who made good on all eight of his eight PAT tries.

Ackley was not happy with his team’s penalties again. The Indians were flagged 17 times for 195 yards.

“Those kind of penalties will hurt us in a bigger game,” Ackley said.