Lee County football playoffs: Lehigh, Bishop Verot suffer shutout losses in regional semifinals

What looked like a potential defensive struggle early turned into a feast for the Wildcats.

Forcing six turnovers, Wharton gave its offense plenty of opportunities, and they never looked back after scoring midway through the second quarter to eventually rout Lehigh 36-0 in a Class 7A-Region 3 semifinal.

The Lightning’s impressive season came to an emotional end. Head coach James Chaney said he told his players in the post-game huddle to remember how they are feeling and channel that into improving.

More: Lightning strikes twice: Alongside mighty offense, Lehigh delivering on defense too

More: Live scores, updates from Southwest Florida high school playoff football games

“Whatever it is, we’re going to get better,” he said. “We’re going to do what we got to do to come back and never let that happen to us again.”

The Wildcat defense proved too dynamic for the Lightning, holding star running back Richard Young to 56 yards on 15 carries. Stopping Young on early downs led to the Lightning throwing the ball more often than they would like.

“We got beat up front,” Chaney said. “Our offensive line couldn’t move those big guys. Those guys played textbook defensive line.”

Freshman quarterback Dorian Mallary fumbled and thew three interceptions, including a pass snagged with one hand by Boston College commit Daveon Crouch. Wharton linebacker Booker Pickett Jr. also tallied three sacks for his squad, and the team recovered a fumble on a kickoff runback and blocked a punt in the contest.

"When that happens, there’s not much you can overcome," Chaney said.

Wharton kicker Ryan Godbold, who went 3-for-3 on the night, ended the scoring drought with eight minutes left in the first half, and it opened the floodgates for the Wildcat scoring.

Quarterback Carson Mohler thew touchdown passes to Jackson Raitt and Jason Cornwall in the first half, and running back Arkese Parks found the end zone from 68 yards out on the second play of the second half. Backup quarterback Taquawn Anthony connected with RJ Broadnax for a score in the game’s final minute.

“I’m not going to let this game really destroy the season that we’ve had,” Chaney said. “I’m so proud of our boys. … I think we probably had a better season that a lot of people expected, and we’re just going to build on this.”

With most Southwest Florida teams unable to make it out of the second round of the playoffs Friday night, Chaney put out a call-to-action for local programs to “make each other stronger.”

“We got to make Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties stronger for each other and stop pointing fingers,” he said. “We got to ban together as a tri-county area and make some noise, and I think we can do that this offseason.”

Class 3A-Region 3

Inopportune turnovers led to Bishop Verot's demise on Friday night.

Berkeley Prep, undefeated coming into the game, took advantage to defeat the Vikings 38-0.

"We saw a level of play that we're obviously not at, but we aspire to be," Bishop Verot head coach Richie Rode said.

Trailing 14-0 at the end of the first half, quarterback Carter Smith threw an 80-yard pass to get the Vikings close to the goal line, but a fumble dashed the team's chances of getting within a score before halftime.

The Vikings fumbled again coming out of halftime, leading to another score by the Buccaneers. Running back Xavier Townsend, and Iowa State commit, was tough for Verot to stop on Friday.

"The problem is we got behind and we became one dimensional," Rode said.

Despite the loss and the disappointment for the team's seniors, Rode struck an optimistic tone about his team's future.

"I'm excited about our young core," he said. "We got some top-level talent."

Rode had particular praise for Smith, who kept the Vikings in the game while it was competitive and put together an impressive freshman campaign.

The Vikings finish the season 6-5 in Rode's first year, but several losses came against the toughest of competition. After getting hired over the summer, Rode will be spending his first offseason with the squad, and he said his returning players are eager to get to work.

"I wouldn’t trade this team," he said. "I couldn’t be happier to be where I'm at, but we got some work to do."

Follow News-Press Sports Reporter Dustin Levy on Twitter: @DustinBLevy. For additional coverage of sports across Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Lehigh, Bishop Verot suffer shutout loses in football regional semifinals