ORLANDO, Fla. – State Championship No. 12 will have to wait for Corky Rogers and the Bolles Bulldogs. Thursday night, Cocoa got off to a fast start and beat the Bulldogs 31-17 to claim the 2016 Class 4A State Title.
From the first drive of the game it was clear that Bolles was in for a rough night. Tigers running back Javian Hawkins exploded for 70-yard touchdown run to give Cocoa an early 7-0 lead.
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That was the first of many huge plays for the Tigers. The most impressive thing about Cocoa was that they did nearly all of their damage on the ground. They found the end-zone again on their second offensive possession making the score 14-0 Cocoa.
Bolles responded with a short touchdown pass to E.J. Porter that cut the deficit to 14-7 with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
It didn't take long for Cocoa to respond. Tigers quarterback Bruce Judson put this game out of reach for good with a 75-yard touchdown run. On the Tigers first 18 plays (all runs) they accounted for 235 yards as they led 24-7 at halftime. The Tigers didn't even register their first pass attempt until late in the third quarter.
Bolles would add a second half touchdown but they never got within two scorers.
"They do a great job with the running game and they have great players everywhere," Rogers said after the game. "We tried our best and I thought we were in pretty good position but they've got some really good players and we didn't make some tackles. On tonight's game they were the better football team."