Bishop Verot beats undefeated Estero, gets closer to district title

ESTERO, FLORIDA – Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers might have the best quarterback in all of Southwest Florida.

Carter Smith threw for 2,000 yards last season and accounted for 80 percent of the offense as a freshman. But to go farther this year, Vikings coaches knew they couldn't be so one-dimensional.

Against Estero High on Friday, with a district title on the line, Bishop Verot found that balance. And they found it in another breakout freshman star.

Ninth-grader Deshon Jenkins rushed for 153 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Vikings to a blowout victory over host Estero. Bishop Verot (6-2) won 57-10 and handed Estero (7-1) its first loss of the season.

"That was the piece we were missing last year," Bishop Verot coach Richie Rode said. "You gotta keep teams off balance, and you can't have (Smith) do everything. We had to get something going we didn't have last year."

Now the Vikings can get something they haven't had in 31 years – a district title. Bishop Verot will win the Class 2S-District 16 championship with a win at Key West next week.

If Key West wins, there would be chaos. In that case, Bishop Verot, Estero and Key West would be tied atop the district and would need to go to a tiebreaker. However, the regular season would be over at that point, so it's unclear when the tiebreaker would be played and how it would affect the FHSAA playoff brackets' release.

Jenkins entered the game with four TDs all season. He had three in the first quarter, and they came on just six carries, including a 47-yard scamper. Bishop Verot was up 21-0 entering the second quarter.

"It was amazing," Jenkins said. "I'm really proud of my (offensive) line. "When I got out there and got the ball, the holes were real wide open."

The Vikings jumped on Estero from the start. They scored five touchdowns in the first 18 minutes to go up 36-0 midway through the fourth quarter.

Bishop Verot then scored two touchdowns on the first seven plays of the second half. After scoring on the first play of the third quarter, the Vikings recovered their own onside kick (in response to Estero's two straight onside kicks). Six plays later Jenkins added his fourth TD.

That gave Bishop Verot seven touchdowns in 26 minutes of game time and a 50-10 lead with 9:23 left in the third quarter. The rest of the game was played under a running clock.

Vikings senior receiver Trevontay Watts hauled in touchdown passes of 55 and 46 yards from Smith. At least one of those came against Estero defensive back Jason Duclona, who has multiple Power Five offers and recently decommited from Rutgers.

"That was my goal to beat him every time and score," Watts said.

Smith finished with 271 yards and two touchdowns on 16-of-19 passing, He also ran in two scores. Smith now has 20 passing TDs and 10 rushing TDs in eight games this season.

Estero's points came in a flurry late in the first half. The Wildcats got a 27-yard field goal from Nicholas Van Port Fleet with 1:20 left, then recovered an onside kick. Estero drove 51 yards, all on passes by Matt Wilson, including a 25-yard touchdown to Duclona with 18 seconds to go before the half.

BISHOP VEROT 57, ESTERO 10

BV 21 15 14 7 -- 57

E 0 10 0 0 -- 10

SCORING

First quarter

BV: Deshon Jenkins 14 run (Deaglan Camron kick), 8:43

BV: Jenkins 2 run (Camron kick), 5:21

BV: Jenkins 47 run (Camron kick), 0:34

Second quarter

BV: Trevontay Watts 55 pass from Cameron Smith (Camron kick), 9:01

BV: Smith 19 run (Riley Bowe run), 6:08

E: Nicholas Van Port Fleet 27 field goal, 1:20

E: Jason Duclona 25 pass from Matt Wilson (Van Port Fleet kick), 0:18

Third quarter

BV: Watts 46 pass from Smith (Camron kick), 11:50

BV: Jenkins 8 run (Camron kick), 9:47

Fourth quarter

BV: Smith 2 run (Camron kick), 8:23