No. 3 Bishop Moore shuts out Davenport for 4A-7 title

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – The sting of losing a state championship game can be the perfect motivation for the squad that follows. The Bishop Moore Hornets can attest to that.

With last year’s narrow 1-0 loss to Miami St. Brendan in the 2022 Class 4A state game still on their minds, the Hornets unleashed a fury of speed, offense and defense to shut out visiting Davenport, 6-0, on Thursday night for the Class 4A, District 7 championship. It was the 17th shutout of the season for Bishop Moore, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, and propelled the Hornets into the regional quarterfinals on Wednesday, Feb. 8, as a host team.

“I think last year, us losing (the state final), that was the turning point that flipped the switch,” said junior Brandon Salcedo, who scored the game’s first goal on an assist from Jace Overturf. “We want to win this year.”

The will to win was evident for Bishop Moore. Six players scored for the Hornets, including four in the second half when they put the game away.

“In the semifinals, we had eight goals and seven guys scored,” said Bishop Moore coach Tom Hage, alluding to the Hornets’ 8-0 rout of Mount Dora. “That’s what we’ve been preaching all year long. The depth.

“It doesn’t have to be one particular kid getting all the goals because a team scouts us and says, ‘Hey, let’s take number 7 (Overturf), out’ and then Brandon will be ready or someone down the flank.”

Salcedo broke a scoreless tie with a goal with about 22 minutes left in the first half. Marcus Acevedo then banged one in from about 20 yards out to give Bishop Moore a 2-0 advantage.

Davenport goalkeeper Noah Hernandez made a number of fantastic saves in the first 40 minutes, preventing the game from getting out of control early. The Hornets outshot the Broncos 16-1 in the first half.

But Bishop Moore’s unrelenting attack and suffocating defense proved to be too much for Davenport over the last 40 minutes.

Bishop Moore goalkeeper Matthew McCall, who has been a part of four straight varsity teams, was rarely threatened. His defensive teammates made sure of it.

“I’m just excited right now,” McCall said. “We have a lot of work left. Last year, I think we got too excited, too quickly, so we’re going to keep our eyes on the final prize.”

Bishop Moore’s focus remained razor sharp in the second half. Overturf, the Hornets’ leading scorer coming into the game with 44 points, took a nice pass from John Gardner and rifled a shot into the net with 35:29 left in the game.

Bishop Moore’s Nico Diaz, Roman Barbieri and Warren Rawlings then found the net after the water break of the second half to close out Davenport.

“I thought we got off to a slow start in the very beginning,” Hage said. “We let the game come to us. I thought when we put the second shift in at the water break of the first half, they came in and kept the pressure on, which is what we wanted to do all night long. Pressure, pressure, pressure. Try to wear them out.

“The second goal was critical to get right before halftime,” Hage said. “The third goal right after the whistle when the second half started, that was kind of the nail in the coffin.”

Davenport (11-7-1), in just its second year of existence, gave four-time state champ Bishop Moore everything it could handle, though, in the first half. The Broncos kept a heavy presence in front of Hernandez and thwarted a number of Bishop Moore opportunities.

The gutsy effort was not lost on Davenport coach Jesse Riggs. “Our guys didn’t quit, they didn’t give up. And, that’s the most important thing,” he said.

Riggs said he is proud of the progress the school has made in just two short seasons. The Broncos finished 2-10-1 last year.

“We’re very young,” he said. “When I put the team together last year, I made the decision to look at lower-class players. The lower-class players have very good ability. We only had two seniors this year and three juniors.”

As for the future, Riggs said: “I think we’ll be contending for the state maybe next year or the year after.”