Celidonio-to-Harris combo fuels Vero Beach win against Venice

The state's longest active regular-season winning streak is closing on some elite company.

Nick Celidonio threw three touchdown passes to Demarcus Harris as Vero Beach High School's football team rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to defeat defending Class 7A state champion Venice 42-20 at Venice.

Harris finished with eight catches for more than 220 yards as the Fighting Indians won their 44th consecutive regular-season game.

Vero Beach needs two wins to tie Hardee County (2001-06) and Union County (1993-98) for No. 2 all-time. Lakeland won 60 regular-season games in a row from 1995-2001. 

Venice, which finished 14-1 last season and is ranked sixth in 7A to start this season, led 20-14 at halftime, but Vero Beach forced three second-half turnovers.

Bryan Primus-Winston rushed for two touchdowns, and Celidonio ran 16 yards for the go-ahead score 77 seconds into the third quarter.

Vero Beach (1-0), ranked eighth in Class 8A, pulled away as Celidonio hit Harris with touchdown passes of 63 and 31 yards in the fourth quarter.

Sebastian River 21, Martin County 19: Tony Perry's first regular-season game as the Sharks coach turned out to be historic.

A 21-year assistant under all four previous head coaches, Perry became the first Sebastian River coach to win in his debut when the Sharks rallied past Martin County 21-19 at Shark Stadium.

Javian Tomlinson kick-started the rally with an 86-yard kickoff return after the Tigers had built a 13-0 lead.

Tomlinson had rushing touchdowns of 2 and 6 yards on Sebastian River's next two possessions 

George Johnson had running, passing and receiving touchdowns for Martin County (0-1). He caught a 74-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Chreitzberg in the first quarter, had a 10-yard run in the third quarter and threw a 7-yard pass to Trevor Parent with 52 seconds to go.

Kyle Bergener's 2-point run came up short, and Sebastian River recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

It also was the regular-season debut for Martin County's Rod Harris.

St. Lucie West Centennial 23, Fort Pierce Westwood 6: Blayne Watkins threw two touchdown passes as the Eagles won their season opener at Lawnwood Stadium in Fort Pierce.

Watkins threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Dwight Toombs II and a 22-yarder to Cole Mistretta with 35 seconds left in the third.

Myles Youngblood added a 1-yard touchdown run and Rylee Medlin kicked a 27-yard field goal for Centennial (1-0), which defeated Westwood by a double-deigit margin for the second year in a row.

The Eagles' defense produced four takeaways, including three interceptions of Westwood quarterback Coy Gray.

Tremayne Price scored on a 19-yard run in the first quarter for Westwood (0-1).

Treasure Coast 54, Lake Wales 44: Sean Miller rushed for three touchdowns as the Titans opened their 13th season by winning a back-and-fourth shootout at Lake Wales.

Tyrec Thompson had a kickoff return for a touchdown for Treasure Coast (1-0), which led 26-23 at halftime.

Shamar Minnis, Keegan Davis and Joey Fleurjuste added one rushing touchdown apiece for the Titans, who set a school record for points in a game. The previous high was 52 in a 2008 win against Santaluces and matched in a 2016 win against Fort Pierce Westwood.

John Carroll Catholic 42, Okeechobee 17: Jay Allen, Ashton Lalicon and Moose Cheyne threw touchdown passes to Jacob Krauza as the Golden Rams rolled to a win in Mickey Groody's debut as head coach.

Lalicon added two touchdown runs and Cheyne had one for John Carroll (1-0), which led 28-10 at halftime.

Veyon Washington rushed for one touchdown and passed for another for Okeechobee (0-1).

Jensen Beach 20, South Fork 6: The Falcons built a 14-0 halftime lead and went on to a season-opening win at Jensen Beach.

Bradyn Bythewaty and Da'Quan Gonzalez had touchdown runs for Jensen Beach (1-0), which got a leg up on the Fergie Ferguson County Championship Trophy.

Ryan Gross had a 1-yard touchdown run for South Fork (0-1).

Fort Pierce Central 19, Lyman 12: Trenton Surloff rushed for one touchdown and returned a fumble 90 yards for a touchdown 7 seconds before halftime as the Cobras handed Jeff Cameron a win in his Cobras coaching debut.

Lyman got a 60-yard punt return and 62-yard run to close within 13-12 after three quarters, but Central's Mason Burritt scored on an 11-yard run with 8:32 to play.

Lake Placid 28, Port St. Lucie 21: The Green Dragons scored all four touchdowns on plays of 30 yards or longer to top the Jaguars at Port St. Lucie.

Javarie White returned a kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and Quwesmael Sholtz had a 70-yard punt return TD and scoring runs of 30 and 70 yards, the last with 11:46 to play for Lake Placid (1-0).

Tyler Stone threw touchdown passes to Montavious Yearby and Gavin Johnson for Port St. Lucie (0-1).

Yearby also had a 7-yard touchdown run, giving him at least one in 10 of his past 11 games. 

Victory Christian 28, Nation Christian Academy 0: Cornelius Shaw rushed for two touchdowns during a three-minute span of the third quarter as the Storm spoiled the Eagles' inaugural game at Lakeland.

After a scoreless first half, James Johnson scored on a 21-yard run to get Victory Christian (1-0) rolling.

Legacy Charter 20, St. Edward's 7: Mike Mangieri threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Will Sternberg in the fourth quarter for the Pirates' lone touchdown in a season-opening loss at Lakeland.