Week 7 Roundup: Melbourne takes down Viera for first time since 2022

MELBOURNE — Coming off a bye week, Melbourne High was eagerly awaiting its district showdown with Viera on Oct. 2. The Hawks entered the meeting on a three-game winning streak over the Bulldogs.

For this Melbourne senior class, they got a taste of victory over Viera for the first time as the Bulldogs set the tone from the opening kickoff to blow out the Hawks 42-13.

"We're incredibly proud. It's been like a monkey on our back we've been trying to get off. Viera has had our number. It's no secret," Melbourne head coach Jeff Pannucci said. "We just can't seem to find a way to get over the hump, but these seniors had never beaten Viera and that was their goal. It feels real good when they set out a goal and they accomplish it. I'm happy for the seniors, I'm happy for the football team and I'm happy for Melbourne High."

Melbourne dominates Viera in district football 42-13

With Viera scheming to contain Melbourne sophomore tailback Tyrese Jefferson, it was the big passing plays from junior quarterback Will Reinhold that was the difference.

Reinhold finished the night completing 5-of-8 passes for 141 yards and 3 touchdowns.

"It feels amazing. We haven't beaten Viera in a minute," Reinhold said. "We put in that score against them from the first play."

The junior lobbed a 42-yard touchdown pass to Jefferson to increase the Melbourne lead to 21-0. On the next possession, Reinhold hit senior Jeremiah Thomas for a 20-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-8. His final touchdown pass with a 65-yard play-action pass to senior DJ Scott with 45 seconds remaining in the first half.

"The offense totally executed that whole entire game," Reinhold said. "Just executing from start to finish every single play. Made smart choices."

Reinhold recorded his first game with multiple touchdown passes. The junior entered the game with 4 touchdowns in four starts. After recording zero varsity starts before this season, Reinhold is closing in on the 1,000-yard mark.

"This is the first time he's started varsity games, so it just takes time. You can see he's getting more and more comfortable. He's winning games with his arm, which we needed when you got a guy like Tyrese (Jefferson) and they're going to send eight or nine guys at him. You got to be able to do that," Pannucci said. "He's growing as a quarterback. He's an incredible leader. Extremely proud of him. He always did the right things when he was not the starting quarterback. He never wavered and it's hard to find kids like that."

The junior said his confidence has increased each game. In his previous two starts, Reinhold threw for over 200 yards on double-digit completions.

"I've seen (my growth) expand exponentially," Reinhold said. "From the first week to now, I feel so much more comfortable and it's an amazing feeling."

Melbourne opened the scoring 13 seconds into the game on a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown by senior Howard Dewitt. It was the senior's third special teams touchdown this season.

"Our kickoffs all night were pinning them deep and they were having problems with that," Pannucci said. "When you return a kick for a touchdown, that's a backbreaker. Special teams were our focus because it hurt us in the Oviedo game and we did a good job fixing that."

That score jolted Melbourne into controlling the rest of the game. Jefferson finished the night with a pair of rushing touchdowns of 8 and 9 yards. The defense limited Viera to 13 first downs and 2 rushing touchdowns.

Bulldogs sophomore TJ Ross and junior Silas Walters sacked Viera quarterback Jaamal Crittington. Melbourne sophomore Aaron Pierce tipped a ball in the air and intercepted a pass to set up Melbourne's final touchdown of the night.

"We did a fantastic job. All week we prepped the same way. We created turnovers, we made stops in the backfield, created negative plays," Pannucci said. "It was exactly what the game plan was. We were going to live with certain things underneath and they executed the game plan perfectly."

Melbourne picked up its first district win of the season and moved to 4-2. The Bulldogs look to carry momentum into another district game on Oct. 9 versus Lake Howell.

"I told them to enjoy it. Lake Howell is a really good football team, so we're going to have to lock in and find a way to be a really good football team," Pannucci said. "Monday's going to come around and this is no longer going to feel good anymore. We're going to find a way to lock in on Lake Howell."

Viera fell behind early and couldn't change the momentum as the Hawks allowed the first 21 points of the game and trailed 35-7 at halftime.

"We had to figure out where we were as a team," Viera head coach Tony Gulla said. "We just got behind early with special teams. Can't make mistakes like that against good teams."

The Hawks' special teams struggled early, allowing the kick return for a touchdown and several short punts that resulted in Melbourne having short fields. Melbourne recorded an average starting field position of its own 44-yard line.

"It was big difference. It was 14-0 before you blinked. We're not a real passing team, so we're behind the 8-ball. Got to give credit to Melbourne and the staff," Gulla said. "They've been planning for this game for a year. I know they have and they did a real good job shutting us down and taking advantage of our weaknesses."

A bright spot for the Viera offense was the full return of senior tailback Duke Butler. In his fourth game of the season, Butler ended the night with 9 rushes for 73 yards and 2 touchdowns.

"The one good thing we found out is that (Butler's) 100%. Last week, he tried to play and didn't feel right," Gulla said. "Everyone's been telling me you got to get through the pain and obviously he got through the pain. In a close game, I think we would have been able to rely on him."

Viera did its job limiting Jefferson on the ground. The Melbourne tailback finished with a season-low 36 rushing yards on 13 carries. However, it was the big passing plays that cost Viera.

"We did a good job with that. That was the emphasis of the week, but you got to cover people. They were smart," Gulla said. "They realized we were shutting the running game down and they were going to pass and they did a good job."

Viera drops to 1-1 in district play and 3-3 overall. The Hawks host Oviedo in another district matchup on Oct. 9

"We beat Oviedo next week and we're right back in it," Gulla said. "We got Lake Howell and Oviedo to get back in it. We got to regroup though. We got to do a better job coaching."