Dunbar and Naples ready for region finals rematch

Writer: Sylvie Sparks
Published: Updated:
Dunbar Naples

Naples senior defensive back Kensley Louidor Faustin still feels the sting of his team’s loss to Dunbar in the playoffs a year ago.

“That’s the motivation we have and we’re not trying to do that again so we’re just going to keep working hard,” Louidor Faustin said. “Everybody knows what the goal is.”

Dunbar senior linebacker Kyeran Garcia told me he hopes that win will help his team win again.

“We’ve just got to really follow what we did last year,” Garcia said. “We can’t get into our heads.”

This year the Eagles and the Tigers meet in the region finals and momentum is on the Eagles’ side.

They hammered Port Charlotte a week ago 63-33.

Naples junior running back Shawn Simeon put up 405 yards and scored seven touchdowns, both are school records.

“It was a great experience,” Simeon said. “My coach told me big time players make big time plays in big time situations, so I just executed off of that and went from there.”

Dunbar Head Football Coach Sam Brown understands his club’s challenge: keep Simeon contained.

“We’ve just got to try and keep the game close and then hopefully at the end we have a chance to try and win that thing, but if you let those backs get going then then it’s going to be a long, long night for us,” Brown said.

So how do both teams stay in this fight?

Garcia and Louidor Faustin both told me that no one can afford to take a play.

Focus will lead the better team to victory.

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