Location: Gene Cox Stadium, 601 Paul Russell Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32301
Tickets: GoFan
Tigers 2022 Season Record: 6-3
Tigers 2022 Season Stats: https://www.maxpreps.com/fl/cocoa/cocoa-tigers/football/stats/
Last 19 Years vs Seminoles: The Seminoles have not played the Tigers in the last 19 years.
How to Watch: https://fhsaa.boxcast.com/#/broadcasts/dakz9en1g4ogpj1va4za?channel_id=vhlhvzxbguryburepez8
Playoff Bracket: https://fhsaa.com/sports/2020/10/1/FB_2022_2Sbracket.aspx
Game Day Essential Volunteer List: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0f4fadac2fa7fd0-20225
News Coverage
Tigers roar into final: Blake Boda, Cocoa deny Bradford in Class 2S football semifinal
Clayton Freeman
Florida Times-Union
12/2/2022
Even after watching a two-touchdown lead dwindle to zero, Blake Boda never wavered.
“We’ve been through adversity all year,” Cocoa’s senior quarterback said. “This was nothing different.”
Holding off a furious comeback from Bradford with help from a career game by wide receiver Jayvan Boggs, Cocoa held on to deny the host Tornadoes 31-21 in Friday night’s Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2S football semifinal.
Running back Anthony Bridgewater rushed for the clinching touchdown inside the final two minutes and Cocoa forced a pair of fourth-quarter turnovers, sealing a trip to Tallahassee’s Gene Cox Stadium for next Friday’s state championship against hometown top seed Florida High.
Cocoa’s Blake Boda (12) throws the ball during the third quarter against Bradford. Cocoa won 31-21 to advance to the Class 2S final.
And Boda, Florida’s leader in passing yardage, lived up to his billing in a near-flawless outing — 19 of 25 for a pair of scores and 324 passing yards.
For the four-time champions, it’s a return trip to the finals, as well as the second consecutive year in which they’ve knocked out a Northeast Florida school in the final four. Last year, they rallied past Bolles in the Class 4A semifinal. (read more)
STATE SEMIFINALS PREVIEW: A look at tonight’s games in all nine classifications with predictions
Joshua Wilson
www.floridahsfootball.com
12/2/2022
No. 4 Bishop Verot (Fort Myers) (10-2) at No. 1 Florida High (Tallahassee) (13-0), 7:30 PM – The visiting Vikings have not played in a state semifinal game since 1994 and have not been to a state championship game since that year where they lost to Union County (Lake Butler) who was on the start of an impressive tear of 52-wins that took place between 1994 and 1997. For the host Seminoles, they are in their second straight state semifinal and third overall in the last four years. With this being a long road trip for the Vikings and playing a Florida High team that has gotten better over the course of the season, this will be a tall order of a challenge to overcome if they want to make a return trip to Tallahassee next week for the Class 2S State Championship. PREDICTION: Florida High 31, Bishop Verot 20
No. 3 Cocoa (9-3) at Bradford (12-1), 7:30 PM – Bradford is in the state semifinal for the first since 2004 while Cocoa is in an unprecedented 16th straight state semifinal. The fact the visiting Tigers have been in the state semifinals this many times in a row is unheard of. For the host Tornadoes, they are looking to play in their first state title game since 1985 while the visiting Tigers are looking to play in their eighth overall state championship game dating all the way back to 2008. Cocoa, who finished the 2021 season last year as the Class 4A state runner-up, had a lot of firepower on both offense and defense and played one of the toughest schedules in the state with two of their three losses coming to Jones (Orlando) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale), both Class 3M teams and playing in the state semifinals as well this week. For Bradford, the only team they lost to this season in Suwannee (Live Oak) was knocked out last week and had to fight hard in a come-from-behind victory over Baker County (Glen St. Mary) last week. Throw out the seeding numbers in this game as the Tornadoes will be the considerable underdog in this one. PREDICTION: Cocoa 35, Bradford 20 (read more)
It’s final! Cocoa beats South Sumter for 3-2S regional title
Chasite Banks
Florida Today
11/25/2022
Cocoa High traveled to the other side of Orlando for the Region 3-2S final on Friday and beat the No. 1 seed in the region, South Sumter.
The Tigers won 35-7, their 16th consecutive regional championship, a stretch starting in 2007 that has included seven state championship appearances and four titles.
“Things weren’t perfect. We faced some penalty problems here and there, but every time adversity happened they stepped up and performed,” Cocoa head coach Ryan Schneider said. “We talk about it all the time and it’s one of the reasons football is such a great sport because adversity happens, and the kids did a great job.”
Cocoa, now 9-3 and winner of seven games in a row, will play a Class 2S state semifinal game on Dec. 2 in Starke against Bradford, which defeated Baker County for the Region 2 title, 28-17. Bradford improved to 12-1. (read more)