The Viera Hawks hosted Melbourne High on Friday night,

VIERA The Viera Hawks got down to the business end of their schedule Friday night with a 52-16 victory over visiting Melbourne in their Class 7A, District 6 opener.

But it wasn’t that easy.

In a game that featured a rain delay of over an hour, the Bulldogs gave the Hawks all they could handle for much of the first half before Viera was able to regroup at halftime and start to put things away.

Quarterback Tim DeMorat completed 16 of 30 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns – including scoring passes of 80 and 55 yards to Travis Jones – to lead the Hawks (4-2).

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Viera also forced four turnovers on defense, two of which led to touchdowns.

But it sure was an interesting first half.

“I don’t know if it was the delay or what, but we came out slow and they came out in the second half and responded,” Viera coach Kevin Mays said. “… Like I told them, we’ll go back and watch film and try to fix some of our mistakes, but definitely the first quarter, quarter-and-a-half, we were not ourselves.”

The Bulldogs (1-4) would probably like to take some credit for that.

After being shutout in its past two games, Melbourne’s offense definitely had things working early on … and that was encouraging.

“Yeah, it is, because we broke through on the scoreboard and we moved the ball pretty well at times,” Melbourne coach Scott Grish said. “We’re going to build off that. We played better defense than we’ve been playing. Even though (they scored) 52 points, they’re not all on the defense, though it’s obviously on the team.

“We’re about through this schedule. Hopefully, we’ll come out healthy and get on a little winning streak and get in the playoffs. We’re planning on it.”

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Viera linebacker Brandon Mays got things started, returning a Melbourne fumble 22 yards for a touchdown to put the Hawks up 7-0. But the Bulldogs answered on their next drive as quarterback Nick Nescio hit Will Loring with a 23-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.

After DeMorat hit Sean Atkins with a 6-yard touchdown pass, the Bulldogs got a 32-yard field goal from Ben Baldwin to cut the Viera lead to 14-10.

The Hawks appeared to take control when, after a nice punt by Viera’s Max Pacheaco was downed at the Melbourne 1-yard line, Jaylin Wilson recovered a Bulldogs’ fumble in the end zone to put Viera up 21-10.

However, once again, Melbourne would make things interesting.

A 24-yard touchdown pass from Nescio to Corey Vincitore would cut the Hawks’ lead to 21-16 following a bad snap on the PAT. The Bulldogs would then get the ball right back at the Hawks’ 40-yard line after recovering a fumble on the kickoff.

A pass interference penalty on Viera moved the ball to the 25, but the Hawks’ defense stood its ground and the Bulldogs were eventually forced to try a 44-yard field goal, which was no good.

Viera got the ball at its 20-yard line, and on the first play, DeMorat hit Jones for an 80-yard touchdown pass and suddenly the momentum was back with the Hawks.

“It was crazy,” Jones said. “(DeMorat) threw it right in the pocket, right where I needed it.”

Viera would get a 22-yard field goal from Trey Schaneville right before the half to make it 31-16.

In the second half, the Hawks got a 17-yard touchdown run from DeMorat, a 10-yard touchdown run by Mike Vega and a 55-yard TD pass from DeMorat to Jones.

The speedy Jones finished with four receptions for 174 yards and the two touchdowns.

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VIERA 52, MELBOURNE 16

Melbourne   7   9  0  0  –  16

Viera          14 17  7  7  –  52

HOW THEY SCORED

1st Quarter

V: Brandon Mays 22 fumble return (Trey Schaneville kick), 10:56

M: Will Loring 23 pass from nick Nescio (Ben Baldwin kick), 6:03

V: Sean Atkins 6 pass from Tim DeMorat (Trey Schaneville kick), 2:26

2nd Quarter

M: Ben Baldwin 32 FG, 9:18

V: Jaylin Wilson fumble recovery in end zone (Trey Schaneville kick), 6:47

M: Cory Vincitore 24 pass from Nick Nescio (run failed), 3:32

V: Travis Jones 80 pass from Tim DeMorat (Trey Schaneville kick), 2:07

V: Trey Schaneville 22 FG, :05.6

3rd Quarter

V: Tim DeMorat 17 run (Trey Schaneville kick), 1:00

4th Quarter

V: Mike Vega 10 run (Trey Schaneville kick), 8:42

V: Travis Jones 55 pass from Tim DeMorat (Trey Schaneville kick), 4:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: M–Shannon Birks 12-29, Will Loring 1-(-2), Nick Nescio 17-(-4). V–Tim DeMorat 7-39, Will Champion 3-12, Mike Vega 4-11, Keith Freeman 2-4, Brandon Mays 1-(-3), Sean Atkins 1-(-5).

PASSING: M–Nescio 18-28-195-2-2. V–DeMorat 16-30-307-3-0.

RECEIVING: M–Loring 6-91, Corey Vincitore 5-58, Wills Kable 4-17, Jayden Jackson 2-24, Jeff Richardson 1-5, Birks 1-0. V–Travis Jones 4-174, Quinton Richard 4-37, Don Jackson 3-32, Atkins 3-21, Jaren Lewis 1-11, Vega 1-10.

At Viera High School, Viera

This game started just after 8 p.m. due to a lightning delay.

Top performers: Melbourne: Nick Nescio completed 13 of 17 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns in the first half Viera: Tim DeMorat completed 8 of 13 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

Key play: Just after the Bulldogs missed on a 44-yard field goal try that would have cut Viera’s lead to 21-19, Hawks quarterback Tim DeMorat hit Travus Jines with an 80-yard TD pass to give the Hawks a 27-16 advantage.

Record: Melbourne (1-3); Viera (3-2)

Next week: Heritage at Melbourne, 7 p.m.; Viera at Palm Bay, 7 p.m.

Carl Kotala, for FLORIDA TODAY