_{August 29th, 2025}
by Josh Zedner
Miami, Fla. | “Royals Dominate Generals”

Florida Man Sports is back with Week 2 coverage of the 2025 South Florida high school football season! The season is in full swing at this point and exciting matchups are on the horizon. Tonight we had a matchup between the Immaculata-La Salle Royal Lions and the Jackson Generals. La Salle didn’t get to play last week due to poor weather, while Jackson was blown out by North Miami in Week 1.

It was clear from the minute that this game kicked off that we were going to have a beatdown on our hands. Right away the La Salle defense got off to a great start with a sack from 2027 EDGE Phillip Jones Jr. and TFL on a muffed punt by 2026 S Daniel Marin. And on the first play of scrimmage for the offense, 2028 QB Nate Merrell Jr. dropped a dime to 2027 WR Tyrone Williams to get the Royals out to a 7-0 lead.

And the La Salle defense just kept dominating, with Marin having a sack on the next drive, preceded by a TFL from 2027 LB Jordan Diaz. After a poor punt, the Royals were in great position to strike yet again. 2027 OL/DL Javon Neal had a sack on Merrell to stall, but after a first down connection between Merrell and 2028 WR Jayvion Robinson, La Salle was on the goal-line. 2028 RB Adrian Cox punched the ball in to make it a two-score game.

Marin and the defense continued to dominate. 2027 LB Raul Alvarez got in on the fun on the next drive with a TFL. Merrell connected with 2028 WR Kamari Vasquez on a screen to get the Royals into the red zone again. And then Cox scored another touchdown for La Salle. This game was wraps at the beginning of the 2^nd quarter. After Alvarez had a sack on the next drive, there was a fumbled punt and La Salle was on the goal-line again (no, really).

Right away Merrell found Williams in the back of the endzone, with a beautiful toe-tap from the receiver to complete the connection. Jones and Marin had TFL’s on the next possession, followed by a tip-drill interception made by 2028 S Christopher Spikes. Merrell had another touchdown a couple plays later to a wide-open 2027 WR Torrance Jones. 34-0 La Salle at this point.

Let’s go through a couple more of the highlights in this rout. 2026 LB Jayden Noel had an interception for La Salle. Marin (who was the best defensive player on the field) had an interception as well. 2028 DB Kareem Forbes had another interception in garbage time. 2026 LB Ian Destinobles forced a fumble that was recovered by Noel in the endzone for a touchdown. A backup to backup touchdown combo from 2028 QB Christian Perez and Robinson. There were sacks by Jones, Alvarez and Diaz which gave the Royals an extra 2 points to get the lead out to 50-0. That was the final tally.

La Salle looked very impressive in this scrimmage-material game. They have a defense that allowed I would say about 2 or 3 first downs for the entire contest. Merrell is young and could definitely use some more seasoning, but he does look like he has some great potential with his size and stature. I would say the potential for this team is very high is well given the overall youth on the roster. Jones, Alvarez, Merrell and Williams are all players that have years left to play in high school. Despite how Jackson looked as a team, this was still a very impressive performance for La Salle and it’s not farfetched to believe that this team will have a lot of success this season and into the future. They will go on the road and face off against Belen next week in what should be a slightly more competitive game.

Jackson, I don’t even know what to say. What happened to this program? They have about 20-25 players on the entire roster. The starting QB was playing DE for them in this game. It is just not a good situation for them right now. They have to tighten the ship up there. And fast, because they face off against Somerset Academy on Friday.

FINAL SCORE:
Immaculata-La Salle beats Jackson 50-0

Florida Man Sports Player of the Game:

2028 QB Nate Merrell (3 Passing TDs)


About Josh Zedner:
Joshua Zedner is a beat writer covering high school football for Florida Man Sports. A native of Miami Beach, he attended Florida International University before finishing his undergraduate Business Administration degree at the University of Florida. Josh is an avid Miami sports fan, and he also writes a music review blog as a passion project under the @AlbumAnalysisWithZ handle on Instagram.