The CF bench exploded for 51 points as the Patriots won their sixth straight game. Freshman forward Jordan Parks poured in a career high 18 points on 9-for-12 shooting, leading four double-figure scorers. Luis Jacobo scored 14 and reserves Jernell Hughes and Eugene McCrory scored 12 apiece.
Facing an unexpectedly stiff challenge from the last-place Vikings, it took all of the first half for the Patriots to gain some separation and build a 35-28 halftime edge. SJR closed in again soon after halftime before a deep CF squad pulled away for good.
Now tied at 9-2 with Santa Fe, CF (22-7, 9-2 MFC) is in the enviable position of controlling its own postseason destiny. Though a Santa Fe loss Saturday at St. Johns River will give the Patriots the conference title, CF can punch its own ticket with a victory Saturday at FSC-Jacksonville.
Should the Saints win and the Patriots lose Saturday, the Patriots will be forced into a single-elimination playoff for the MFC's second FCSAA State Tournament berth. That game would be at CF on Tuesday against either FSC-Jacksonville or Daytona State.
The eventual conference champion will face the runner-up of the Panhandle Conference in a state quarterfinal game March 7 in Marianna; the MFC runner-up will take on St. Petersburg, which has clinched the Suncoast Conference crown.
