St. Frances Academy (Md.) finished last season on top of the high school football world. The Free State powerhouse wants all the smoke in 2026 — and it received just about all it could handle in its season-opening 49-35 win on the road over DeLand (Fla.) on Friday night.

It took two fourth-quarter scores and snuffing out a fake punt for the visiting Panthers to finally pull away down the stretch. Senior running back Sa’Nir Brooks and senior receiver Vegas Brown were responsible for getting St. Frances over the finish line.

The former broke off a 47-yard touchdown run to give his team the lead for good. The latter caught a 20-yard TD pass at the right pylon from sophomore four-star quarterback Justin Merriman to put the Panthers up two scores with less than seven minutes to play.

St. Frances led 35-21 in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs continued to fight, running the ball well while finding ways to get off the field on defense. Constantly throwing the Panthers different looks, they routinely drove into the red zone and converted on the ground, scoring twice to even things up at 35, converting a 2-point conversion and missing a PAT in the process.

The Panthers, who entered as the No. 2 team nationally per the Rivals Composite Rankings, headed South to take on one of the top programs in the Sunshine State; DeLand entered as the No. 11 team in Florida. On paper, it looked like SFA had both the clear defensive and offensive edge. That wasn’t always the case.

The Bulldogs were more than up for the challenge on their home field. Keeping the St. Frances defense off-balance, they found pay dirt three times in the first half and entered the locker room tied up at 21. DeLand attempted multiple onside kicks and played like a group that felt it could defeat the No. 2 team in the nation.

DeLand was up for the task early

DeLand struck first with a long drive that resulted in a red zone rushing touchdown in the middle of the first quarter. It then made it clear that it wasn’t going to bullied by the Panthers’ offense, as it sacked Merriman, the son of Shawne Merriman, forcing a punt.

Merriman would soon scramble to his left for a 15-yard score to get St. Frances on the board later in the quarter. The Bulldogs had an answer, though. Junior four-star running back Taihj Moore was a handful for the Panthers and he broke off multiple long runs on Friday night.

The two teams traded scores, but it was DeLand that executed a 2-point conversion while SFA’s extra point was blocked, resulting in a 14-13 lead for the home team. St. Frances soon got the lead thanks to a punt return score via Brown, who later iced it with the TD reception. It then had a chance to add on before halftime, but a fumble was recovered by DeLand, which then drove down the field again and punched in another score.

Big plays propelled St. Frances

The long 75-yard punt return from Brown saw the senior shake off a couple of tackles before hoofing it up the left sideline then toward the middle of the field. While DeLand showed it has the roster capable of hanging with the Panthers, it was the occasional burst that really made the difference.

Merriman connected with sophomore Kentae Davis on a drag from around 35 yards out and he quickly cut up the field for a long score to give St. Frances a 28-21 lead in the third quarter. That lead grew to two scores on its next drive as Brooks, a three-star prospect in the 2027 cycle, peeled off the pile, spinning out to his right for a 49-yard TD run.

Sanir Brooks TD for St Frances Academy, they have reclaimed momentum here in the 2nd half. 7:40 to go in 3rd Quarter, PAT is good

St Frances Academy 35
DeLand 21@Andy_Villamarzo@JMarkG1962@HSFB_Scoreboard@CenFLAPreps@offsidepreps@CountyPolk@polk_way@FLPrepVarsity… pic.twitter.com/3wygogeo5u

— Central Florida High School Football Recruiting (@football305407) August 29, 2026

His second massive run of the evening was the scoring play that put St. Frances ahead in the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-10.5, 200-pounder is a top-500 recruit and top-40 RB in the nation. He ran like it on Friday.

St. Frances’ two-game Florida swing to open the season will now take it to Vero Beach, another top-20 program in the state, next week. DeLand, which opened its season with a 35-34 win over Lake Wales last week, will return to action on Sept. 11 against Lake Mary.

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