9-10-04 HS Football Reports

[E.T.]

Published Saturday, September 11, 2004

Kathleen Stymies George Jenkins

By DURWARD BUCK

Ledger Correspondent

LAKELAND -- Kathleen High School has added another dimension to its football team this fall -- the forward pass.

Quarterback Antoine McCoy, whose main chore in the 2003 season -- when the Red Devils were 9-0 during the regular season -- was to hand off the ball to running backs such as Marcus Okobi, ran a controlled offense.

McCoy has new responsibilities this season. Friday night, he threw for a pair of touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions as the Red Devils defeated George Jenkins, 28-2, at Johnny Johnson Stadium before a crowd of about 2,000.

"I think the word for it is balance," said Kathleen coach Richard Tate of the diversified offense.

"We still want to run the ball, but we can do other things. And our defense was outstanding again."

Kathleen (1-1) built a 14-0 halftime lead behind the passing of McCoy and the polished running of 200-pound senior Okobi, who finished with 244 yards on 25 carries.

The Red Devils added two more scores in the third period.

Jenkins had a safety in the last minute of the third period and added a couple of golden opportunities in the final period, recovering fumbles at the Kathleen 30 and then at the Kathleen 12.

On both possessions, the Red Devils' defense, sparked by ends Albert McClellan and Darrell Lake, held.

Okobi put the Red Devils on the scoreboard with a 54-yard off-tackle run when less than four minutes had elapsed.

They drove 87 yards in the second period with McCoy contributing a 10-yard run on a keeper.

He also had a 55-yard scoring run nullified by a penalty. He passed to Gerald Duffey 22 yards for the touchdown, then threw to McClellan for a two-point conversion.

Kathleen took the second-half kickoff and drove 75 yards for a score, with Okobi earning all but 2 yards in the six-play drive, including a 1-yard run for the touchdown.

Four plays later, the Red Devils had the ball again at their 14 and used 11 plays to score again.

This time, it came on an 18yard toss by McCoy to Donnell Moore. Counting two conversion passes, he completed seven passes to six different receivers.

[E.T.]

Published Saturday, September 11, 2004

Mulberry Defense Holds On Against Zephyrhills

Ledger staff

ZEPHYRHILLS -- Mulberry's defense scored once and stopped a late threat as the Panthers held on for a 13-7 victory over Zephyrhills on Friday night.

Roshea Brown's 1-yard run that capped a 13-play, 83-yard drive in the first quarter put the Panthers up 7-0.

Mulberry held that lead until early in the fourth quarter. Zephyrhills quarterback Joe Burgess, who was picked off twice, dropped back to pass, and Ricky Parker batted the ball away.

Freddy West scooped up the loose ball and ran 51 yards to give Mulberry a 13-0 lead.

Zephyrhills had possession three times in the last five minutes. Two drives ended with interceptions. Myron Carr intercepted one pass, and George Fields picked off the other pass.

Northside Christian 15, All Saints 7

Northside jumped out to a 15-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter and held off visiting All Saints for the victory.

All Saints scored in the fourth quarter when Dominique Jones returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown. Harrison Chadwell added the PAT for the game's final score.

All-Saints (0-1) next plays host Hernando Christian on Sept. 18.

Fort Meade 34,

Avon Park 12

AVON PARK -- The Fort Meade Miners ran for 167 yards as a team in routing Avon Park at Joe Franza Stadium.

Senior David Barfield rushed for 55 yards and sophomore Henry Grace added 43 yards to lead the way.

Anthony Johnson passed only three times, but completed two of them for 81 yards and a touchdown.

Avon Park trailed by one point, 13-12, then went down by 15 points in a span of 90 seconds.

With the ball at his own 12yard line and 5:02 left in the third quarter, Red Devils quarterback Garry Jenkins was pressured in the backfield by a pesky Miner defense and coughed up the ball, which Fort Meade recovered on the Red Devils' 6-yard line.

Three plays later, Johnson ran the quarterback keeper around the weak side and scampered in for the touchdown and put Fort Meade up 20-12 after an extra point with 4:15 remaining in the quarter.

Senior lineman Kenneth Eldell grabbed a deflected pass and ran it back for a touchdown to put the score at 27-12 with 3:37 left in the third.

[E.T.]

Published Saturday, September 11, 2004

Bulldogs Silenced In Loss

By MIKE AKINS

Ledger Correspondent

FROSTPROOF -- Kyle Turner rushed 120 yards and two touchdowns to lead Sebring to a 28-0 victory over Frostproof in front of about 400 fans at Faris Brannen Stadium Friday night.

The Blue Streaks (2-0) scored the only touchdown they would need four minutes into the game. Turner scored from 7 yards out, the Streaks ran 28 plays in the quarter, compared to four for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs could not get anything going in the first half as the running game was stifled by the Blue Streak defense.

Quarterback Greg Perry threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to receiver Aukee Daniels on Sebring's next possession to take a 14-0 lead before Frostproof could even get a first down.

The Bulldogs used the running of both John Gaines and Carlton Thomas to move the ball in the second half, but of those drives ended with turnovers as the Bulldogs committed four in the game.

The Bulldogs will host Nature Coast next Friday night.

[E.T.]

Published Saturday, September 11, 2004

Evangel Shuts Out T. Catholic

By RUSSELL McMULLEN

Ledger Correspondent

LAKELAND -- Not even a soaked and sloppy field could stop Evangel Christian's two-pronged rushing attack of Rod Coby and Austin Davis, as Evangle cruised to a 38-0 win Friday night in high school football.

Davis led all rushers with 147 yards on 11 carries. His teammate Coby had 129 yards on just eight carries and added four touchdowns. Coby set the tone for the night early on with a 50yard touchdown run on Evangel's second play from scrimmage. The Chargers took only one play to score again on the next possession, with Davis scoring on a 32-yard run.

Evangel stopped itself from scoring on at least two possessions with penalties. The Chargers finished with 10 penalties totaling 100 yards.

When it wasn't backing itself up with penalties, Evangel was dominant on offense averaging more than 13 yards per rush.

"Our offensive line did a great job tonight," said Evangel head coach Brian Davis.

If the Chargers stalled themselves with mistakes, Tampa Catholic was standing still all night. The Crusaders had two fumbles lost, both of which led to an Evangel touchdown.

They also had a dropped snap on a punt which led to the punt being blocked. The only bright spot for Tampa Catholic was Raj Arasu who gained 109 on 27 carries.

Coach Davis said he liked the aggressiveness that his team played with.

"If we can keep the aggressiveness and cut down on the penalties, I'll be a happy coach," he said.

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Published Saturday, September 11, 2004

Bartow Downs W. Haven

By Roy Fuoco

The Ledger

roy.fuoco@theledger.com

WINTER HAVEN -- Bartow coach Shawn Killets doesn't quite know how good is Yellow Jackets are this year. What he does know, however, is they're good enough to win in a blowout for the second week in a row.

The Yellow Jackets scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from Winter Haven for a 40-14 victory Friday night at Denison Stadium before a sparse crowd of about 500 fans.

Killets saw a lot of good things from his team. The running back by committee combined for 185 yards on 30 carries -- Carl Edler led with 78 yards. He got a touchdown pass on an option pass of 54 yards from Todd Sims to Geno Johnson, and Bartow scored two defensive touchdowns.

What the second-year Bartow coach didn't like was seeing his team give up 197 yards passing and commit 13 penalties.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Killets said. "We need to keep our focus for four quarters."

Another reason for that assessment was due to watching Bartow take a 21-0 lead, only to see Winter Haven rally to make it a 21-14 game after one play in the third quarter.

Winter Haven's Jason Taylor forced a fumble with a hard hit on the opening kickoff of the second half to give the Blue Devils the ball at the Bartow 27. On the next play, Winter Haven quarterback Tim McNamee found Eddie Smith for a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-14.

It was all Bartow after that score.

On their next possession, the Yellow Jackets drove 62 yards on the running of T.J. Jackson, Edler and Ryan Colson. Jackson's 17-yard run set up Edler's 13yard touchdown run.

Winter Haven managed to keep the score there until midway through the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils drove to midfield. Then on third-and-10, Winter Haven couldn't handle a swing pass that was a lateral. Sims picked up the loose ball and rumbled 45 yards for the touchdown with 7:10 to play.

Edler added a 19-yard touchdown pass two minutes later.

"They had the momentum, but we found a way to hang on and make some plays in the end," Killets said.

Winter Haven's offense was limited to McNamee's passing. He connected on 11 of his first 13 passes for 180 yards, but went 3of-13 after that for just 17 yards.

Bartow jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half on a 28-yard run by Colson, a 25-yard interception return by Jack Edmund and the Sims-to-Johnson pass.

The Blue Devils finally scored midway through the second quarter on a 5-yard run by Drek Hubbard.

[E.T.]

Published Saturday, September 11, 2004

Hornets Fall to Colorado Team

By Donna Fellows

Ledger Correspondent

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- The Bear Creek Bears (2-1) quickly became the Bad News Bears for Haines City (0-2) in a high school football game Friday night at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.

The Bears, who traveled from Lakewood, Colo., for the game,defeated the Hornets 39-6 in front of 500 fans.

"It's going to be a long season," said Haines City coach Pat Herrington as he shook his head disapprovingly after the loss.

The Hornets sole score came with 2:48 remaining in the first half.

Kendall Berry scored on a 5yard run to cap a 10-play, 77yard drive to cut the Bear lead to 26-6 at the half.

Berry led the Hornets' offense with 97 yards on the ground.

The Hornets' offense was held to 119 total yards, including just 7 yards passing.

"I'm optimistic about our running game," said Herrington, while adding his concerns about the passing game and the defense as a whole. "The defense is just a nightmare for me."

The Hornet defense allowed 400 total yards and six touchdowns during the game. The Bears tallied 214 of those yards rushing.

"We played terrible on defense again," Herrington said. "I'm at a loss for words on how bad we're playing on defense."

The Hornets returned just one defensive starter, Barry Estiverne, from last year's squad. Estiverne, however, was injured in last week's loss to Bartow, leaving the Hornets with a rookie defense entirely.

"We're playing with eleven brand new kids," said Herrington. "It's tough."

Bob Ellis led the Bear offense, rushing for 115 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries. He also three extra points.

Ellis had scoring runs of 28 yards, 4 yards and 52 yards, respectively.

Bear Creek quarterback Garrett Gunberg threw for the other three Bear scores.

Gunberg connected with Aaron Dirschell for a 63-yard strike late in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Gunberg hit Aromus Robinson for a 13-yard score and Riley Newcomer later scored on a 1yard scamper.

"We're just going to strap it up and come back next week," Herrington said.

Haines City will host Auburndale next week.

[E.T.]

Published Saturday, September 11, 2004

Rainey Helps Lakeland Pound Miami Senior, 56-15

By RICHARD CONNERS

Ledger Correspondent

LAKELAND -- The Lakeland Dreadnaughts trounced old foe Miami Senior, 56-15, on Bill Castle Field at Bryant Stadium Friday night in front of a crowd of just 900.

The Dreadnaught take a 2-0 record into district play next week against East Bay at home, but Lakeland coach Bill Castle is hesistant to feel confident even though his team has outscored their opponents 104-15.

"East Bay is a good team and we know we have a lot of improvements in certain areas," said the head coach of three-time state champions.

The 'Naughts took their opening drive 60 yards on seven plays capped by sophomore Chris Rainey's seven-yard touchdown run.

Rainey had 215 all-purpose yards, rushing for 135 yards on six carries and returning a kickoff for 80 yards.

After Lakeland scored, Miami's (0-2) next play from scrimmage was a 74-yard touchdown run by Yaponan Desouza, who racked up 130 yards on 14 carries for the game, to tie the game at 7-all with 6:37 left in the first quarter.

The tie lasted 23 seconds, which was the amount time it took Lakeland's Eric Jean to return the ensuing kickoff 82 yards and give the 'Naughts a 14-7 lead.

On the `Naughts next possession they moved the ball 67 yards in four plays, culminating in Steve Chauncey's three-yard plunge up the middle.

Chauncey, who ran for 70 yards on eight carries, scored three consecutive touchdowns for Lakeland and give the 'Naughts a commanding 35-7 halftime lead.

"I liked the way our offensive line played in the first half," said Castle.

"We need to take it one game at a time."

Lakeland rushed for 301 of the team's 367 total yards, 87 coming from another sophomore, Jamar Taylor, who sprinted 80 yards to put the `Naughts ahead 49-9 with 11:41 left in the game.

"We didn't look that great in the second half," Castle added. "We need to improve defensively, especially with East Bay coming up."