Bradley Battles has big night in opener

[Mama_Bull]

Bulldogs' Battles blitzes Blountstown

September 5, 2008 - 11:34PM

By Josh Weinfuss / News Herald Writer

MARIANNA - Lightning can strike twice. And then over and over again.

Marianna's Bradley Battles and Dre Long kept on flashing by the Blountstown Tigers' defense Friday night, leading the Bulldogs to a 34-7 win in the schools' season openers.

The game plan was simple, Marianna coach Rob Armstrong said: Get Battles his touches.

The Bulldogs handed off to the senior running back 28 times. The USF commit ran for 191 yards and two touchdowns, including an outcome-clinching 39-yard scramble to put Marianna ahead 27-7. Battles gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with a 6-yard run in the first quarter.

Long finished with 93 yards on 10 carries and a 31-yard touchdown run in the second quarter as Marianna totaled 379 yards for the game.

"That was the plan, get on them with Battles and then go back to Long," Armstrong said.

The game had a rushed feel to it throughout because the scoreboard broke Thursday night, leaving time to be kept on the field. It just made Marianna (1-0) run faster.

The Bulldogs rotated running backs throughout the game, another plan of Armstrong's. Senior Quan Boykin had 69 yards on eight carries, including the last score of the game on a 20-yard run.

Junior Fidel Montgomery, who lined up behind center at times, had 15 yards on two carries and a touchdown.

Blountstown's first-half struggles started immediately. Its opening kickoff went out of bounds, giving Marianna the ball at its 35. The Tigers' first possession ended on a fumble by Demarco Johnson.

Blountstown's first significant play came with 4 minutes left in the first half on a 22-yard completion from quarterback Heath Bailey to Cavon Cox. Blountstown gained only 51 yards in the first half, but picked it up after halftime with 125 yards and a touchdown.

Malcolm Ivory capped a 74-yard scoring drive in the third quarter with a 2-yard jaunt to pull the Tigers within 14-7. Alexander Garrett broke a 20-yard run a play after Ivory dashed for 21 yards. Those two plays put Blountstown inside Marianna's 35.

"It's a game of emotion," Blountstown coach Greg Jordan said. "It's a game of momentum."

http://www.chipleypaper.com/articles/marianna_1063_eemcvarsity__article.html/yard_yards.html

[Mama_Bull]

Another RB verbal Adaris Bellamy had a pretty decent game, considering they were keying in on him.

Dunedin 14, Boca Ciega 9

By Joey Knight, Times Staff Writer

In print: Saturday, September 6, 2008

DUNEDIN — The seven-man front of Boca Ciega's defense had proven too suffocating, too speedy for Dunedin's touted tailbacks. Seemingly every end-around was met with a takedown, every counter with a counter punch.

So with time running out on their season opener Friday night, Falcons coach Mark Everett ditched his rushing attack and employed a sneak attack instead. As a result, the Falcons awaken this morning still undefeated.

Lanky junior Ryan Singer's 25-yard quarterback sneak — right past the Pirates' overpursuit — with 7:54 remaining propelled the otherwise neutralized Falcons to a 14-9 triumph.

And all Singer really wanted on the run, which capped Dunedin's most sustained drive of the night (10 plays, 65 yards), was a first down.

"We had two plays going depending what the defense was going to show us," said Singer, a Countryside transfer. "If the linebacker was showing blitz we were changing out to a passing play. Still they showed blitz, and I was ready to run. All my teammates were behind me."

To that point, the Falcons had been concurrently lifting their quarterback's spirits and 175-pound frame from the turf. Singer was sacked four times by Bogie's relentless blitz, which surrendered only 101 rushing yards — and 8 passing yards — all night.

Enjoying only slightly better success was USF commitment Darius Bellamy (19 carries, 59 yards), who struggled to get untracked against a defense clearly keying on him.

"We were prepared for (the blitz)," Everett said. "They just beat us to the punch."

But Dunedin managed to stay in the game with some fierce defense of its own, which provided the evening's first score. On the Pirates' sixth play from scrimmage, junior Ali Cheaib scooped an errant Pirates pitch on the hop and raced 35 yards for a touchdown.

Bogie answered on its next drive when Latavien Washington took a right toss sweep for a 60-yard touchdown. Two penalties, including a personal foul, before the extra point resulted in Zackery Mathew missing a 41-yard PAT, but he booted a 22-yard field goal in the second.

Subtract Washington's touchdown run, and the Pirates finished with 70 rushing yards. Sophomore quarterback Shaquille Bradford had modest success (10-for-17, 98 yards, one interception) but was intercepted by Adrian Williams in the left flat with 1:45 to play.

That essentially sealed the game — and the legend of the Singer sneak.

"We had one guy assigned to the quarterback, but at the same time we had linebackers blitzing in the gap, and nobody took the mind to pick up the quarterback," Bogie coach Stevie Thomas said.

Dunedin 14

Boca Ciega 9

[Last modified: Sep 06, 2008 12:47 AM]