TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Durant Falls To Sarasota

ADVERTISEMENT

A Tribune staff report

Published: October 9, 2007

PLANT CITY - Durant coach Mike Gottman stood in the rain at 10:15 Friday evening, disappointed his team couldn't play the second half of its game against Class 6A-District 6 rival Sarasota with a 13-7 lead.

'We wanted to finish no doubt about it,' Gottman said Friday. 'Playing in a wet condition would have given us an advantage.'

Friday night the rain poured. The field was spotted with puddles. The Cougar run game was grinding it out. And Sarasota quarterback Casey Kelly wasn't driving his team down field. Then the lightning came and the game was postponed until Monday evening.

Monday, Gottman's fears about dry conditions seemed prophetic as the skies were clear and Kelly took advantage, leading the Sailors to a 22-19 victory.

Sarasota (3-3) opened the third quarter with a 67-yard touchdown strike to Robin Rothenbach on the Sailors' first play. Not to be outdone, Durant quarterback Jeremy Fussell responded on the Cougars next drive with a 38-yard run followed by a 32-yard touchdown pass to Royce Rose.

Rice carried most of the load for the Cougars adding 100 yards to his first half total of 110, but Durant (2-4) couldn't find the end zone again in the game. In the fourth quarter, a fumble on the Sailors' 4-yard line was answered with a 95-yard drive ending in a 36-yard pass again from Kelly to Rothenbach.

Durant took over with 2:12 left in the game, but saw its final chance at a win end in an interception by Sarasota cornerback Tyler Dawn as Fussell was hit while he threw.

Jarrett Guthrie

PLANT CITY 21, EAST BAY 10: Plant City running back Keith Dawson ran for 151 yards and had touchdown runs of 47 and 85 yards, while Sirchauncy Holloway ran for 84 yards and one touchdown as the Raiders (4-2) finished off the Indians (1-5) to move to 2-0 in Class 5A-District 7.

East Bay quarterback Rex Ballenger threw five passes Monday after both teams threw only one on Friday.

Barry Carroll

HUDSON 66, WIREGRASS RANCH 18: Zack Wynn threw for five touchdowns and 208 yards as host Hudson rolled in a Class 3A-District 8 contest.

Hudson (3-2) running back Sean Scott ran for 157 yards on 12 carries and four touchdowns. Scott ran for 61 yards and one score.

Wynn completed nine of 16 passes in his career game.

Wynn first connected with Anthony Germano on a 48-yard scoring strike with 10:13 left in the first quarter. Germano caught three of the scoring strikes. His scores came on passes of 48, 53 and 56 yards.

Wynn hit Dylan Jordan on a 36-yard strike early in the second quarter. Hudson went on to score 37 points in the second period with Wynn throwing four of his TD passes.

Larry Bugg

LAKEWOOD 14, BRADENTON BAYSHORE 7: Lakewood forced two turnovers, one a fumble recovery that set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Jacquez Jenkins, to defeat Bradenton Bayshore. Played Monday were the final four minutes of a suspended game from Friday night that was delayed because of inclement weather.

Bayshore (2-3) had the ball at midfield when play resumed with just under five minutes left in the Class 4A-District 9 game. Bayshore appeared to be marching to set up a potential game-winning field goal when Spartans defensive lineman Kyle Voigt recovered the ball at the Lakewood 41.

Seven plays later, Jenkins scored on a reverse to the left side. He was tackled at the goal line but just had enough momentum to score with 57 seconds left.

Lee Diekemper

ZEPHYRHILLS 14, PASCO 7: With a dozen tackles for loss including four sacks, the Zephyrhills defense led the way to the Bulldogs' win against Pasco to improve to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Class 4A-District 8 play.

Following Friday's rainout with 2:13 left in the first quarter, Zephyrhills returned to hold Pasco to 90 yards of offense. The Pirates' Josh Johnson accounted for 95 yards of rushing and 24 yards passing.

Neither team got much going on offense. Zephyrhills finished with 125 total offensive yards, 91 of which were from Chris Henry, who had the go-ahead 19-yard touchdown run with 3:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Pasco (2-4, 1-1) opened the scoring with 2:26 left in the third quarter when Johnson, who came in at quarterback for D.J. Clower in the third quarter, ran in for a 20-yard score.

On the next play, Henry had an 80-yard kickoff return, busting out of several attempted blocks to the Pasco 18-yard line that set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Guy to Jordan Smith.

Cristina Ledra

LAND O' LAKES 39, TARPON SPRINGS 20: Before Land O' Lakes resumed its lightning-suspended game against Tarpon Springs, Gators coach John Benedetto had a feeling his team would have to endure a sluggish start. It was slow and they did endure, overpowering the Spongers in the Class 4A-District 8 showdown.

Land O' Lakes (5-1, 2-0) built a 17-0 advantage and had a third-and-15 from the Tarpon Springs 40 before the game was stopped with 2:41 left in the second quarter Friday night.

On Monday's first play, Land O' Lakes fumbled the ball to the Spongers (3-2, 1-1), who scored on a 50-yard pass from Danny Reyes to Brian Bowie four plays later.

Land O' Lakes went on to outscore Tarpon Springs 22-20 in the second half, behind the running of Ben Hipps (83 yards, two TDs), receiver Jerome Harrison (7 catches, 93 yards, 1 TD) and a defense that notched three interceptions, two sacks and a fumble recovery. That kept things even after the Spongers outgained Land O' Lakes 344 yards to 277.

Eddie Daniels

LAKELAND 31, LAKE GIBSON 17: Lakeland increased its winning streak to 51 games Monday night with a Class 5A-District 8 victory against Lake Gibson. The game had been suspended Friday night.

Lakeland jumped to a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter, but Lake Gibson found life on an Aaron Truedell 6-yard touchdown run. Lakeland regained control on as Jason Guzman zig-zagged his way through defenders for a 27-yard touchdown.

After a defensive stand, Lake Gibson kicked a short field goal to pull within a touchdown at 17-10, but Lakeland pulled away after a third-quarter touchdown pass from quarterback Jarred Haggins to Leon Broxton.

Erik Sabol

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT