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Largo Smacks Countryside

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A Tribune staff report

Published: November 22, 2008

LARGO - The Packers scored 28 unanswered second-half points to turn a close game into a rout in a Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinal as Largo beat Countryside 42-17 Friday.

Running back Marcel Durham was the beneficiary of the offensive explosion. He scored five touchdowns - two short of the school record held by Dexter McCluster - on runs of 4, 25, 11, 1 and 49 yards. Durham finished with 155 yards on 25 carries.

"I couldn't do it without my teammates," Durham said.

With the win, Largo will host St. Petersburg on Friday. The Devils beat Dunedin 20-10.

"We get to eat turkey together," Durham said.

In the first quarter it appeared Largo might get burned for not putting Countryside away. The Packers dropped a long pass in the end zone and also dropped an interception deep in Countryside's territory that would have been a sure six points. What could have been a 28-0 lead early was only 14-0.

Aided by Countryside quarterback Jimbo Chmelik's 9-yard draw for a touchdown, the Cougars pulled within 14-10 before half.

Then, Largo decided to play smash-mouth football - running between the tackles. That enabled an occasional long pass to Mike Lang to open up which resulted in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Eppes.

"It was like shooting darts," Durham said. "Sometimes you have to find that certain spot and in the second half, we did."

Lee Diekemper

PINE CASTLE CHRISTIAN 21,

KESWICK CHRISTIAN 14

ST. PETERSBURG - It was a playoff game that host Keswick Christian (6-5) seemed to have under control, but Orlando Pine Castle Christian (6-5) came back to take the win.

The teams battled evenly through the first three quarters, but with 31/2minutes left in the game, Pine Castle got the winning score on a 53-yard Steve Edwards to David Alls pass to advance to the Class 1B-Region 3 final.

The Crusaders took a 7-0 first-quarter lead when Doug Sanson hit Trevor Angell with a 9-yard scoring pass. They made it 14-0 when Jaylin Coleman dashed 30 yards after taking a pitch from Sanson.

Two consecutive pass interference calls set up Pine Castle for a touchdown with no time left on the clock in the first half. The score came on a 5-yard pass from Alls to Larry Poynter.

The game turned for the visiting Eagles when Keswick muffed the second-half kickoff. The Orlando team recovered and started a drive from the Keswick 15. Workhorse running back Cody Large took the ball in from the 1.

Mike Moore

ST. PETERSBURG 20,

DUNEDIN 10

DUNEDIN - St. Petersburg came up big, winning its Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinal against Dunedin.

Dunedin scored first in the second quarter on a 31-yard field goal by T.J. Day.

After a fumble recovery by the Falcons, they went on to score a touchdown with a 2-yard quarterback keeper. Those were the last points scored by Dunedin.

At the end of the second quarter, Green Devils kicker Devon Papandrew put them within 10-3 with a field goal. Junior Malik Wilson ran for 14 yards to score a TD and tie the game at 10 in the third quarter.

Papandrew kicked a 33-yarder with 4:50 left in the fourth to put St. Pete ahead for the first time. With less than two minutes left in the game, Wilson sealed the win on a 20-yard TD run.

Shaunna Trudelle

MERRITT ISLAND 28,

TARPON SPRINGS 7

MERRITT ISLAND - Merritt Island (7-4) rushed for 242 yards against the Spongers (8-3) and built a 28-0 lead in the third quarter before breezing in the final 17 minutes.

Tarpon Springs, which has lost nine consecutive playoff games, broke up the shutout bid with 4:47 left when reserve back Darius Daniels scored from the 8.

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