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LOL Can't Hold Lead, Falls 23-20

By BART O'CONNELL

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 22, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Losing was never supposed to be this hard, or this bitter, for Land O' Lakes to take.

But Daytona Beach Seabreeze defeated the Gators, 23-20, in Friday night's Class 4A playoff game.

Gators receiver Alex Robinson admitted that many of the players weren't sure they would be able to hang with Seabreeze. Yet Land O' Lakes ended up leading the Sandcrabs 20-10 with 5:12 to play in the game.

Then Seabreeze leaned on quarterback Dominique Roberts, who finished with 120 rushing yards, 101 passing yards and two scoring passes in the waning minutes, including the game-winner with 22.8 seconds left to escape Gator Stadium with a win.

"We had them," Robinson said. "We could move the ball. They weren't as good as we thought."

The loss, Land O' Lakes' sixth straight state playoff defeat since 2003, had Coach John Benedetto yelling at the officials after the game ended.

"I'm so upset right now, it's probably better for me to sit down and cool off in the locker room rather than talk to you guys," Benedetto said. "Here's all I want to say: My kids played their hearts out."

Gators running back Ben Hipps scored on a 2-yard run with 9:12 remaining to give Land O' Lakes a 10-point advantage. It was set up by his own interception of Roberts and a 53-yard return to the Seabreeze 6-yard line.

Hipps rushed for 79 yards and had two interceptions as well as a fumble recovery, which led to Alex Spock's second field goal, giving the Gators a 13-10 third-quarter lead.