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Spoto Falls In Playoff Debut

By ADAM ADKINS

aadkins@tampatrib.com

Published: November 22, 2008

ARCADIA - Spoto's first trip to the postseason did not end as a memorable one.

The Spartans couldn't muster any offense until late in the game and the defense couldn't prevent DeSoto County running back Marcus Shaw from reeling off big runs in a season-ending 24-6 loss at Bulldog Stadium in a Class 3A region quarterfinal.

"Once you make it to the playoffs, there's only one team that goes home on a winning note, and that's the team that wins the state championship," Spoto coach Dale Caparaso said. "There's a lot of teams that have to go home on a bad note."

Spoto (4-7) ended up one of those teams in large part because of Shaw, who led his area with more than 1,700 rushing yards during the regular season. Shaw only carried the ball 15 times, and on 10 of those carries, the Spartans defense held him to 7 or fewer yards, including dropping him for a loss on four occasions. However, the other five carries each went for 10 or more yards, including touchdown runs that covered 23, 44 and 66 yards and another 50-yard run that set up a field goal right before the half.

"He's the real deal. That's what he does. He can carry the ball 25 times a game and you can stop him 20 times, but those other five times he's going to pick up his 150 yards," Caparaso said of Shaw, who finished with 196 rushing yards. "That's what he's done all year long, and he certainly hurt us tonight."

The worst part about watching Shaw reel off the long scores was they followed the rare occasions in which the Spartans hurt themselves with a chance to get back in the game.

Spoto attempted a fake punt on its first possession of the second half and the run would have resulted in a first down, but it was nullified by a penalty. Two plays after the Spartans punted, Shaw scored from 44 yards to make it 17-0.

On the Spartans' next possession, they marched deep into Bulldogs (8-3) territory and appeared to get their first score when Jamar Burns reached the end zone on a 17-yard run, but that play also was nullified by a penalty. Four plays after the Spartans turned it over on downs, Shaw scored from 66 yards to make it 24-0.

The two penalties were the only times Spoto was flagged in the second half until the game's final play.

"We're a real young football team ... and young teams do that," Caparaso said of the unfortunate penalties. "That's something we've had to deal with all year. We overcame in many cases and we haven't overcome it in some cases, and we were not able to overcome it tonight."

Spoto's lone score came at the 5:10 mark in the fourth quarter, when receiver Alex Byers (three receptions, 58 yards) hauled in a Jamaurice Burgess pass, made a couple of nice moves and dove over the goal line for a 27-yard score. Burgess finished 7-for-15 for 93 yards. The Spartans couldn't get anything going on the ground, managing just 85 yards on 39 carries.