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Pinellas Roundup: Packers' Defense Keys Victory
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Published: September 6, 2008
LARGO - With Mike Marry anchoring Largo's defense, the Rivals.com three-star linebacker tends to get most of an opponent's attention. But Marry's fellow linebackers aren't too shabby either.
Largo linebacker Michael Lang came up big when the host Packers appeared vulnerable, getting a key sack that helped stall an East Lake drive midway through the final quarter, and shortly thereafter grabbed an interception to end another East Lake drive that all but sealed Largo's 12-0 win.
The victory is the Packers' 14th consecutive regular season home win. The last time Largo lost on its home field was Sept. 30, 2005 in a 34-14 loss to Gibbs.
With East Lake mounting its best drive of the second half the Eagles had a first down on the Packers-33 when Lang, playing his second season of high school football, broke through the East Lake offensive line and dropped quarterback Sam Shaffer for a 5-yard loss. East Lake would not convert the first down.
On the East Lake's next possession the Eagles got into Largo territory when Lang picked off a pass along the left sideline with just over two minutes left.
Lang's play essentially ended East Lake's hopes.
"We were basically playing prevent," Lang said of his interception. On the sack we were just trying to put pressure on the quarterback so he would throw errant balls and, well, I just got the sack on that one."
Lang and the Packers defense enabled Marcel Durham's (16 carries, 82 yards) two short touchdowns to stand up.
ST. PETERSBURG 34
NORTHEAST 7
A lone bouquet of flowers was propped against the St. Petersburg goal post in the memory of their former offensive lineman Frank Grasso, who died on Sunday. The Green Devils made a point of rushing to it over and over again as they thumped their rivals Northeast.
"It was a difficult time all week for everybody. ...We knew in the back of our minds that he was watching us," St. Petersburg coach Joe Fabrizio said.
The Green Devils' backfield duo of Stevie Murph and Ben Sams would give Northeast fits throughout the game. Murph rushed for 52 yards and three touchdowns on nine attempts. Sams had the majority of carries in the game, running for 113 yards on 23 attempts.
St. Pete set the defensive tone early in the game with Alex Cole's interception of a Ryan Moore pass on the Vikings' first drive. Murph would give the Green Devils the opening score on a 10-yard run for touchdown.
Northeast answered with a one yard touchdown run from Tyler Tisdale. However, their spotty offensive showing would undo any further scoring opportunities. Converting turnovers to points was a trend throughout the game for the Green Devils.
The defense intercepted Moore twice more and recovered a fumble. Special teams also added a fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter, which led to an 8-yard touchdown run from Malik Wilson.
The passing of Grasso galvanized the Green Devils, who beat their neighboring rivals for the first time in their last four meetings.
"With the funeral of Frank, we came together. We all went to his ceremony. He was just a great friend to all of us. We did this tonight for him and we did it for ourselves also. I'm sure he would be very proud of us," Sams said.
Matthew Parke
DUNEDIN 14,
BOCA CIEGA 9
In a game of 2007 playoff teams, Class 5A Dunedin defeated Class 4A Boca Ciega .
Trailing 9-7 with nine minutes to play, Dunedin quarterback Ryan Singer burst up the middle for a 29-yard touchdown run, and the Falcons held on to open the season with a victory.
The host Falcons were unimpressive on offense in the first half, but it got a boost on linebacker Ali Cheaib's 30-yard fumble return for a touchdown that gave it a 7-0 lead.
A 56-yard touchdown run by Latavien Washington and a field-goal by Zackery Mathew gave Boca Ciega a 9-7 lead before Singer restored the Falcons lead.
Mike Moore
CLEARWATER CC 19,
MIAMI BAY POINT 0
CCC opened the season on the right note by defeating Miami Bay Point. The Marauders struggled in the first half in the passing game by only completing just 1 of 7 passes for 6 yards, but their running game came through to pick up the slack.
CCC running back Micah Poole led the team in rushing, 68 yards on 16 carries and one touchdown. Senior Quarterback Ian Coia joined Micah Poole on the scoreboard by rushing for a 4-yard touchdown.
CCC quarterback Eric Miller found tight end Paul Freedman for a 5-yard touchdown pass, while the Marauders defense shut down the Bay Point offense to just 44 yards for the game.
Lonzo Saunders
TARPON SPRINGS 36,
PALM HARBOR 13
The Spongers scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to extend their halftime lead to win their season opener against the Hurricanes.
Palm Harbor took an early 6-0 lead as Philip Gandolfino scored after a fumble recovery by Barry Owens, but saw the extra point get blocked. Tarpons Springs took the lead late in the first quarter as Marcus Nemeth scored on a 4-yard touchdown run, the conversion putting the Spongers up 7-6.
The Spongers wouldn't trail again, extending their lead on a 35-yard interception return by Kyle Ahern.
Shaunna Trudelle
GIBBS 14,LAKEWOOD 9
Gibbs came back from a halftime deficit to win its season opener against Lakewood
Jarvis West scored on a 51-yard touchdown pass from Josh Rembert, and Mike Kendricks added a 5-yard run. The Gladiators offense was keyed by its defense, which forced two turnovers and a blocked punt.
Lakewood had taken a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 65-yard touchdown reception by Sermetrius Dennis from QB Jaquez Jenkins.
Greg Jensen
COUNTRYSIDE 19,
PINELLAS PARK 6
Countryside running back Dawrence Roberts turned a short pass from quarterback Jimbo Chmelik into a six-yard score which put the visiting Cougars up for good in a 19-6 win over Pinellas Park.
While the offense was sloppy, Countryside's defense was strong, not allowing Pinellas Park a first down in the first half.
"We made a lot of young mistakes and Pinellas Park is very, very much improved," Countryside coach John Davis said. "We left a lot of points on the board. We missed three field goals early."
CLEARWATER 3,
SEMINOLE 0
At Seminole, a first quarter field goal by Clearwater's Joe Lamoureux proved to be the first, last and only points of the game.
INDIAN ROCKS CHR. 35,
KESWICK CHRISTIAN 0
Indian Rock Christian's Patric Yancey and Lou Mason each ran for a pair of touchdowns as the visiting Golden Eagles beat Keswick Christian for the first time in over a decade.
CALVARY CHR. 13,
NORTHSIDE CHR. 7
Seth Cole's two touchdowns, on runs of 14 and six yards was enough to give host Calvary Christian a win over Northside Christian.
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