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Sunlake Records Program's 1st Win

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A Tribune staff report

Published: September 6, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Erasing all the memories of its winless, painful first season, Sunlake shocked River Ridge, 19-10, at Seahawk Stadium for the first victory in program history.

"Everybody was excited, especially considering what we went through last year," said Seahawks coach Bill Browning. "We knew we were better than last year, but this team beat us 50-0 and the big question in everyone's mind was how much better."

Sunlake (1-0) put many of those questions to rest after marching 80 yards on its opening drive, culminating in a Ryan Horan to Eli Escobar touchdown pass.

After a River Ridge field goal by Jack Paris made it 7-3 at halftime, Royal Knights running back Stavros Arianas scored from 1-yard out in the third quarter to make it 10-7 River Ridge.

But Escobar answered with a 50-yard run to give Sunlake the lead for good. River Ridge (0-1) was forced to take a safety after getting backed up on its own 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter, and Sunlake kicked a field goal for the game's final points.

In addition to Escobar's effort, Browning also credited backs Mike Shaver and Joe Connolly for running the ball well throughout the second half.

"I just think they outplayed us," River Ridge coach Tim Stevens said. "We make some mistakes, and we didn't adjust to their Wing-T offense the way we should've. Penalties hurt us, broken plays hurt us, but they executed well."

Bart O'Connell

SEBRING 24,

MARTIN COUNTY 3

JC Howard returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown and tailback Daniel Burnett ran for 134 yards and scored on a 1-yard run to lead host Sebring to a win against Martin County at Firemen's Field.

The Blue Streaks dominated the first half as sophomore Matt Grubb tossed a 4-yard scoring pass to Kevin Welborn for a 14-0 lead just seven minutes into the game.

Martin County got a 41-yard field goal from Erik Strack to trim its deficit to 14-3 midway through the third quarter, but Sebring's Buck Schroeder booted a 27-yard field goal and Burnett scored with seven minutes remaining to seal the season-opening win for the Blue Streaks.

RIDGE 27,

AVON PARK 0

Senior running back Mike James rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns and the Ridge Community defense held Avon Park to 98 total yards for the shutout win in the season opener for both teams.

Quarterback Chris Flowers used his speed and elusiveness to torch the Red Devil defense for 71 yards rushing and a touchdown to lift the host Bolts to a 20-0 halftime lead.

Avon Park's offense was stagnant in the first half, as it was held to minus-3 yards of total offense in a game that saw the Red Devils called for 28 penalties in a hotly contested game.

Running back Teddy Allen broke the longest play from scrimmage for Avon Park, a 48-yard run into the heart of the Bolts defense in the third quarter, but countless drives were stalled by the referee's yellow flags.

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