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Football: Friday night recap

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 8, 2009

Updated: 11/08/2009 03:00 pm

TRIBUNE'S TOP 10

THE BIGGEST NON-RIVALRY RIVALRY

There's no question the Jesuit-Tampa Catholic rivalry has been a one-sided affair in recent years. Jesuit has won eight straight against its private-school counterpart and 17 of the past 19 meetings.

And it seems the Crusaders' streak of futility has taken away a bit of the luster in this matchup, at least in the eyes of Tampa Catholic coach Bob Henriquez.

"Some people call this our rivalry game, but in my book, that doesn't fit the definition of a rivalry," Henriquez said. "A true rivalry means you win a game every now and then, and we haven't done that."

The truth of the matter is, this is one of the county's biggest rivalries. And Tampa Catholic has a little extra at stake Friday.

The Crusaders (8-0) have never finished unbeaten in the regular season. The last time Tampa Catholic was unbeaten entering the regular-season finale against Jesuit was in 1996, but Tigers running back William Glover rushed for 272 yards and two touchdowns to power Jesuit past the Crusaders 19-14.

NOT TO BE OVERLOOKED

Tampa Catholic-Jesuit isn't the only intriguing matchup during the regular season's final week. Two others - Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Tech and Robinson at Plant - also have pretty good subplots.

While the Titans and Terriers are headed to the postseason this year, it was the Titans who kept the Terriers from reaching the playoffs last year, snapping Hillsborough's string of 10 consecutive playoff appearances.

And in terms of rivalry games, there certainly is no love lost between the Knights and Panthers, hated rivals in South Tampa. Though the series has been a bit one-sided of late - Robinson hasn't won since 2004 - the all-time record between the schools is 26-22-2 in favor of Plant.

DEERING INJURED IN FINAL GAME

Leto running back Jeremy Deering ended his high school career with a victory and an injury.

Deering, who rushed for 115 yards, suffered a broken collarbone in the second half of the 16-13 overtime victory against Middleton on Friday night. The senior with more than 20 Division I offers will have surgery next week to repair the damage, Leto coach Hugh Dehnert said.

"He had a great night running the ball, but he was also blocking last night just knocking people out," Dehnert said.

Deering is scheduled to take an official visit to North Carolina next week, his second official visit. He already has taken a trip to Purdue. A coach from Rutgers, one of several colleges to make Deering an offer, was at Friday's game.

DRAGONS' DYNAMIC DUO

Mike Fenton had the pleasure of watching one of Hillsborough County's greatest passing-receiving duos in the mid-1990s as an assistant at Tampa Catholic, where quarterback Kenny Kelly and receiver Darrell Jackson rewrote the national record books with their proficiency.

Fenton, now the head coach at Jefferson, has another standout aerial tandem this year with quarterback Quentin Williams and receiver Andre Davis, a pair of juniors who have led the Dragons to their first district title since 2004.

Williams threw five touchdown passes Friday in a win vs. Blake to up his season total to a county-best 27 scoring passes. It was the eighth consecutive game Williams has thrown multiple touchdowns, and the third time this season in which he's thrown four or more touchdowns in a game. Davis, meanwhile, caught a touchdown pass Friday for the eighth consecutive game - and had his fifth multitouchdown game - in raising his county-leading total to 15 scoring receptions.

Fenton said it's tough to compare the Kelly-Jackson combo to that of Williams and Davis, simply because of the statistical significance of Kelly and Jackson's accomplishments on a national level at the time. But, Fenton said Williams and Davis have one advantage over the other duo, which he believes has played a part in their success on the field this season.

"The rapport that Quentin and Andre have is much greater," Fenton said. "These two have been best buddies since they were growing up."

Compiled by Adam Adkins, Katherine Smith and Bill Ward

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

Here is the opening round playoff schedule for Hillsborough and Pasco County teams. All games are Nov. 20. Records are through Friday.

CLASS 5A

Plant City (6-3) at Plant (7-1)

Alonso (4-5) at Newsome (6-2)

East Lake (6-3) at Tampa Bay Tech (7-1)

Freedom (6-2) at Countryside (9-1)

CLASS 4A

Sickles (7-2) at Armwood (8-1)

Hillsborough (6-2) at Largo (7-2)

CLASS 3A

Land O' Lakes (8-1) at Jefferson (7-1)

Lakewood (7-2) at Pasco (8-1)

CLASS 2A

Arcadia DeSoto County (5-4) at Robinson (8-1)

Jesuit (8-1) at Wauchula Hardee (8-0)

CLASS 2B

Fort Myers Dunbar (6-3) at Tampa Catholic (8-0)

CLASS 1A

Berkeley Prep (6-2) at Cross City Dixie County (8-1)

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