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Durant makes the most of mistakes

By NICK WILLIAMS

nwilliams@tampatrib.com

Published: October 3, 2009

PLANT CITY - In the past four games, East Bay's offense had turned the ball over twice.

Friday night, the Indians had five fumbles, and four were recovered by Durant. The Cougars went on to shut out the visiting Indians, 21-0.

"Our defense played really well, and the offense moved the ball and we had some big plays in there," said Durant coach Mike Gottman.

Senior fullback Antonio Morris led Durant's rushing attack with 67 yards and a TD, while junior quarterback Je'Twan Smith threw for 127 yards and a touchdown, including an 86-yard pass to senior receiver David Claypool.

East Bay fumbled on its first possession, which started on its 16-yard line, and that led to a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Ruben Garcia to give Durant a 6-0 lead. In the second quarter, Durant recovered the Indians' second fumble at midfield, and Morris capped a four-play drive with a 3-yard run up the middle.

Smith's 86-yard pass to Claypool was the final blow. Facing second-and-20, Smith rolled right and connected with Claypool near the sideline. He outran the defense for the score.

"Once we went up by 21 points, that kind of took the wind out of their sails," Gottman said. "Right before (halftime), we wanted to go up by three scores, but that didn't happen and we had to come out and stop them in the second half."

After recovering its third fumble of the game, Durant marched 59 yards to reach the Indians' 13 with just over a minute remaining in the second quarter, but East Bay intercepted in the end zone.

Sophomore defensive back Michael Stephens was Durant's playmaker on defense, recovering three fumbles.

"We wanted to put him on the field to cause some havoc when they were running the pitch option," Gottman said. "We got a guy out there ready to fill up some air and make something happen, and he did."

Senior DeAndre Reddick led East Bay's offense with 42 rushing yards.

"We made all of the mistakes that we haven't been making," said East Bay coach Brian Thornton. "We beat ourselves. We caused our own fumble to give them the first score and then we make a horrible pitch to give them the second score and then the long bomb."

A former assistant coach under Thornton at East Bay, Gottman said he will cherish beating his former colleague.

"It's always exciting," he said. "Brian and I have known each other since 1983. I look forward to this game every year, and now I have the bragging rights until next year."