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Middleton 35, St. Pete Catholic 14

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2009

ST. PETERSBURG - Middleton's Wendell Lewis kept the Tigers' (5-2, 4-1 Class 2A-District 5) playoff hopes alive with a tremendous second-half performance on defense and offense.

Lewis picked off St. Pete Catholic QB Chris McKay three times and returned one for a touchdown. He then added to the Tigers' third-quarter lead with a 27-yard touchdown reception by Willie Clay.

"We call district games money games. This was our money game and we went out and won it," Lewis said.

The Tigers rebounded from a sluggish first half where they had persistent ball-handling problems, including a fumble on third-and-goal, which ended their best chance at taking the early lead. The Barons (5-3, 3-2) had the lead at halftime but fell behind early in the third quarter off back-to-back big plays: an 80-yard TD run from Earnest Mingo and Lewis' pick-six.

Middleton controls its playoff destiny with the victory and has sole possession of second place in its district.

"We had an up-and-down week in practice. We shook off those mistakes and put it together in the second half," Middleton coach Jason Stokes said.

M - Safety, Bryant tackled in end zone

M - Mingo 80 run (Jourdain kick)

M - Lewis 48 interception return (Jourdain kick)

M - Lewis 27 pass from Clay (kick failed)

M - Campbell 5 run (kick failed)

SPC - Slater 67 run (Smith run)

M - Midthus 22 run (Jourdain kick)

Matthew Parke

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