Plain and simple: The Bloomingdale High boys soccer team played great and Gaither played like it was running in mud while carrying teammates on its back.
No wonder the Bulls whipped the Cowboys 3-0 on Wednesday night.
"We were fired up," Bloomingdale coach Troy Smith said.
"We were flat," Gaither coach Eric Sims said.
Then Sims added more perspective: "We were outhustled, outmuscled and outplayed in every aspect of the game. I told my team that this loss really concerns me. You would have thought we'd be fired up to defend our home turf. We were not. Hopefully this is a wake-up call."
Bloomingdale, meantime, is working to maintain cool heads after driving across Hillsborough County and putting a whipping on one of the county's top teams.
"We know we have a chance to make a run at (a state championship)," Smith said. "But we also know we have to keep working hard in order to get there."
Midway through Wednesday's first half, the Bulls' Tevin Gage helped prove why he's one of the best forwards in the state when he collected a quick pass off a throw in and zipped it into the net.
Bloomingdale (6-2-3) went up 2-0 less than 30 seconds into the second half when a shot by Chris Robles deflected off a defender and into the net. Matt Firestine sealed the deal with a high, long shot that slipped over the outstretched fingers of Gaither keeper John Nardozzi, who hadn't given up more than one goal to any team all season.
Gaither (11-2-2) must regroup after Wednesday's loss and a couple of less-than-stellar games in the High School Classic tournament during the holiday break.
"The bottom line is that we're not good enough to not work hard," Sims said. "If we're going to win we have to start working hard again. We have no choice."
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