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Hillsborough football notebook

By Times staff writers
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 7, 2002

Tampa Bay Tech 32, Gaither 0

TAMPA -- The Titans offensive threat was led by the arm of Micah Brown, who threw three touchdowns (80, 68, and 8 yards). The defense and special teams added two touchdowns.

Tampa Bay Tech started strong in the second half when Albert Daniels returned the kickoff 95 yards for a score. PLAY OF THE GAME: In the second quarter Brown's pass to Romae Rucker, who fell down but recovered in time to dash into the end zone for an 80-yard touchdown.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Daniels (three catches, 18 yards) scored on an 8-yard pass and had the kickoff return.

KEY STATISTIC: Despite nine penalties for 75 yards and four turnovers, Tech was able to keep Gaither scoreless.

THEY SAID IT: "Gaither has such a strong line; I think our offense was clicking tonight. We are looking forward to nest week against King." -- Tampa Bay Tech coach Mike Bradley.

-- ERICA LEONARD

Tampa Catholic 37, Berkeley Prep 20

TAMPA -- The potent combination of Mike D'Amico and Vijay Arasu hooked up to close the first half and open the second.

Trailing 7-0 after one quarter, a bad snap out of the end zone for a safety put Tampa Catholic on the board. The Crusaders (1-0) marched down the field after the free kick, and D'Amico carried it in on a 5-yard keeper to put TC in front 9-7.

After Arasu's second touchdown catch, a 65-yarder on the first play of the second half, the Crusaders got a two-yard plunge from Eric Rayfield to open up a 30-7 lead.

The Buccaneers (0-1) rallied to close the gap to 30-20 on with two scores, including a 14-yard touchdown pass from Derek Hatcher to Mike MacIntire, but Raj Arasu, Vijay's younger brother, answered with a 53-yard touchdown run on the next play from scrimmage to seal the victory.

PLAY OF THE GAME: D'Amico, a senior, found Vijay Arasu in the back of the end zone with a 29-yard strike as time expired in the first half to give TC a 16-7 lead. Following the second-half kickoff, D'Amico again found Arasu on the same play, hitting him on a fly pattern for a 65-yard bomb.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: D'Amico also ran for one score.

KEY STATISTIC: In addition to his two touchdown passes, D'Amico was 11-of-18 passing for 242 yards.

THEY SAID IT: "(Berkeley Prep coach) Frank Sullivan is a lot like us. We only have 28 kids. We're good friends, and you hate having to beat them. You love to win, but when it's your friend, you understand what they're going through." -- Tampa Catholic coach Jim Guderian.

-- ANTHONY GAGLIANO

Armwood 34, Plant City 21

PLANT CITY -- Despite turnovers galore, bad snaps and overall sloppy play, Armwood coach Sean Callahan wasn't afraid to reinsert the word "playoffs" back into the Hawks' vocabulary after winning the season-opener Friday night. In a game that featured 13 turnovers, six failed conversion attempts and a safety, Callahan said he was certain his team has the makings of a postseason squad despite watching his team commit most of the blunders against the host Raiders.

Late in the second quarter, the teams traded turnovers on four consecutive offensive plays from scrimmage including three by Armwood. Sophomore Kalvin Bailey fumbled twice and Plant City's Tavaras Clark returned a Ryan Watts lateral 44 yards to bring the Raiders to within 15-12 at halftime.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Senior speedster Watts ran the Hawks' vaunted option attack to near perfection. He surpassed 100 yards after just eight carries and finished with 164 yards, two rushing touchdowns and a passing score. On defense seniors Kirk Callahan (interception) and Allan Davisson (two forced fumbles, sack, fumble recovery and blocked kick) led Armwood.

KEY STATISTIC: Plant City, which gained just six first downs despite recovering seven Armwood fumbles, had just two of its nine rushers finish with positive yards. The Raiders ran for 44 yards as a team even though Joslin Shaw racked up 109 yards and two touchdowns.

THEY SAID IT: "We need to have (Bailey) in there when we have to run. We can't afford to lay the ball on the ground." -- Sean Callahan said.

-- ERIC VICIAN

Durant 34, Leto 0

TAMPA -- Coming off its first winning season in the school's six-year history, Durant scored on five of its first seven possessions against outmanned Leto.

Durant rolled to a 27-0 halftime lead as leading rusher Trey Williams gained 140 yards, including scores of 5, 7, and 8 yards during the first two quarters.

PLAY OF THE GAME: The opening series started promisingly for the Falcons, as they drove from their 20-yard line to the Durant 4 before fumbling away the opportunity as Fred Andrews recovered. The Cougars then marched 96 yards in 10 plays for their first score, a Williams 5-yard run.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Williams led the way for Durant with 168 yards on 18 carries; he also ran back the second-half kickoff 36 yards. Running back R.J. Pollard contributed 97 total yards, including a 57-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Jared Walker. Defensive back Marshall McDuffie intercepted two passes. Quarterback Joey Bailey stood out for the Falcons, passing for 165 yards, completing 13 of 30 passes. Joseph Wilson led the Falcons with 5 catches for 81 yards, all in the second half.

KEY STATISTIC: The Cougars rushed at will, outgaining the Falcons 333-64 using 11 different ball carriers.

THEY SAID IT: "Our goal is to be competitive in our district so that we can get into the playoffs. We had our first winning year last year, and after this game, I feel we're ready to take it to the next step this year. -- Durant coach David New.

-- CONCEPCION LEDEZMA

Wharton 37, Robinson 6

TAMPA -- Wharton overcame a sluggish start, scoring 17 in the final three minutes of the first half to defeat Robinson 37-6 Friday night. Wharton running backs Joe Hall and Larry Edward notched a pair of touchdowns and the Wildcats special teams blocked two punts PLAY OF THE GAME: With Wharton clinging to a slim 7-0 near the end of the first half, Hall came off the right corner and blocked a punt, which the Wildcats recovered at the Robinson 14-yard line. Hall scored four plays later. PLAYER OF THE GAME: Hall paced Wharton with 66 yards rushing on seven carries. Hall also set up his second score of the night, a 2-yard plunge, with a punt block late in the second quarter.

KEY STATISTIC: The Wildcats offense had 19 first downs to Robinson's six.THEY SAID IT: "I think we came out flat. We had the Fall Classic last week and I think we got a little above ourselves. I didn't feel that energy early on, but we gained the momentum late in the second quarter." -- Wharton coach Richard Wood said.

-- BRANDON WRIGHT

Riverview 22, Bloomingdale 14

RIVERVIEW -- The Sharks stayed on the ground, grinding out 397 yards and connected on only one pass for 3 yards. Bloomingdale struggled with a sluggish offense, especially its offensive line.

Though the Bulls managed to pass for 61 yards and a touchdown, they were all on rollouts because the Sharks didn't allow any time to throw from the pocket. PLAY OF THE GAME: On the opening kickoff, Riverview's Keon Hines picked the ball off the ground and ran 98 yards for a touchdown.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Riverview senior quarterback Dwayne Sanders ran through and around the Bloomingdale defense on 23 carries for 186 yards and two touchdowns. That was mostly in the first half. Junior running back Tony Thomas stood out for the Bulls, gaining 17 yards on the ground and connecting on four passes for 27 yards and a touchdown.

KEY STATISTIC: Mistakes dominated both teams. Riverview had 12 penalties for 115 yards and the Bulls 10 for 90.

THEY SAID IT: "I didn't think we were very sharp tonight. That is not to take anything away from Bloomingdale, they came to play tonight. We were sporadic on the sideline and that flowed over onto the field. Our offensive line played a heck of a game tonight." -- Sharks coach Dustin Almeida.

-- TERRY JONES

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