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QB Ford relied upon to pick up the Falcons

DUNEDIN 21, OSCEOLA 13: He scores from 43 yards on the first play of the game and the Falcons hold on for the win.

By DUNN NEUGEBAUER
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 7, 2002

DUNEDIN -- With starting running backs Dejuan Graham and Brandon Glenn not playing, Dunedin quarterback Aaron Ford had some extra pressure on him to crank up the offense.

It took him one play to do it.

Ford raced 43 yards for a score on the game's opening play, and added another touchdown run of 40 yards to pace the Falcons to a 21-13 win over visiting Osceola. Ford gained 134 yards on 18 carries.

Graham and Glenn had to sit out after getting ejected in a preseason game.

"There was extra pressure out there, but we stepped up," Ford said. "I give all the credit in the world to our linemen. If it weren't for them, there wouldn't have been any me."

Osceola almost fought back with a dramatic fourth-quarter effort, but came up short. With less than three minutes to go and down 21-7, Warriors quarterback Kyle McDowell hit Mike Butler for a 67-yard pass to the Falcons 11. Two plays later, McDowell hit big tight end Eustace Webster for the score. The two-point conversion failed.

The Warriors got the ball back with 44 seconds to play on their 42. Theo Wilson quickly thwarted another Warriors drive, however, with an interception.

After Ford's opening scamper, Osceola tied it at 7 on the first play of the second quarter. Sergio Felton raced 10 yards to cap a 10-play, 77-yard drive.

Tied at 7 at the half, the third quarter was the difference as Dunedin had 14 unanswered points. Osceola fumbled on their first play from scrimmage and Wilson scored two plays later on a 31-yard scamper for a 13-7 lead.

After a Warriors punt, Ford got his second TD to finish off a seven-play, 81-yard drive. The senior also had two key runs of 11 yards each to set up his score. Brad Rey plunged in for the 2-point conversion to put the Falcons up 21-7.

"We worked hard on our offense all summer," Ford said. "It paid off. It'll be great next weekend, too, when we get our whole team back."

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