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Tornadoes keep it exciting

CLEARWATER 28, EAST LAKE 21: The Tornadoes have to go to the wire again before securing a postseason berth.

By JOHN C. COTEY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 19, 2002

CLEARWATER -- Clearwater was one successful desperation pass away from beating Dunedin on the game's final play, needed a late score to trip up Palm Harbor for its first win two weeks ago and last week relied on a 97-yard drive to squeak past St. Petersburg.

Friday night at Jack White Stadium, the Tornadoes may have outdone themselves. Driving for the winning score with less than two minutes remaining, then fumbling, then recovering a fumble, then scoring, Clearwater clinched a playoff berth with a 28-21 win over East Lake.

"We've been pretty good at keeping people in the seats," Tornadoes coach Tom Bostic said.

Quarterback Derelle House scored the winner with 24 seconds left to give Clearwater (3-4) its third straight victory. The Tornadoes are 2-0 and alone in first place in four-team Class 5A, District 8. They have assured themselves of at worst the runner-up spot, and in two weeks the Tornadoes meet Pinellas Park for the the district championship.

As usual, it wasn't easy. East Lake (3-4, 1-1) fought back from a 14-point deficit to tie it at 21 early in the fourth quarter. Taking over on their 40 with 4:07 remaining, the Tornadoes gave the ball to sophomore running back Jason Harris five straight plays.

The fifth time, he scrambled 23 yards and into apparent field-goal position before fumbling. The Eagles recovered on their 17 with 1:39 left.

Two plays later, D.J. Brooks, who had two touchdowns, returned the favor as linebacker Adam Fuzi recovered his second fumble of the game with 1:15 to go.

Offensive coordinator Otis Dixon went right back to Harris, who raced down the sideline and into the end zone for an apparent 20-yard touchdown. But an illegal block at the 2 temporarily erased Clearwater's score.

Two plays later, Houser ran in from 12 yards out to hand East Lake what coach Tom Keeler termed a "devastating loss." Harris finished with a career-high 147 yards on 20 carries. Since scaling back their new pass-happy spread offense, Harris and the Tornadoes have excelled. He has rushed for 100-plus yards in each of Clearwater's wins.

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