TAMPA - Dominating in every way, the Hawks showed why county coaches picked them as the county's No.1 team in a preseason poll.
When the first quarter ended, Armwood led 21-0, had 133 rushing yards on 13 carries and had intercepted two passes, one returned 35 yards for a touchdown by James Jolly.
The game was pretty much over at that point.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Kalvin Bailey, a 250-pound fullback, ran 87 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter to give Armwood a 28-0 lead.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Armwood had four players - Bailey, Jameel Williams, Demetrius McCray and Roger Snells - dominate the running game. Bailey finished with eight carries for 131 yards and two touchdowns and was taken out with 9:40 left in the second quarter. Williams had 131 yards on 13 carries, and McCray and Snells had 88 and 76 rushing yards, respectively.
KEY STATISTIC: Armwood rushed 46 times for 439 yards. Tampa Bay Tech, though it passed for 192 yards, only rushed 17 times for 36 yards.
THEY SAID IT: "I was an assistant at Armwood a few years ago and I know how hard that staff and those kids have worked to get where they are now. So it's not what they did (tonight) that makes them good, but they've done for years. And that's exactly what I told my team, because that's the kind of attitude I want to get started here." - Mike Bradley, Tampa Bay Tech coach.
- SCOTT PURKS
Hillsborough 28, Middleton 16
TAMPA - Sophomore Jimmy Sapp and senior Ricky Ponton combined for 265 yards rushing for host Hillsborough (1-1). Running behind a massive line averaging 278 pounds, the Terriers running backs averaged seven yards a carry.
Middleton jumped out front on a 21-yard field goal by Jordan Pelaez in the first quarter, then Hillsborough answered with 21 points in the second quarter on three 1-yard touchdown runs by Ponton, Sapp and quarterback Jarred Fayson. With 26 seconds left in the first half, Tigers wide receiver O.J. Murdock teamed up with quarterback Stoney Woodson on a 30-yard TD to bring the score to 21-10 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Ponton returned a fumble for the last Terriers score. With 3:34 left, Woodson found wingback A.J. Jones from the 1-yard line for his second touchdown pass of the game.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Ponton's fumble recovery turn touchdown return from 10 yards out in the third left Middleton with a steep hill to climb.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ponton's 119 yards rushing, stellar linebacking play and touchdown return was a highlight.
KEY STATISTIC: There were 27 penalties for 291 yards - 163 for Hillsborough and 128 for Middleton.
THEY SAID IT: "We tried very hard to give the game away. Six fumbles lost is horrible. But we'll get back to work and improve in that area, you can count on it. But give Middleton credit. They hung tough." - Earl Garcia, Hillsborough coach
- JIM REESE
Riverview 51, King 6
TAMPA - Senior Tyrone McKenzie rushed for 165 yards and three touchdowns to lead visiting Riverview.
McKenzie scored on runs of four, 45 and 19 yards as the Sharks moved to 1-1 after a mistake-filled 15-8 opening loss to Tampa Bay Tech on Monday.
PLAY OF THE GAME: It looks insignificant with the final score, but King's fumble at the Riverview 5 early in the first quarter changed momentum. The Lions' spirits sagged when Riverview recovered on the 8 and drove 92 yards on three running plays for the first score of the game.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Riverview quarterback Chris Alexander passed sparingly. But he made them count, completing 3-of-4 for 124 yards, including a well-executed play fake for a 75-yard TD pass down the middle of the field to Cecil Coltrane. Junior Kevin Savage provided King's points with field goals of 45 and 32 yards.
KEY STATISTIC: Riverview's power running game dominated, rushing for 320 yards on 41 carries, an average of 7.8 yards. In total, the Sharks outgained the Lions 444-191.
THEY SAID IT: "The passing game was the key tonight. That kept them honest. (King) put everybody in the box, but we were able to complete the balls tonight that we missed on Monday (against Tampa Bay Tech). I didn't have to say much. The kids were determined not to lose tonight after the way they played Monday." - Dan O'Regan, Riverview coach
- JOEL POILEY
East Bay 60, Plant 7
GIBSONTON - East Bay bounced back from an opening week loss to Wharton by dominating visiting Plant 60-7 Friday night. The Indians (1-1) got off to a slow start with only three points in the first quarter, but thanks to some big plays on offense and several miscues by the Panthers (0-2), East Bay put 29 on the board in the second, racing to a 32-0 halftime lead. The Indians never looked back from that point on in the blowout win.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Any one of East Bay's eight touchdowns could be considered. But perhaps the most spectacular play was Indians running back Billy McPhaul taking the first kickoff of the second half down the middle of the field for a 98-yard TD, burying the Panthers in a 39-0 hole.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Indians running back Durrell Williams had 76 yards rushing and two TDs on only 10 carries in his first start at running back. He also hauled in a 26 yard TD pass from QB-RB Brandon Zackery. On the defensive side, Brian McBride recovered a fumble for a touchdown and also picked off a pass for the Indians.
KEY STATISTIC: Plant committed five turnovers while only getting 17 yards of total offense in the first half, putting themselves in an all but insurmountable 32-0 deficit. They finished the game with four lost fumbles and three interceptions.
THEY SAID IT: "What's great is that they (the Indians) got behind a backup quarterback, kept their heads up, and just kept playing hard the whole game. Zackery did a great job for us, and his teammates really helped. That was huge." - East Bay coach Brian Thornton.
- JASON DAVIS
Robinson 34, Sickles 0
TAMPA - Marcello Trigg completed only five passes but four went for touchdowns as the sophomore led host Robinson to victory.
Trigg, who attempted eight passes, threw TDs of 15, 65, 40 and 55 yards as the Knights (1-1) rolled to the blowout win. Two of Trigg's touchdowns went to Darrell Stevens in the second quarter as Robinson quickly put the game out of reach.
PLAY OF THE GAME: With 36 seconds left in the first half, Trigg threw a 10-yard pass to receiver Armando Murillo, who was hit as the ball arrived. The ball bounced forward another 10 yards into the hands of Stevens, who turned, cut and raced 55 yards for a touchdown.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: While Trigg passed for 182 yards and the four touchdowns, Knights running back Willie Newton carried eight times for 72 yards and one touchdown, which came on a 24-yard run in the first quarter. Newton left early in the third quarter with a minor ankle injury. Sickles (1-1) was led by tailback Nick Carpenter, who rushed for 55 yards on 12 carries.
KEY STATISTIC: Sickles had five first downs and only one in the first half, coming on a Robinson penalty.
THEY SAID IT: "We came out and just clicked. We know we are capable of doing some things on offense. It's just a matter of eliminating penalties and executing." - Mike DePue, Robinson coach
- ROD GIPSON
Bloomingdale 34, Freedom 13
VALRICO - For the first time since 1999, the Bloomingdale football fans got to leave Charlie Harris Stadium chanting something other then "at least our band is better than yours."
The Bulls gave their fans a home victory, something not seen here since they defeated Sickles 15-0 five seasons ago. It was also the first win for new coach Corey Brinson. The win snaps a streak of 11 consecutive losses for Bloomingdale, which last won in 2001 at Brandon.
It was just the second win for the Bulls in their last 22 games.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Shortly before halftime, Bloomingdale quarterback Tony Thomas connected with Josh Dobbie on a 68-yard touchdown pass to give the Bulls a 27-6 halftime lead.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Thomas, starting at quarterback for the first time in place of the injured Mike Green, accounted for all five Bloomingdale touchdowns. He played catch with the 6-foot-4 Dobbie three times and rushed for the other two scores. Thomas, who, along with Dobbie returned kicks, passed for 129 yards - 118 to Dobbie - and rushed for 126.
KEY STATISTIC: The first four times Thomas carried the ball, he gained first downs. On his fifth carry, he surpassed the 100-yard mark. By contrast,Freedom gained 79 yards rushing. The Patriots got 96 yards and a touchdown from Ryan Micheli, but quarterback Matthew Kipp was sacked five times for minus-43 yards.
THEY SAID IT: "We came out with some spirit finally," Brinson said.
- ERIC VICIAN
Lake Region 28, Plant City 21
EAGLE LAKE - In a contest filled with big plays, Lake Region had just enough to win at home. The Thunder (1-1) played a flawless first half to build a 21-7 lead as quarterback Derek Cassidy led an offense that piled up 261 yards.
"We kept on trying to move the football," Raider coach Todd Long said, "We missed a couple of opportunities to score in the game."
The Thunder scored on the third play from scrimmage on running back Lamar Myles' 67-yard touchdown run.
With Plant City down 21-7 in the third quarter Derrick Hallback, who rushed for 145 yards, lost a fumble at the 1-yard line as he tried the stick the ball over the goal line.
The Thunder then went on a 10-play, 99-yard drive to go up 28-7 on an 8-yard scamper by Jimmie Nealy.
Plant City quarterback Jason Brown, on a rollout, hit receiver Matthew Pletcher for a 54-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 28-14.
Hallback scored to make it 28-21 with 4:31 left. Lake Region was held to one first down on the ensuing possession and Plant City got the ball back on its 22 with 44 seconds left.
Three completions by Brown, who threw for 157 yards, got the Raiders to the Thunder 40 but an interception sealed it for Lake Region.
- Times Wires
Leto 28, Newsome 26
TAMPA - Leto blocked a short field goal with less than a minute remaining.
"They almost got us," Leto coach Jerrell Cogmon said. "But we hung tough until the end and got it done. It's nice to get a "W' after all these kids have gone through."
The Falcons improved to 1-1 this season while first-year Newsome dropped to 0-2.
- Times Staff
Evangel Christian 22, Tampa Catholic 0
TAMPA - Lakeland Evangel Christian used a punishing running game and tight defense to send the host Crusaders to 0-2 on the season.
Evangel Christian's offensive line opened holes and Chargers running backs found them, often finishing plays with bruising hits on defenders. Evangel Christian piled up 279 yards rushing, led by Rod Coby's 173 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Evangel Christian's defense continued its stingy play. The Chargers had their second straight shut out, though Tampa Catholic had first and goal from the 2 late in the third quarter.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Coby broke through the right side of the Crusaders line, shed a pair of tacklers and outraced three defenders down the sideline for a 46-yard score.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: The stifling Chargers defense caused three turnovers, sacked Mike DeMarinis seven times and did not allow a first down until the third quarter.
KEY STATISTIC: The bright spot for TC was punter Eric Rayfield, whose six punts averaged 41 yards.
THEY SAID IT: "We haven't scored a touchdown all year, and I'm not pleased with anything we've done, particularly on offense." - Jim Guderian, TC coach
- BRANDON WRIGHT
Temple Heights 30, Cambridge 6
TAMPA - Temple Heights did everything a school that has been playing football for more than 35 years is supposed to do when it faces a school feeling its way through the first game in school history.
Steady offense, strong defense, score early and keep the mistakes to a minimum. The Eagles (2-0) scored on their opening drive and - but for a 72-yard touchdown run by Spencer Santiago - held Cambridge in check on defense.
Temple Heights was led by Jonathan Miller, who rushed 28 times for 110 yards.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Santiago took the handoff from his own 28, drove to the right, cut back against the grain to break through the secondary then broke away from the defenders to complete the first score in Cambridge history. He finished with 117 yards on 14 carries, and the run - the longest of of the game for either team - accounted for almost half of theLancers' 159 rushing yards.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Temple Heights' Matthew McNeal was around the ball all day, recovering three fumbles and returning one for a touchdown that was called back. Cambridge's Cory Sims, a former Temple Heights player, caught the only two passes Cambridge completed, gaining 30 yards.
KEY STATISTIC: The Eagles had 257 yards of total offense.
THEY SAID IT: "We know these kids. We've played with and against these kids. We wanted to come out and get the upper hand right off the bat. I think one of the positives we take from this is that we can make all those mistakes and we're still able to put 30 points on the board." - Temple Heights coach Steve Lewis.
