By JOHN C. COTEY, JAMAL THALJI
Published October 17, 2004
QUOTABLE
"Every time No. 22 gets the ball, you gotta take him. You can't take a full breath because that kid can strike at any time."
- MIKE MOREY, Dixie Hollins coach, after his team did as good a job as anyone containing Largo's main offensive weapon, Dexter McCluster. No. 22 still got his 100 yards but was held to one touchdown run on a broken play and his longest run of the night was 14 yards.
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"I don't know how it would be, if we could get in there. What would have to happen?"
- JERRY AUSTIN, Northeast coach, after his team was all but eliminated from the postseason for the first time in eight years. What would have to happen for that not to happen? A miracle. But it's possible. (We think).
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"The only thing predictable about us is we're unpredictable."
- CARL TEAGUE, St. Petersburg Catholic running back, after his team went light on the flashy plays and grinded out a win over rival Clearwater Central Catholic.
GAME BALLS
DEXTER MCCLUSTER, LARGO: His team lost Friday. He left the field injured. He was corralled all night long. But McCluster still broke the century mark. He got 111 rushing yards the hard way: 23 carries. He returned a punt 46 yards to set up his own 13-yard scoring scramble off a botched halfback pass. He was knocked out of the game with 8:44 left after being hit in the head and calf, but still shook it off and got back on the field five minutes later.
DAN PUCKETT, DIXIE HOLLINS: On a night when the Rebels rolled up 330 rushing yards, Puckett had to fight for all of his 126 yards. He scored twice, on runs of 1 and 34 yards, the last to put the game away. He also ran out the clock in the end, even as Largo's defense focused on him. He had a sack and a big hit on Dexter McCluster in the first half to stall a key Packer drive.
JOCK SANDERS, ST. PETERSBURG CATHOLIC: Sanders, a sophomore, ran for a team-high 98 yards on 16 carries, caught two passes, and his interception with 10 seconds left secured the Barons win. Sanders also threw a sure touchdown pass that a wide open Andrew Harris dropped in the end zone.
RILEY COOPER, CLEARWATER CENTRAL CATHOLIC: Arguably the best performance of the week. Cooper caught two touchdown passes as wide receiver, and rushed for 35 yards while playing some quarterback as well. At defensive back, he had two interceptions, including one returned for a 97-yard touchdown that was nullifed by a penalty. Oh, and he had 32- and 33-yard punt returns and a 48-yard kickoff return, the latter also called back by penalty.
JASON HARRIS, CLEARWATER: The running back had a career-high 199 yards and scored all five Tornado touchdowns in a win over Dunedin. Harris was the man down the stretch, allowing Clearwater to control the ball and hold off the Falcons. He called it his greatest game ever.
HEADLINES
BOCA CIEGA IS CHAMP: Boca Ciega, the top-scoring team in the county, won a 42-35 thriller over Seminole, clinching the Class 5A, District 10 championship. The Pirates are 3-0 in the district, with a game at Northeast Friday. Even if Bogie loses, it's will be 3-1. Only St. Petersburg or Gibbs have a chance to match that 3-1 record, but the Pirates beat both teams and own the tiebreaker.
CLEAN SLATE
SPC's Jock Sanders says the family name is officially cleared.
After cousin Deondrea Lindsey, now at Marshall, fumbled twice last year to lead to a pair of CCC scores in the Marauders win, Sanders played a big role in the Barons revenge Friday night.
Sanders proved adept at avoiding tackles in the backfield, juking and jiving his way to 98 yards rushing.
"I dedicated it to him," Sander said. "I called him last night and told him the lights would be on me tonight and I was going to do it for him."
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
Gibbs, which is playing all its "home" games at Bogie, Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg, will have Homecoming this week.
But Gibbs proved to be as head-scratching off the field as it is on it, picking to do it for this week's game at St. Petersburg ... against the Green Devils.
Needless to say, that caught the attention of the Green Devils, who are a little stunned that the Gladiators would dare hold their Homecoming on their field against them.
Coach Todd St. Louis called it a slap in the face, and with both teams 1-1 and tied for second in the district, it probably wasn't a smart move to give the Green Devils any more inspiration for a game that could decide the 5A-10 runner-up.
BY THE NUMBERS
In it's last 17 regular season games, Northside Christian is 13-2 and allowed just 109 points to opponents. However, in that same span, it is 0-2 against Berkeley Prep and has allowed 113 points. The 70 points Berkeley Prep scored Friday night was just seven less than what Northside had allowed in its previous nine games.
Boca Ciega scored 182 points last year; with four games to play, the Pirates have scored 161 this year.
The teams Tarpon Springs beat its first three games have a combined record of 4-14; the teams the Spongers have lost to their last three games have a combined mark of 14-4.
Boca Ciega and Seminole combined for more than 600 yards rushing, and the quarterbacks (Bogie's Terrell Skinner and Seminole's Devil Collins) combined for more than half that through the air and ground.
The quarterbacks in the Dixie Hollins-Largo game combined to go 1-for-11 passing for just 24 yards.
Seven different running backs had carries for St. Petersburg in its win Thursday night.
PHU scored 28 points in a win over Gibbs, but needed six scores to do it - a safety, two field goals and three touchdowns.
SOME OTHER RANDOM THOUGHTS
Billy Tapp took the snap out of the shotgun on fourth down, but punted with 30 seconds left against CCC. With no one back for the Maruaders, the perfect punt rolled dead at the five with 15 seconds remaining. Ouch for Marauders.
Dixie has to love the spot its in. Largo has to beat Countryside, clearly the county's best team, to have a chance at the runner-up spot in 4A-9. And that's if the Rebels lose to reeling Tarpon Springs. If Dixie beats Tarpon, it'll clinch the runner-up spot.
The good news for Largo is a 6-4 or 7-3 record is looking good enough at the moment for an at-large bid.
Osceola's loss to Palmetto was devastating. The Warriors now have to beat Bradenton Southeast to keep their playoff hopes alive. They are tied for second in the district with Palmetto, but have to the unbeaten Seminoles left while Palmetto plays Lakewood. The Warriors have at-large hopes, but will have to beat out the loser in 3A-10: either Jesuit (5-1), Jefferson (5-2) or Robinson (5-1).
