Freshman RB shines for Pirates in defeat

By LARRY BUGG
Published May 21, 2005

CRYSTAL RIVER - Crystal River running back Ronny Baldner scored a pair of touchdowns, but the Pirates fell 27-25 to Dunnellon in the spring jamboree at Pirates Stadium.

Baldner, a freshman, scored on an 18-yard run in the first quarter. He also scored on an 87-yard kickoff return with 1:14 left in the game.

Dunnellon junior running back Rodney Jones also had a pair of touchdowns. He scored on a 10-yard run in the second quarter. He intercepted Crystal River quarterback Kyle Daquanna in the third quarter, returning it 55 yards.

Marquis Browdy scored on a 28-yard run with 1:33 left to give Dunnellon a 27-18 lead. After Baldner brought the Pirates within two, Crystal River tried unsuccessfully for an onside kick. Kevin Spivey scored Crystal River's second touchdown on a 1-yard run. Cody Shaffer's attempted point after was blocked.

Shaffer connected on a 38-yard field goal in the second quarter and Crystal River led 16-7 at the half.

The Pirates scored a safety in the fourth quarter after Matt Bayer sacked Andrew Stichter.

Both teams proved they could run the ball. Dunnellon ran 39 times for 135 yards. Crystal River, which was 2-8 last season, gained 156 yards on 39 carries.

Dunnellon's David Brown stopped two Crystal River drives with fumble recoveries.

"That's a pretty good team (Dunnellon) over there," Crystal River coach Craig Frederick said. "... We are just not strong enough to maintain a drive right now.

"We know that. We have to get a little more aggressive and stronger. I will be on them all summer long. This game was important because we really wanted to see if we could run the football. I wanted to see what we could do. We got a good film on them."

TAVARAS 41, CITRUS 21: Citrus showed off its running game Friday night in Inverness.

In the first quarter, Citrus JV quarterback Bradley Paul and Tavaras counterpart Nick Johnson attempted just one pass each. Both teams panned the pass in favor of the run. That type of smash-mouth football was expected from a team like Tavaras, whose coach George Sneed is committed to running the ball. But from Citrus?

"Everybody knows they can count on me to want to throw the ball," coach Rick Haines said.

But not Friday night. Haines' Hurricanes had 30 rushing attempts for 110 yards. Varsity quarterback Walter Howard completed just 6-of-18 for 63 yards and one TD.

On the other side, Tim Conner completed 2-of-6 for 26 yards. But his two completions were touchdowns, one for 24 yards and another for 3.

- TYLER WATERS, Times correspondent

[Last modified May 21, 2005, 01:04:09]