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Bubble teams push for playoffs

By BEN MONTGOMERY
Published October 20, 2006

WHEN: Tonight, 7:30

WHERE: Durant High School, 4748 Cougar Path, Plant City

WHAT FOR: Hear that sound?

That's the clock ticking toward playoff time. Three games left.

While lots of folks have shored up spots among the elite, bubble teams need to win to get in. That brings us to this week's game o' the week.

A mean East Bay defense that has allowed only 37 points in the past four games faces a typically high-scoring and disciplined Durant offense coming off two embarrassing losses at Newsome and Riverview.

Although Durant (4-4, 1-1 in 6A-6) is .500 on the season, its offense has scored just three points in two previous outings. Yikes. Those poor performances shocked fans because the Cougars racked up a total of 66 points in wins over Sarasota and George Jenkins in the two prior games.

Look for East Bay (5-2, 1-1 in 5A-7) to control the clock with its ground game.

Look for Durant to rebound.

And look for two playoff-hungry teams to want this win something bad.

WHAT FARE: China Fuji, 2519 State Road 60 E in Valrico. Go, eat, then use your chopsticks as noisemakers.

WHAT WEAR: Two layers of body paint and a toboggan. Weatherunderground.com predicts a kickoff temperature of 74 degrees, which is dang cold in this part of the world. So double up on the insulating body paint and break out the toboggan.

LAST YEAR: Durant won 25-22.

MASCOT MATCHUP: Tough to call. We're going with Cougars. They're fast, secretive, solitary hunters that can leap up to 20 feet.

[Last modified October 19, 2006, 07:40:49]