Preps

Gaither 35, Jesuit 14

By PETER ARRABAL, Times Correspondent
Published September 29, 2007

TAMPA - A postgame scuffle marred what was otherwise a great victory for Gaither, who prevailed over Jesuit 35-14.

With a 21-point lead and less than a minute to play, Gaither coach Mark Kantor elected to run plays towards the sidelines and used a timeout with less than 20 seconds left. After the Tigers stuffed the Cowboys inside the 5-yard line to end the game, the teams refused to shake hands.

"We had young guys in, and we have a tough schedule," Kantor said. "They put young guys in, too. We're just trying to get some more game film on the guys. Not trying to score."

Jesuit's coaches were unavailable for comment as they left the field, but Kantor did say he shook coach Joe Ross's hand before the shouting match began.

Jarvis Giles put the first points on the board for the Cowboys with 4:17 left in the first quarter on a 3-yard run.

Gaither pulled further ahead, with Giles scoring nearly untouched on a 23-yard run at the end of the first. The play was set up a by a fake punt by the Cowboys. He scored his third touchdown to give Gaither a 21-point lead on a 38-yard run early in the second quarter.

Giles injured his ankle and did not play in the fourth quarter.

"It's a tough track, no matter what you say," Kantor said, of Jesuit's turf field. "It's tough to go from grass to this. [Giles] is going to be fine."

Chris Kavouklis scored for Jesuit late in the first half on a 3-yard run. He finished the game with 68 yards on 19 attempts.

Neither quarterback was sharp in the first half, with Karmen Hawkins going 1-for-8 with an interception and Mitch Pfeiffer throwing two picks for Jesuit. Hawkins finished 2-for-9 with a touchdown. Pfeiffer completed 10 passes for 100 yards before being pulled late for backup Ryan James, who ran for a touchdown with 1:36 left in the game.

"It's back to basics," Kantor said. "Back to Cowboy football."

A week after scoring twice and rushing for 100 yards, Kavouklis was limited against Gaither.

"We just made sure we took the cutback lanes away and we tackled better," Kantor said. "We executed our game plan better."

Coach Kantor was excited to improve to 3-2 after losing the first two games of the season.

"It feels good," he said. "But we still have a lot more work to do."

[Last modified September 28, 2007, 23:36:59]