Preps

Countryside 42, Clearwater 24

By PAUL MUELLER, Times Correspondent
Published October 27, 2007

After a bad snap on the Cougars' only punt attempt of the game resulted in a safety and the Tornadoes' only lead, the Cougar offense got a little tricky.

As if they needed it.

Down 9-7 in the second quarter, quarterback Ryan Eppes handed the ball off to Brandon Lockwood on the 4-yard-line, and darted for the end zone. Lockwood, pursued by the entire Tornado defense, hit a wide open Eppes in the opposite corner of the end zone to give the Cougars the lead for good.

Without the trickery, the Cougar offense was still unstoppable, amassing 408 total offensive yards in a 42-24 district win. Running back Maurice Threatts accounted for 177 of those yards on 20 carries.

Threatts' success on the ground kept the defense off balance, guiding quarterback Jimbo Chmelik to a perfect 11 for 11 with 134 passing yards and a touchdown.

"Our linemen did a great job and we did a lot of play action stuff," Chmelik said. "We were able to run the ball which allowed us to pass the ball."

Threatts, who accounted for three Cougar touchdowns, also attributed his success to his blockers.

"That's who set it all up," Threatts said. "Great blocking by the offensive line and great blocking by the receivers. All I could do is run."

Head coach John Davis shared his players' sentiments.

"I'm more happy than anything with the offensive line creating space for those guys to run tonight," said Davis. "They really came off the ball and ran the football which also created the passing game."

"When we're clicking like that, were a pretty good football team," said Davis. "We've been getting better gradually every week, now, next week is the key for us. We gotta beat East Lake."

With Friday night's win, the Cougars kept pace with East Lake in District 5A-9. Both are looking up at Dunedin and will likely be playing for a playoff spot when they face-off next week.

"Our goal every year is to get into the state playoffs," Davis said. "Next week's game determines whether we go or East Lake goes."

[Last modified October 27, 2007, 02:00:52]