Preps

East Lake 21, Countryside 13

By DOUG KATES, Times Correspondent
Published November 3, 2007

CLEARWATER - East Lake was out-rushed, out-passed and had one-third the number of first downs Countryside had Friday night, but it's the Eagles who are moving on to the playoffs.

By defeating the Cougars, East Lake (6-3, 3-1) is back in the post-season for the first time in three years. Countryside (6-3, 3-1) was knocked out of the playoff hunt for the first time in five years and coach Jim Davis will not be going to the post-season for the first time in 12 years.

After the game, Davis congratulated East Lake on its win and graciously informed the team it had snapped his personal playoff streak. Then he turned to coach Bob Hudson and joked, "I hope you're able to sleep tonight."

"A win is a win," said Hudson, who was soaked by his players after the game. "It got us in the playoffs. I'll take it."

Countryside out-rushed East Lake 123 to 71, out-passed the Eagles 102 to 12, and had 12 first downs compared to four. However, Cougar mistakes were costly.

The Eagles jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half. East Lake's Micah Powell intercepted a pass and returned it 60 yards to the Countryside 2-yard line, setting up quarterback Blake Robles' score.

East Lake's Jacob Rachel blocked a punt and the ball was recovered on the Countryside 1-yard line. Robles carried the ball, fumbled into the end zone and Richie Bailey recovered for a score.

Then East Lake's Nick Flowers had an interception and returned the ball to the Countryside 2. Robles carried it again and the offense had 21 points on three of the shortest scoring drives any team could imagine.

And the Cougar mistakes continued.

At the end of the game, Countryside was trying to put together one last drive for a potential tie, but a high snap resulted in a fumble and East Lake's Robert Hammond recovered. Countryside had four early fumbles and recovered all of them, but the last one sealed its fate.

"We got up and capitalized on mistakes," Hudson said. "Then we let our intensity down a little bit and Countryside started playing harder. We realized our backs were up against the wall and fought again."

"Everyone worked as hard as they could," said Flowers, who finished with two interceptions. "We were hitting as hard as we could. We knew it was going to take everything we had. I just wanted to make the playoffs. There's no doubt."

Countryside scored its touchdowns on a pair of passes from Jimbo Chmelik to Dan Spisak and Maurice Threatts.

[Last modified November 3, 2007, 00:27:28]