Preps

Robinson 20, Spoto 7

By PETER ARRABAL, Times Correspondent
Published November 3, 2007

RIVERVIEW - Robinson avoided its first winless season in 48 years by defeating Spoto (3-6, 0-4) in District 3A-11 play.

"These kids and these coaches have just continued to work hard," said Robinson head coach Mike DePue. "We've had our trials and tribulations during the season, and all of the sudden we come out and win a district game."

The Knights (1-8, 1-3) capitalized on two Spoto mistakes early in the first quarter. After the Spartans fumbled the opening kickoff, Robinson was forced to punt. The Spartans again fumbled the kick, and Joe Geerholt recovered the loose ball in the end zone to give the Knights an early lead.

"We had to win the battle of the turnovers," said DePue. "We should have been up 14-0 and our defense came up big."

The Knights recorded three sacks and intercepted two passes.

Marco Cobb, who finished the game with 18 rushes for 48 yards, scored the second touchdown for Robinson on a 2-yard run early in the second quarter.

Spoto finally found the end zone after JB Burgess capped a 60-yard drive with a 14-yard pass to Victor Moore.

Leading by only six, Robinson answered with an 80-yard drive that was finished off by Justin Le's 7-yard quarterback sneak with under a minute left in the first half. There was no scoring in the second half.

"We didn't expect ourselves to be in this situation," said DePue about being winless in week nine. "But guess what? We've got one under our belts. We've got our arch-rivals next week and we're going to have some fun."

Robinson faces Plant (8-1) next week in south Tampa.

"It's just sweet going into the Plant game like this," said DePue. "Next week are our playoffs."

[Last modified November 2, 2007, 23:40:01]