Preps

Dixie Hollins 29, Dunedin 14

By MARC VALLIN, Times Correspondent
Published November 10, 2007

The night air had a chill, but the action on the field was hot as the Dixie Hollins Rebels stormed onto the field to face the Dunedin Falcons.

Both Falcons coach Mark Everett and Rebels coach Mike Morey pegged the key to a successful game on the Dixie Hollins defense.

"We're not going to stop them," Morey said, "but if we can control them, try and force some turnovers and not turn the ball over ourselves, we can make it a game."

The Rebels turned the momentum in their favor early as they opened the scoring with 14 unanswered points by the middle of the second quarter. Running back Ja-Far Fortt scored on a 1-yard run, and Josh Brown scored on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Jessie Havia.

The Falcons struck back with a 16-yard run by Adaris Bellamy, who ran for 162 yards on 25 attempts to break the 22-year-old Dunedin single-season rushing record by running for 1,500 yards this season.

"This was a good achievement but, it wasn't just me breaking the record," Bellamy said. "This record goes to my whole offense. It goes to my whole team. Without them, this record wouldn't even be calling my name. This record is all of ours. It's good to be remembered, especially in a good way. That's just a great feeling."

Despite the stellar rushing performance by Bellamy, the Falcons could not find their rhythm on offense They paid for their mistakes in the form of a lopsided score in favor of the Rebels, who capped off the first half with a 9-yard fake field goal run by Havia, who served as the holder and scrambled into the end zone.

The Rebels scored eight unanswered points in the third quarter on a safety and a 33-yard run by back Jermeil Douse. This would prove to be plenty for the Rebels defense, which let up only one more score before the final whistle.

"They're a heck of a football team, but our guys came out to play," Morey said. "They wanted to finish the season on a strong note. Our kids played really hard, and we didn't make mistakes that we've been making. We treated it like this was going to be our playoff game."

[Last modified November 10, 2007, 00:29:28]