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Tuttle made big plays at right timesBy JOHN COTEY © St. Petersburg Times, published September 3, 2000 Thoughts from Friday's opening night and what may just be the best game of year, though word is Hudson-Gulf was just as outstanding: The paper Saturday said Godfrey Pestana won the game for Land O'Lakes on Friday night. I know. I wrote it. To a certain extent, that is accurate. He had 157 yards and scored every touchdown for the Gators in a 19-13 win over River Ridge. He was accessible after the game, he's the star running back, he was the hero that everyone will remember. It was easy to write. But a late start to the game -- thanks to a flurry of lightning that delayed all four county games -- put me up against a nasty little deadline that kept me from talking to the guy who probably, truth be told, won the game for Land O'Lakes. Jimmy Tuttle. Everyone altogether now: Who? Those who watched the game need to know just this: he was the guy wearing No. 77. He was the guy that when River Ridge needed to move just 15 yards forward to try a game-winning field goal in the waning seconds, they moved 21 yards backwards. Tuttle was a red-headed, blue-helmeted fury. He could not be blocked when it mattered most. I do not know the linemen who were responsible for his easy access to River Ridge quarterback Tim Dare, but I suspect the words "wind" and "sprint" are in their future. A 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior defensive end, Tuttle did everything that I thought the hyped Sam Weatherford would do and did not. He changed the outcome of this game. He stuffed Jesse Hoolihan in the backfield for a 3-yard loss, did the same to Todd Sabean for the loss of another yard, and sacked Tim Dare for losses of 5 and 11 yards. He did all that in the final 5:17, when River Ridge had the ball on two separate drives with the game tied at 13. Pestana made sure that Land O'Lakes won this game. But before he did, Tuttle made sure that River Ridge did not. I think River Ridge should have run the ball more. It killed more than its share of momentum by going to the air after a long run. Then again, maybe the nine tackles for losses Land O'Lakes had in the second half spooked the River Ridge play-callers. One of the worst calls I have seen came in the fourth quarter when Pestana broke outside and just leveled Hoolihan on a 23-yard run (Ouch! Thinking about it just made my head hurt. Who am I? Where am I?) Thought of mostly as a slippery runner -- and he is -- Pestana also showed he will hurt you, putting his shoulders and head down and getting an extra eight yards because of it. But the ref called illegal use of the helmet, and most of the run came back. I've seen the penalty, but I've never seen it flagged on the ball carrier. Unfortunately for River Ridge, that just made Pestana mad. In overtime, he ran over the Royal Knights and carried two defenders into the end zone, as if to prove a point. That point? "This settles everything." Words from Pestana. Was this the game of the year? Obviously it's too early to tell, especially with Hillsborough coming to town, with Pasco-Zephyrhills on the slate and with various other to-be-unearthed gems. And consider this: Countryside shockingly snapped Northeast's 43-game winning streak Friday and did so in convincing fashion. That's the same Countryside that was 4-6 last year and finished second to Land O'Lakes in the district. That might just make the Oct. 6 meeting between the Cougars and Gators -- dare we say -- the Game of the Year. I'll withhold judgment, but it will take a dandy to top the Gators' win over River Ridge. If River Ridge shocks Hillsborough next week in their district clash, will anyone care that the Royal Knights lost to Land O'Lakes? Nope.
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