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Pinellas football notebook

By Times staff reports

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 22, 2001

Keswick Chr. 30, Winter Haven All Saints' 6

SEMINOLE -- In a game featuring 29 penalties and eight turnovers, Keswick Christian overcame its mental mistakes to rout All Saints'.

Crusader running back Chad Schooley, who rushed for 160 yards in the first half, scored four touchdowns. That included a 75-yard punt return in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring. After trailing 15-0 at halftime, the Saints came back to within nine at 15-6 on a 30-yard run by quarterback Dennis Guinn, but the two scores by Schooley in the fourth put the game out of reach.

PLAY OF THE GAME: After Schooley's third touchdown run, kicker John Hornbeck was faced with trouble when a bad snap occurred. Hornbeck scrambled for the ball and threw it up for grabs in the end zone with Schooley making the reception, resulting in a successful two-point conversion.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Chad Schooley (16 carries, 246 yards, three touchdowns and the punt return), quarterback Cris Schooley (nine carries, 82 yards) and Quentin Scott (eight carries, 59 yards). For the Saints: running back Tony Gaskins (19 carries, 86 yards), and Guinn (five carries, 48 yards, one touchdown).

KEY STATISTIC: The Crusader rushing attack proved to be too dominant for the Saints defense, racking up 409 yards on 37 carries. The Saints countered with 194 yards on 43 carries.

THEY SAID IT: "Chad is the type of back that gets better the longer the game is played." -- Crusader coach Rick Sanson.

Shorecrest 36, Riverhills Chr. 8

ST. PETERSBURG -- Shorecrest scored four plays into the game on its way to the rout. Riverhills Christian (0-3) scored only once despite having the ball inside the 20-yard line four times.

Shorecrest (3-1) racked up 349 yards on the ground. Chris Rucker had 158 of them and three touchdowns, one a 94-yarder.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Late in the game, Shorecrest stopped Albert Daniels on fourth down from the Shorecrest 6-yard line. On the ensuing play, Rucker took the ball 94 yards for a touchdown. PLAYERS OF THE GAME: While Rucker was the star for the Chargers, Daniels ran for 52 yards, threw for 47 and had 34 receiving yards. He also scored the Falcons' only touchdown.

KEY STATISTIC: Shorecrest won despite being penalized nine times for 85 yards, including three times in a one-minute span. THEY SAID IT: "If you get someone on the ropes, knock them out. And that's exactly what we tried to do." -- Shorecrest coach Phil Hayford.

Gibbs 25, Dixie Hollins 20

ST. PETERSBURG -- Quarterback Ron Mathis, running back Jovon Jackson and solid defense late in the game sparked the Gladiators to their first victory of the season. A Gibbs interception in the wanning minutes stopped a Rebels rally. Mathis, who passed for four touchdowns, went 6-6 for 78 yards on the game's opening drive, including a 12-yard toss to Deangelo Woodie for a score. Jackson racked up 71 yards rushing.

PLAY OF THE GAME: With the score 25-20 and less than five minutes remaining, Dixie Hollins drove 72 yards and had first-and-goal on the Gladiators' 9-yard line. Quarterback Bakail Hall rolled to his left and fired a pass, but Jackson picked it off. PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Mathis was 17-for-24 for 328 yards. KEY STATISTIC: Gibbs had 100 yards in penalties -- 85 in the second half, which saw the Gladiators' lead slip from 19-7. THEY SAID IT: "We've been practicing a lot more on our offense lately, and it has paid off. We needed this game to get our confidence. We beat a tough team." -- Gibbs coach Al Davis said.-.

Tarpon Springs 9, St. Petersburg 0

TARPON SPRINGS -- The Spongers let their defense dominate as they racked up another shutout and held the Green Devils to under 70 yards of offense. Tarpon Springs' running game also stood out with 159 yards, though the Spongers managed only 8 yards passing. In the crucial fourth quarter, with St. Petersburg still within reach, the Sponger offense was able to put together a seven-play drive that took over four minutes off the clock. Although it ended with a missed field goal try, it did leave the Green Devils deep in their own territory.

PLAY OF THE GAME: With the Sponger offense struggling and only a 3-0 lead midway through the second quarter, Jeremy Saunders fielded a punt on his right sideline, slipped a couple of tackles, cut back to his left and finished a 50-yard punt return for the game's only touchdown.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Saunders not only had a touchdown, he was most of Tarpon Springs' offense, with 113 yards on 19 carries. The Spongers' Antonio Hunter added 56 yards on the ground, including a nice 35-yard gallop on a key third-and-four, to keep a drive alive and run more time off the clock late in the fourth quarter.

KEY STATISTIC: St. Petersburg was held to 63 yards of total offense and only five yards on 20 carries as the Sponger defense stifled the Green Devils. Tarpon Springs' defense had nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage with lineman Eddie Green leading the way with four.

THEY SAID IT: "We're still struggling on offense. We've got a young quarterback. If we can keep playing solid defense and special teams, we can win some games until the offense can come around and that's exactly what we did tonight." Sponger coach Don Davis.

St. Petersburg Cath. 42, Frostproof 21

ST. PETERSBURG -- Quarterback Chris Davis produced four touchdowns, leading St. Petersburg Catholic past Frostproof. PLAY OF THE GAME: In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Barons intercepted a pass on their 6-yard line to stop Frostproof. SPC went on to score another touchdown to put the game away.PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Davis ran for three touchdowns and threw for another. He was 7-of-14 for 121 yards in the first half. Frostproof's Alfonso Cunningham gained 157 yards on 16 carries in the second half.

KEY STATISTIC: SPC held Frostproof to minus-18 total yards of offense in the first half.

THEY SAID IT: "Put that in the paper." -- Cunningham after running 99 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown that made it 35-21.

King's Academy 34, Admiral Farragut 13

Admiral Farragut's 14-game winning streak ended as West Palm Beach King's Academy pulled away. The game was tied at 13 late in the third quarter, but an inadvertent whistle overruled what would have been a Lions turnover. Two plays later, the Lions scored. Two Farragut turnovers later in the fourth added to the lopsided final.

"It was a closer game than the score (indicated). We had a lot of opportunities," Admiral Farragut coach Mike Jalazo said. "But we had turnovers, and we just got beat up on the line of scrimmage."

Marshall Hampton threw for 102 yards, ran for 62 and scored on a 10-yard touchdown run. Jon Whitehead scored on a 6-yard run for Admiral Farragut (3-1), which hosts Northside Christian on Friday for its Class A, District 8 opener.

Northeast 49, Palm Harbor U. 0

ST. PETERSBURG -- Following a scoreless first quarter, Northeast (4-0) went on to beat Palm Harbor U. (0-4) thanks to five touchdowns in the second quarter and two in the third. An interception at the end of the first quarter by Sammie Edwards was the prelude to the Vikings' outburst. PLAY OF THE GAME: Bo Washington's 34-yard swing pass from quarterback Josh Harris set up Northeast's second touchdown.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: After Martin Teal's 16-yard reception for Northeast's first touchdown, the Vikings scored four more times in the final two minutes of the second quarter. Richard Adams and Washington each scored before Teal scored a second time with a 29-yard reception and Dominique Flower scored on a 35-yard interception. Ernest Fields and William Davis contributed touchdowns in the third quarter.

KEY STATISTIC: Washington racked up 73 rushing yards for the Vikings in the first half.

THEY SAID IT: "We started a little messy, but Bo did a pretty good job on his first game back." -- Northeast coach Jerry Austin.

Miami Florida Chr. 47, IRC 6

LARGO -- Indian Rocks Christian fell to 0-4 on the season with a loss to Miami Florida Christian. Chris Rhodes rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Patriots.

IRC hosts Berkeley Prep on Friday in the third game of a five-game home stretch.

Dunedin 21, Pinellas Park 20

CLEARWATER -- After giving up 20 first-quarter points, Dunedin roared back with three unanswered touchdowns. The last score came with 3:12 left in the third quarter. Dunedin's Bryant Tisdale ran in from 2 yards out on fourth and goal. Dunedin's defense did the rest, shutting out Pinellas Park for the final three quarters.

PLAY OF THE GAME: With 11:43 left in the second quarter and Pinellas Park up 20-0, Tisdale took the handoff at the Pinellas Park 24-yard line and went sideline to sideline 5 yards in the backfield before turning upfield and taking it in for the touchdown.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Pinellas Park running back Jamarcus Smith ran for 98 yards on 13 carries, including a 25-yard touchdown. Tisdale ran for 60 yards on 10 carries and had two touchdowns. Dunedin's Stephen Boyd recovered two fumbles and Seve Fotiou had an interception return of 44 yards..

KEY STATISTIC: After giving up 162 yards in the first half, Dunedin's defense held Pinellas Park to 20 yards in the second half.

THEY SAID IT: "(My players) are the cardiac kids, and they're making me older every day." Dunedin coach Mark Everett.

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