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By Times staff reports
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 22, 2001
Cardinal Mooney 69, Tampa Catholic 0
TAMPA -- Jamie Burke threw four touchdown passes and ran for another as Sarasota Cardinal Mooney whipped Tampa Catholic in a non-district game at Chelo Huerta Field. Burke -- a senior being recruited by many Division I schools, including the University of South Florida -- connected with Al Cone for touchdowns of 34, 72 and 7 yards and Patrick Danahy from 29 yards. Burke completed 6 of 13 attempts for 183 yards. He ran for a 2-yard score.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Mooney defensive end Travis Wetzel tipped, then intercepted Joey Pupello's pass on the first play of the game, waltzing in from 14 yards. It was all down hill, or up hill from Catholic's view, after that.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Mooney running back Colby Whitman rushed 14 times for 134 yards and touchdowns of 3, 25 and 22 yards. Cone caught 4 passes for 115 yards and 3 scores. Danahy had 3 receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown.
KEY STATISTIC: Take your pick: Cardinal Mooney rushed 19 times for 204 yards compared to Catholic's 21 attempts for 8 yards; or 5 TC turnovers and 4 interceptions, which all led to Mooney touchdowns.
THEY SAID IT: "I've been a coach 27 years, from all levels all the way up to D-I, and I've never been associated with 69-0. I'm not real pleased. (Mooney) had some size, but you have to come to play. You have to look at what's in front of you and hit it. It's my fault for not preparing them better to play." -- Tampa Catholic coach Jim Guderian.
TAMPA -- Gaither used a potent ground attack to wear down Leto and cruise to a win. The Cowboys (3-1) rolled up 559 yards of offense, most of it coming in the second half. The Falcons (0-4) could do little to stop the onslaught of Gaither's Doc Marshall (143 yards), Craig Bullara (98), Maurice Cobb (94) and Mike Thomas (81).
PLAY OF THE GAME: Several of Gaither's long scoring runs were spectacular, but the play of the game was a second-quarter goal-line stand by the Cowboys. Leto had fourth-and-goal from the 1. Instead of running, Falcons quarterback J.B. Bailey rolled out on a play-action fake. Gaither wasn't fooled. Bullara and several Cowboys swarmed on Bailey for a 17-yard loss.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Bullara was solid on offense and defense. Cobb had 79 yards receiving to go with his 94 rushing yards. KEY STATISTIC: The Cowboys were a little exuberant, as evidenced by six personal fouls for 90 yards in the third quarter alone. In all, they had 15 penalties for 150 yards.
THEY SAID IT: "(The personal fouls) are a terrible part of our game right now, and we'll be running a lot on Monday because of it." -- Gaither coach Bob Gries.
TAMPA -- The Titans controlled the line of scrimmage all night, gaining 335 total yards in a non-district win.
Cory Alvarez scored on a 55-yard off-tackle run for TBT, (3-1), and Lynn Moore added two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving. Blake (1-3) seized some momentum in the second half, converting a TBT fumble into a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jamaal Huff to Daunta Peterson but couldn't get any closer than 14-7.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Up by seven and facing third-and-20 with about 2 minutes left in the game, Moore turned a safe, seemingly harmless screen pass into a 62-yard touchdown to put the game away.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Alvarez ran for 135 yards on 14 carries, the senior's first 100-yard game of the season.
KEY STATISTIC: The Titans allowed 128 total yards and sacked Huff four times. Just 26 of those yards came in the first half. THEY SAID IT: "I have to give credit to my defensive coaching staff. To hold Blake to seven points in their own back yard is a great effort." -- TBT coach John Colbert.
TAMPA -- Despite only two days rest since their last game, the Tigers devoured Sickles behind a pair of Shane Robinson touchdowns. Jesuit (4-0) took a 21-0 halftime lead and never looked back in its homecoming game, overcoming 10 penalties for 70 yards.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Despite the outcome, Sickles' Brian Dalton had the night's most dramatic play. He took a pitch on the final play from scrimmage and bounced left, broke three tackles, reversed field and sprinted 53 yards before a defender dragged him down at the 10 to preserve the shutout.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Shane Robinson gave the Tigers a 14-point first-quarter lead, scoring a touchdown from each side of the ball. He hauled in a 24-yard strike on a corner route from quarterback Anthony Severino, then picked off a pass on the next Gryphon possession, racing 32 yards for the end zone.
KEY STATISTIC: Jesuit's defense was the difference, recovering two fumbles and racking up four interceptions.
THEY SAID IT: "We were concerned emotionally and physically after playing Tuesday and coming and playing Friday. We were a little sluggish and had some penalties and mental breakdowns. But we kind of regrouped and got it going a little bit and came away with the victory." -- Jesuit coach Dominic Ciao.
SEFFNER -- There wasn't any time left in the game, yet Armwood still ran two plays in an attempt to become the first team to beat Riverview. It turned out to be one play too many.
Trailing by one point, Armwood receiver John Collier drew a fourth-down pass interference call from Riverview defender Keon Hines. The ball was spotted at the Riverview 12-yard line and on the next play Franklin Derochmont appeared to give the Hawks an upset win with a 28-yard field goal.
But Armwood had to accept a dead ball, offside call on Riverview. Derochmont never got a chance to attempt the ensuing 23-yarder because holder Kirk Callahan couldn't handle a wobbly snap. Instead of kicking a game-winning field goal, Derochmont was flattened with the ball in his hands as Riverview held on for a comeback win.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Richard Woodbury threw a halfback option pass to Terrance Reaves, who scored from 26 yards out on the opening play of the fourth quarter. It was the beginning of the Riverview comeback from a 15-0 deficit.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Woodbury and Paulus Johnathans combined for 157 yards rushing in the absence of Riverview star Avious Steadman, who sat out because of a violation of team rules.
THEY SAID IT: "I think I over-coached." -- Armwood coach Sean Callahan. Callahan said he went with a two-count on the field-goal snap instead of the usual one-count, and successfully drew the Sharks offside. It's one penalty the Hawks wished they could have declined.
TAMPA -- With its top two rushers injured, Clearwater Central Catholic didn't have a lot of options running the ball. Fullback Jimmy Fricker would have to do, but even he wasn't 100 percent, in his first game back since separating his left shoulder in the first game of the season.
CCC running backs Lerue Rumph (knee) and Mike Scanlon (migraine) left the game in the first half but none of that mattered. Fricker stepped in and ran for 88 yards on 14 carries to lead a Marauder ground attack that chewed up 241 yards in a win at district rival Berkeley Prep. The win keeps CCC, ranked 10th in Class 2A, unbeaten at 4-0, while the Buccaneers fall to 0-3.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Leading 14-0 and expecting to just run out the first-half clock, CCC blocked a Berkeley punt with 33 seconds left in the second quarter. Suddenly in scoring position, the Marauders offense executed three pass plays, ending with quarterback Orlando Rivas connecting with Joe Tyson on a 12-yard touchdown pass that put the game away.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Before leaving the game in the second quarter with migraine-like symptoms, CCC running back Mike Scanlon had two touchdowns and 115 yards rushing on seven carries. For the Buccaneers, wide receiver Mike Gerson hauled in five catches for 60 yards.
KEY STATISTIC: CCC had 309 yards of offense compared to 180 for the Buccaneers.
THEY SAID IT: "I've always played fullback, never tailback. But the coaches told me I was the only one (running back) left so I decided to step up and try to have a big game." -- Fricker.
DURANT -- After a mistake-)filled first quarter, Durant settled down and came from behind to move to 3-1 on the season.
Brandon started fast by taking advantage of two interceptions and a struggling Cougars defense. The Eagles scored 27 with on eight plays and a 61-yard punt return by Mike Williams. Even with the Cougars comeback, Brandon still had a 33-31 lead late.
PLAY OF THE GAME: With three minutes left, Kenneth Frissell hit the 36-yard winning field goal.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Rudy Kirkpatrick had 13 tackles, including three sacks to lead the Cougars. Ean Randolph had 25 carries for 183 yards and a touchdown.
KEY STATISTIC: Brandon had 13 penalties for 80 yards, stopping three drives. The Eagles lost 30 yards on six delay penalties, including four by the coaching staff.
THEY SAID IT: "The kids outplayed our poor coaching tonight and pulled out a great win. When we needed to get it done, our kids came through and got it done." -- Durant coach David New.
SARASOTA -- Plant City remained winless on the season despite one of its better efforts Friday night at the Ram Bowl.
Sarasota Riverview used a long pass play to stifle the Raiders' upset hopes, then used a stingy defense to send Plant City to its fourth loss in as many games.
The Rams (2-1) did not allow Plant City quarterback Laykeye Cooper to complete a pass in the second half.
Evangelical Christian showed why it is a contender for the Class A top 10 with an easy win over Northside Christian.
The Sentinels (4-0) took a 43-0 halftime lead, scoring touchdowns on three runs, a pass, a fumble return and an interception return.
Northside (1-3) scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by Lauren Ciovacco and a 6-yard pass from Josh Franklin to P.K. Keller.
East Bay scored 21 defensive points and rolled to a victory over Bloomingdale. The Indians intercepted five passes, giving them 11 in two weeks and 14 for the season.
"That's incredible," East Bay coach Brian Thornton said. "I've had whole seasons where I didn't have 11."
C.J. Owens and Zack Costello each returned interceptions for touchdowns. Jimmy Strong picked off two passes. Reggie Doby had the other interception.
Owens also blocked a punt, his third of the season.