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Panthers no match for Pirates

Ryan McNally rushes for 217 yards and three touchdowns to lead Crystal River past Lecanto, 56-18.

By CAREY FREEMAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 29, 2001

LECANTO -- For 13 precious, yet fleeting, seconds Lecanto had Crystal River exactly where it wanted -- down a touchdown and on the ropes.

Hopefully, the Panthers enjoyed the moment.

Because the clock struck midnight for Lecanto on the next play when Pirates fullback Ryan McNally sprinted 55 yards for a touchdown.

What followed was familiar as the Pirates (5-0, 2-0) rolled to their 14th consecutive victory against the Panthers 56-18.

"That was big," Pirates coach Jere DeFoor said.

"We came back and it just so happened that the first play scored."

That play, it seems, was enough to deflate the Panthers for good. Crystal River scored on its next three possessions and took a 21-6 lead before Lecanto scored again.

As has been the case in recent weeks, the catalyst for Crystal River was the dominant play of its offensive line and the running of McNally, whose 217 yards and three touchdowns was better than Lecanto's team rushing total of 199 yards.

Another factor might have been the Panthers' first drive. Lecanto pulled out all the stops -- and most of its misdirection and trick plays -- on the 13-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with a 1-yard scoring run from Terence Hollis.

That left little for the next three quarters, which played right into the hands of the Crystal River defense.

"We knew they were going to come out hard, but we didn't expect them to come out that hard," Pirates linebacker Sam Force said.

"They should have kept some of their trick plays for the end. They used most of them on the first drive and after that there really wasn't much to do. They should have saved some of that for the second quarter or the second half."

It remains to be seen whether that would have helped. Crystal River lost four fumbles, but seemed unfazed by the mental errors -- even when it led to Lecanto scores. One such play -- a fumbled punt by Michael Jones in the second quarter -- led to an 80-yard drive that cut the score to 21-12 at the half.

Crystal River's answer was three unanswered touchdown drives in the third quarter that put the game away for good. Chianta Smith (54 yards, three touchdowns) scored two of those and the other came when Clayton Trenary connected with Jones on a 19-yard touchdown pass.

"We just weren't the better team tonight," Lecanto coach Dick Slack said. "We did the best we could. We made a lot of mistakes.

"We kind of lost focus at times. We played in flashes. There were so many different things that went on tonight."

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