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Armwood dominates Brandon 34-0

In a game marred by ill will on both sides, the Hawks knock the Eagles from the unbeaten ranks.

By SCOTT PURKS

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 30, 2000

TAMPA -- Even though the Armwood Hawks fumbled four times (lost two), were intercepted twice, had 140 yards in penalties, and just acted "downright terrible" according to coach Sean Callahan, they still beat previously undefeated Brandon 34-0.

Makes you wonder how good this team really is.

The Hawks are now 5-0, defeating the following teams by the following scores: Plant City 46-13, Bartow 27-0, Bloomingdale 53-3 and Lakeland Kathleen 40-0.

And then there's these stats: Before Friday's game the Hawks had "allowed" an average of minus-4 yards rushing a game, while averaging 434 yards of offense.

How they'd do Friday?

Brandon rushed 22 times for minus 15 yards and Armwood gained 491 total yards, 354 in the passing department from quarterback Ron Buskey.

Despite all that Callahan wasn't the least bit happy.

"I was ashamed of our actions," Callahan said. "We were talking too much out there, making dumb mental errors and committing silly penalties. We've been classy in our previous wins, but seriously, tonight I was ashamed.

"No doubt about it, we have a lot of talent on this football team, but they are immature and they showed it tonight. We need to shape up."

Buskey didn't condone his team's actions, but said part of the problem on Friday had to do with the game being played against cross-town rival Brandon (3-1).

"The coaches told us not to go out there and act foolish," Buskey said. "But all these players on both teams know each other, and it got a little heated. We see each other at the malls and stuff like that and we were talking about how we were going to beat each other. I think we were just really fired up for this."

For a few minutes, it appeared Brandon might be competitive.

Brandon's first carry went for 30 yards but the possession stalled on downs. The Eagles then stuffed Armwood's first drive on three plays and followed with a blocked punt, which they recovered on Armwood's 20-yard line.

That's when Armwood's defense kicked into high gear. The Eagles went backward 12 yards on that series, and totaled minus-33 rushing yards the rest of the night.

"I knew Armwood had a really good team and I wasn't surprised by the way they played," Brandon coach Ernest Hayes said. "I knew we would have to play an absolutely perfect game to win, and we sure didn't do that.

"Every time we did something good, or made a long play, we would make a mistake to set us back again."

The Hawks weren't too bad from the air, either. On three plays, Buskey had completions of 73, 67 and 61 yards, the last of which irritated Hayes a bit.

With Armwood up 27-0 late in the fourth quarter, Buskey started a drive by hitting Joe Stephens over the middle for the 61-yard touchdown.

"I told (Callahan) that I didn't think it was right to throw that pass in that situation," Hayes said. "He said his team had a poor game and I guess he wanted to work on some things. But hey, we had a very poor game, and I told him you can't take that out on the kids.

"He apologized and I accept his apology."

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