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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 6, 2001
Admiral Farragut 39, Sonrise Chr. 0
ST. PETERSBURG -- A balanced offense and pinpoint passing from Blue Jackets quarterback Marshall Hampton to four different receivers led Admiral Farragut (4-2) to the victory over Lakeland Sonrise Christian (2-4).
The Blue Jackets offense clicked immediately, with a 67-yard, first-quarter drive capped by a 7-yard touchdown pass to running back James Lowe, who had two touchdown receptions in the game. The score would be all the Blue Jacket defense would need, holding the Seminole offense under 100 total yards from scrimmage.
After a failed fake punt on fourth down late in the first, the Blue Jacket offense didn't miss a beat with a 33-yard touchdown from Hampton to Andrew Duff, his only reception.
PLAY OF THE GAME: After AFA defensive back Austin Chavez intercepted a Wes Reid pass, Hampton threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Jon Whitehead, completing a 40-yard drive with 12 seconds to play in the first half.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Hampton was 10-of-12 for 136 yards, four touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown. Lowe had eight carries and five receptions for 112 total yards
KEY STATISTIC: The Blue Jackets had 136 yards passing, the Seminoles only 8.
THEY SAID IT: "When you practice bad, you play bad. When you practice good, you play good." -- Blue Jackets coach Michael Jalazo on his team's improvement from last week.
-- AARON THOMAS
ST. PETERSBURG -- Northside Christian (3-3) kept its playoff hopes alive with a victory over Oviedo Master's Academy.
The Mustangs relied on big plays and good field position, as they accounted for only 219 total yards. Northside's defense stayed strong the entire game, allowing Master's Academy to rush for minus-5 yards. The Mustang defense also scored eight points, on a safety in the first quarter and a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown by Lance Skipper early in the third.
PLAY OF THE GAME: With Master's Academy forced to throw, the Mustang defense tightened up. Skipper intercepted an Eagle pass at the 50, broke three tackles, ran to the opposite side of the field, and scored the Mustangs' last touchdown.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: The Mustangs Ryan Gabrici scored a 2-yard touchdown run, and led the defense with four sacks. Master's Academy's Jonathan Finamore threw for 36 yards, caught for 51, and ran for an additional 44.
KEY STATISTIC: Despite the lopsided score, Master's Academy accumulated 11 first downs, while Northside Christian had six.
THEY SAID IT: "We were hoping to play hard and play physical. We did some of that. But we're pleased with the effort" -- Northside Christian coach Bob Dare.
-- CHARLES CARDWELL
BRADENTON -- Lakewood Ranch running back Markeith McQueen turned Friday night's Homecoming game against visiting Clearwater Central Catholic into a personal highlight reel as the Mustangs galloped past the Marauders.
PLAY OF THE GAME: CCC recovered an onside kick to open the second half, leading to Joe Ijjas' 17-yard field goal to narrow the score to 18-17. Mike Galley then recovered a McQueen fumble at the Marauder 23-yard line on the ensuing Lakewood Ranch (4-2) possession but CCC did not cash in.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: McQueen, who scored four touchdowns, and CCC quarterback Orlando Rivas, who passed for 261 yards and three touchdowns in the losing effort.
KEY STATISTIC: McQueen's 140 yards rushing on 15 carries.
THEY SAID IT: "I thought our defense played hard, but we just got overwhelmed."- CCC coach John Davis.
-- BRIAN McGEE
ST. PETERSBURG -- After the loss of two key starters several weeks ago, host Shorecrest (4-2) employed a rushing gameplan to defeat Winter Haven All Saints' (1-5) with 293 yards on the ground.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Charger receiver Richard Wehrmann caught a 36-yard pass from quarterback Chris Rucker to set up Shorecrest's first touchdown.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Though in a losing effort Saints running back Tony Gaskins churned out a game-high 166 yards including three runs of 23 yards or more. The Charger backfield of Billy Rowe, Mark Mastry, and Rucker combined for 257 yards rushing, and each scored a touchdown.
KEY STATISTIC: The Saints made crucial turnovers on several long drives.
THEY SAID IT: "We wanted to make the linemen work and ride the horse tonight." -- Shorecrest coach Phil Hayford, about Mastry's 100-yard production.
-- ED REED
CLEARWATER -- The Green Devils scored late in the first quarter, then took off until the middle of the third quarter. After they woke up, they scored on their final three possessions and went on to trounce the Tornadoes, to spoil Clearwater's homecoming game. The Green Devils had only 89 yards rushing in the first half, but went on to add 204 in the second. Running back Will Davis scored three touchdowns and added a two-point conversion to lead the Green Devils.
PLAY OF THE GAME: On St. Petersburg's first play of the fourth quarter, running back Sylvester Stephens took a handoff on his own 25-yard line and went up the right sideline for 55 yards. Will Jones scored six plays later and the Green Devils went up 22-7 to put the game away.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Jones led the St. Petersburg offense with 224 yards on 24 carries. Saving his best for last, Jones went 57 yards on his last carry of the night to score the final touchdown with 5:25 left in the game. The Tornadoes' Joe Dennis had 48 yards on nine carries and had a pass go off his outstretched fingers early in the fourth quarter. A completion would have given Clearwater a first-and-goal inside the Green Devil 10, with the score still 14-7.
KEY STATISTIC: The Green Devils had more than 350 yards of total offense, with 293 of those coming on the ground. The St. Petersburg defense held the Tornadoes to only 38 yards on 26 carries and forced Clearwater to punt six times.
THEY SAID IT: "We had a good week of practice, got some of our offensive linemen healthy and it came together for us tonight." -- First-year St. Petersburg coach Todd St. Louis.
-- THOM WATSON
PINELLAS PARK -- Host Pinellas Park fell behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter and failed to find a way to stop the fleet Lakewood receiving corps. Lakewood capitalized on its early lead with another touchdown in the second half.
PLAY OF THE GAME: After recovering a Pinellas Park fumble 21 yards from the end zone, Lakewood quarterback Pat Carter threw a quick touchdown pass to receiver Ricardo Jones on the first play from scrimmage to give the Spartans a two-touchdown advantage with three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Lakewood's Carter completed 16 of 30 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. Receiver Maurice Robinson proved to be Carter's favorite target by catching seven passes for 107 yards. Robinson's 30-yard reception in the second quarter set up a 29-yard field goal for kicker Mladen Basevic.
KEY STATISTIC: Pinellas Park managed to complete only one pass and gained a mere 61 yards on the ground. Despite the dismal offensive showing, the Patriots made their one completion count with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Gary Fiegel to Robert Mosley.
THEY SAID IT: "The cornerback wasn't looking at me. He (Ricardo Jones) and I connected eye-to-eye and I knew we had it." -- Carter on his 21-yard touchdown pass to Jones, which put Lakewood up 14-0.
-- SAM STANTURF
LARGO -- Despite having 145 yards in penalties, the Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic Hawks rolled past Indian Rock Christian. PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Santa Fe running back Dominick Walker amassed 310 yards and 5 touchdowns.
KEY STATISTIC: The Hawks racked up 400 yards rushing -- 259 in the first half.
THEY SAID IT: "It was a sloppy game. You like to come away with the win, but when you have 20 penalties I'm not happy about that." -- Santa Fe coach Tom Sasser.
-- JEFF GUSSOW
LARGO -- The Packers had a happy homecoming by thumping Palm Harbor University. The Packers had seven players out of the game with minor injuries but showed their depth as four different running backs all scored on runs of at least 19 yards. The Largo defense also came up big with the shutout and held PHU to 41 total yards and caused four turnovers. In fact, during a five-play stretch over two possessions, the Packers defense recovered a fumble, intercepted a pass and limited the Hurricane offense to minus-11 yards.
PLAY OF THE GAME: On his first carry of the game in the fourth quarter, Gerrol Baxter made a sweet spin move to get to the outside and romped 69 yards for a 38-0 Packer lead.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Largo's offensive line punished PHU's defense and constantly pushed them backward as Packer running backs streamed through back-pedaling defenders. Jason Laurence, Marcus Paschal, Toney Lowe and Baxter all had solid games running the ball. Paschal added two interceptions to his touchdown.
KEY STATISTIC: Largo had 12 first downs and 335 yards rushing. The same categories for PHU paled in comparison: one first down, 38 yards rushing.
THEY SAID IT: "It was a typical game for me. But I'd like to give all the credit to the O-line for their terrific blocking all night long." -- Paschal.
-- ALEX LYNCH
Led by the running and passing of Chris Davis, St. Petersburg Catholic beat host Sarasota Cardinal Mooney. Davis had 24 carries for 182 yards and scored on runs of 13 and 86 yards. He also was 10-for-18 for 174 yards in the air and threw four touchdowns.
-- Times staff
Keswick Christian improved to 5-1 with a win against Berkeley Prep. The Buccaneers snapped their three-game losing streak last week but fell back into the loss column and stand at 2-3 on the season. The Crusaders have won five in a row.
-- Times staff