If hard work pays off eventually, the Strawberry Crest Chargers are due up for some good fortune.
Don’t let the 41-13 box score from last week’s game at Kathleen fool you: the Chargers (0-2) didn’t stop playing hard, even if the final score was lopsided out of their favor. In fact, things got better for the Chargers in the second half. They entered halftime trailing 34-0 and trailed 41-0 more than halfway through the third quarter, but things started to go right. Austin Osborne threw his first touchdown pass of the year, an 80-yarder caught and delivered into the end zone by Marquell Hudson that ended Crest’s scoring drought. On Kathleen’s next possession, Connor Dias scooped up a snap bobbled by Kathleen’s quarterback and took it 40 yards for a score. The Chargers kept the Red Devils from scoring further when Billy Overstreet picked off a pass and put the Crest offense back in the game on their own 30-yard line.
Crest came a little closer to winning in the Sept. 11 opener at King, a 10-8 loss in which eight Chargers combined for 246 rushing yards and one touchdown (scored by Miles Jones) on 38 carries.
Both games showed that Crest’s stated commitment to running the ball was a solid promise. The Chargers’ run-pass call ratio is close to 4 to 1 in favor of the run and no individual player is favored in terms of getting his number called. Jones and Quincy Hart do lead the Chargers with 71 and 68 rushing yards, respectively, through two weeks.
A new foe has appeared. The challenger approaching is Sumner, the newest high school football team in Hillsborough County, and the Stingrays have gotten off to a solid 2-0 start thus far. Sumner’s first-ever football game ended with a 21-0 win over Spoto at home and the Stingrays followed that right up with another win at their house, a 7-6 win over Blake.
The Chargers and Stingrays have taken a similar run-first approach on offense. The difference is that Sumner’s offense has been much more consistent — that is, the game-to-game stats have been nearly identical. Quarterback Jason Rivera attempted exactly nine passes and has thrown a pick in each game, though he completed two more passes (three vs. one) against Blake for far more yards (65 vs. four). Sumner running backs (and Rivera, who is one carry shy of the team lead) combined for 116 yards on 36 touches against Spoto and 115 yards on 37 touches against Blake. Keoni Denny (137 total yards) led the team in rushing in both games and scored a touchdown in each.
And here’s a fun fact that has nothing to do with football: Sumner’s principal is Dave Brown, who opened Strawberry Crest back in 2009 and stayed in Dover until partway through the 2019-20 school year.
Perhaps now, with the visiting team playing its first-ever road game and the Chargers visibly committing to pushing through adversity, is the time for Crest’s hard work to pay off.
OTHER GAMES TO WATCH
DURANT
vs. East Bay, 7:30 p.m. Friday
Last week, the scheduled game between the Durant Cougars and Bloomingdale Bulls was moved to Oct. 9.
This week, the Cougars (0-1) are scheduled to host East Bay (1-0). The Indians had last week off but opened their season at home on Sept. 11 with a 20-14 win over Sickles. East Bay used a balanced attack to gain 304 total yards on the Gryphons but didn’t hold a lead until there were roughly four minutes left in the fourth quarter. A 14-14 tie at halftime was broken when Armone Bostick scored with a 14-yard run. The Indians’ attempt to go for two didn’t work, but the 20-14 lead was preserved when East Bay forced a turnover on downs on the next Sickles drive and the Gryphons couldn’t capitalize on a fumble they recovered on their own 10-yard line with less than a minute to go.
PLANT CITY
BYE
Last week, the Plant City Raiders hung tough with Manatee but lost, 32-27, when the Hurricanes used a late interception with a big return to end the Raiders’ comeback bid.
The Raiders (1-1) now have a bye week to prepare for what will undoubtedly be a tough fight with Bloomingdale (1-0). As stated above, the Bulls didn’t get to play last week but are still riding high after grinding out a 15-14 win over Armwood at home. Though their offense couldn’t put any points on the board and were out-gained by the Hawks both in the air and on the ground, the Bulls’ defense and special teams brought their A-games to make up for that and each unit contributed one touchdown. Bloomingdale does have a game tomorrow night at Tampa Bay Tech against a Titans team (1-1) coming off of a 34-14 loss at Gaither.