By Matt Mauney | Associate Editor
After eleven straight wins to start the season, the Durant football team’s historic run ended with one loss.
It had been more than a year since the Durant players and coaches felt the way they felt last Friday night.
On the same field that saw the Cougars lose in the region quarterfinals to Gaither in 2011, Durant was handed its first loss of the season, as district rival Newsome avenged a regular-season loss to the Cougars with a 21-14 victory Nov. 23, in the Region 2 semifinals.
The loss ended Durant’s season at 11-1 overall, the best record in the history of the program. Durant went 10-0 in the regular season for the first time since the school opened in 1995.
The Cougars found themselves down 14-0 at the half, which was the largest deficit they faced all season. Durant battled back in the third quarter with back-to-back scores to tie things up, before Newsome scored the eventual game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.
With no timeouts and a minute to play in the game, Durant drove down the field. Quarterback Trey VanDeGrift completed 7-of-9 passes, but a last-second pass intended for Corey Roberts in the corner of the end zone was swatted away by Newsome’s Ricardo Rodriguez, ending the season for the Cougars.
“I’m proud of this team with the effort they showed at the end,” Durant head coach Mike Gottman said after the game. “I just wish we could have had a miracle at the end to send it into overtime, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
With the win, Newsome (8-4) will face Osceola (12-0) for the region championship Friday.
Newsome’s high-powered offense gave the Durant defense fits, especially in the first half. The Wolves finished with 431 yards of total offense, with 317 of that coming on the ground.
Running back Clint Carnell led the Wolves with 109 yards on the ground, while quarterback Will Worth had 101 rushing yards and 114 passing yards, connecting on 7-of-8 attempts.
The one pass the standout senior missed was a big one. Durant linebacker Chris Smith intercepted the pass and returned it to the Newsome 2 yard line.
Durant fullback Jamarlon Hamilton then tied the game at 14-14 with a short run.
Hamilton finished the game with 64 yards and scored both of the Cougars’ touchdowns. The senior finished the season with 1,348 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns.
VanDeGrift, a junior who transferred to Durant after two seasons at nearby Strawberry Crest, finished the year with 1,150 passing yards for 12 touchdowns with five interceptions. He also had four rushing touchdowns and will return to the Cougars next year after transitioning to Durant’s more run-based attack from the spread passing attack he ran at Strawberry Crest.
Sophomore running back Cris Atkins also will return after rushing for 825 yards, despite missing some action because of an injury.
Durant will lose the majority of its wide receivers, including Roberts, Reggie Gainer and Zach Hooper, who also doubled as a running back. Junior tight end Paxton Sims will return after leading the team with 352 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Hooper and Gainer also finished the year with three touchdown catches.
The Cougars will lose a good portion up front, including starters Zach Whitney, Alex Wood and Dalton Wilkerson.
Defensively, Durant will lose leading tackler Randy Baker, along with leaders Smith, Tyler Moody and Zach Hoffman.
Defensive end Dontriel Perry will return for his senior season after leading the team in sacks. Sims also will be a key defensive returner after seeing significant playing time at safety.
Altogether, Durant will lose 23 seniors listed on their roster.
Contact Matt Mauney at mmauney@plantcityobserver.com.
