Durant's inability to control the football proved to be its downfall in the Friday, Oct. 21, 7A-9 district championship game.
Tampa Bay Tech took full advantage of the turnovers – four offensive, one on a punt return – to leave Cougar Path with a 27-7 win and home field advantage in the playoffs.
The Cougars started junior Maverick Carter at quarterback, allowing Carlton Potter to take some time off to heal an injured shoulder. Potter dressed for the game, but did not enter at any point. Durant chose to run the ball more than usual, but Tech's front seven outmatched the Cougars' offensive line on many occasions.
The Titans scored first, after Tammarrion Faison's punt return fumble put the team at Durant's 19-yard line. A short passing touchdown gave Tech the 7-0 lead at the 4:12 mark of the first quarter, and another Durant turnover led to another short Tech passing score at the 1:59 mark.
Durant's offense appeared to come to life in the second quarter, with a big run by Jake Harris at 9:29 and Carter's hard count working well. But the Cougars lost two fumbles before anything could happen, and relied on the defense to keep the game within reach.
Tech scored again midway through the third quarter, on another short pass by Michael Penix Jr. at 7:38. Durant successfully pulled off a fake punt at 4:41, snapping the ball directly to Harris for a first down in Tech territory. A pass interference call in the end zone, committed against Brandon Myers on what could have been a scoring play, put Durant at the Titans' eight-yard line. But the Cougars couldn't make anything happen, and turned the ball over on downs.
Faison managed to pick off a Penix Jr. throw at 1:29, though, and Cameron Myers rushed through the middle for a touchdown just 10 seconds later.
Tech scored the final points of the game at 9:05 in the fourth quarter, this time on a deep pass, but were denied the extra point thanks to Faison's block. The Durant offense couldn't get anything else going, and the team's fate was sealed: district runner-up with an upcoming playoff date at East Lake High School.
In other area action, Strawberry Crest's offense got going late, but couldn't outpoint East Bay in a 34-21 loss.
