Though the Strawberry Crest Chargers showed some heart, they were no match for Tampa Bay Tech in a rare Monday night football game Oct. 2.
The Titans extended their win streak to three games with a 54-0 win in Dover, fueled by a first half that saw six different players score touchdowns to take a 40-0 lead. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. accounted for four total touchdowns in the first half, throwing three and running one in himself on a seven-yard keeper early in the first quarter. Jaquavious Johnson, Treshaun Ward and Tino Hunt each scored rushing touchdowns, and Johnson led that pack with two scores on runs of 30 and 34 yards.
Crest did make a few good moments, though. When Tech attempted to pass for a conversion after its first touchdown of the evening, the Chargers disrupted the play and picked off the pass attempt. At 4:10 in the first quarter, the Chargers blocked a PAT attempt that would have put Tech ahead, 27-0. Thirty seconds into the second quarter, Rio Oliver forced Tech to fumble in Crest’s end zone on what would have been a scoring play and Justin Lamb recovered it to give Crest a touchback.
But the Chargers’ offense couldn’t make anything happen against the reigning Class 7A-District 9 champions, and the defense had no answers for Penix, Johnson, Levi Jackson and the rest of Tech’s arsenal of playmakers.
