Sharks, Longhorns will clash in Ruskin Oct. 30

East Bay, Spoto search for wins at home

By STEVE JACKSON

Lennard was the only South Shore varsity to salvage a win, actually a blowout, on a rainy night last Friday. The Longhorns swamped hapless, winless Haines City in Ruskin 51-0. Meanwhile, East Bay dropped to 2-4 on the season, losing 25-19 to the Jefferson Dragons in Tampa. Spoto also came up on the short end in Tampa, failing to dent the scoreboard in a 17-0 loss to Middleton. Rounding out South Shore Friday gridiron action, the Riverview Sharks slipped to 1-5. Coach William Mosel’s Sharks dropped a heart breaker to Ridge Community 45-42.

A big rivalry game highlights action this week. The 1-5 Riverview Sharks travel to Ruskin to do battle Oct. 30 with the 3-3 Lennard Longhorns as records are thrown out the window.

East Bay under Coach Frank LaRosa is looking for win number 3 this Friday at the Big Bend Road school. The Indians have a tough match with Armwood of Seffner. The Hawks are 3-3, losing to Gaither last week 17-10. In comparative scores, Armwood was nipped 48-47 by Tampa Bay Tech earlier this season. TBT owns a convincing 47-6 victory over East Bay. Another common opponent, Wiregrass Ranch, was toppled by Armwood 34-6 but beat the Indians 53-21.

Coach Alfred Smith’s purple Spartans have a Friday night date at the Spoto campus with King of Tampa. The King Lions are 4-3, sustaining a 52-18 thrashing from Hillsborough last week. Spoto will find tough sledding trying to improve its 3-4 record, as King has an earlier win 14-10 win over Middleton.

Also adding to the South Shore victory list, the Sumner senior-less varsity trounced its second-straight JV last week, routing the Lennard Little Longhorns 48-0 in Ruskin. This Friday 6-1 Sumner tackles the 0-7 Brandon Eagles varsity on the road.

Lennard Cruises past Haines City

The gray skies opened up and cut loose a torrent of rain last Friday night. Lennard did the same thing on the turf against 0-7 Haines City. After an hour downpour the field was muddy, sloppy and slow.

The visiting Hornets got the ball first, but squandered any opportunity. On the second play from scrimmage, the Haines City QB could not handle the shotgun snap. The Horn’s Marcus Carn recovered the fumble. Four plays later Lennard’s junior QB Gavin Henley found co-captain Dax Corr for a 5-yard TD pass and catch. The score was 7-0 Horns and the rout was on.

Haines City went 3 and out on their next drive. The Haines City punt set up a Horns drive from its own 25 after a block in the back penalty was called. Lennard showed no mercy. The Horns moved the 75 yards down the field with a mixture of some chuck runs by Draiden Neidige and Chauncey Jones. This drive culminated with a 12-yard TD pass and catch from Henley to sophomore Elijah Singleton. Sophomore Anthony Loschiavo’s PAT kick made it 14-0 Horns.

After a surprise onside kick, Lennard recovered the ball at the 50-yard line. However, the Horns drive was cut short after a series of dropped passes due to a wet ball. The Hornets showed some semblance of life as Haines City finally started to gain some yards, creeping into Lennard territory. Then the Hornets QB fumbled once again trying to scramble. Lennard’s Jacob Treese claimed the miscue on Lennard’s 30-yard line.

Coach Khris Ramsey’s Horns decided to keep it on the wet ground for Lennard. The Horns drove all the way to the end zone, with a series of good runs capped by a 23-yard bounce to the outside scoring jaunt by Chauncey Jones. The extra made it 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Another Hornet fumble at the start of the second quarter, this time by a Haines City running back, caused by Ben Wright and picked up by Dominic Murphy, gave the ball to the Horns on the Haines City 31-yard line. Lennard took advantage of the short field. After getting stopped near the goal line, Lennard’s sure-footed kicker Loschiavo rocketed his first field goal of the season, a 27-yarder to make it 24-0.

Following a few futile and sloppy offensive drives by both teams, the Horns took over around mid-field late in the first half. Lennard passed its way down the field, ending in a 15-yard TD pass and catch from Henley to Corr once again. The score stood 32-0 after the Amarie Jones 2-point conversion run up the middle. Co-captain Jones then followed up with an interception on the following drive to keep it there at halftime.

The Horns started with the ball to open the second half. An impressive long run by DJ Kellman set up Henley to Corr for the third time for a 6-yard TD catch. The scoreboard read 38-0 after the PAT snap was fumbled.

Haines City tried to come back through the air, but the Horns were ready. Lennard’s Jayden Robertson intercepted the heave.

The Horns went wildcat on offense the rest of the way with Amarie Jones carrying the ball downfield, ending with an 8-yard TD scamper. A 2-point conversion failed, but the lead was stretched to 44-0.

USF-commit and regular defensive tackle senior Jhalin Hobbs joined the fun on the next drive. Hobbs toted the pigskin once for 7 yards and the next for a 9-yard TD to finish up the scoring for the Horns. PAT good. 51-0 final.

6-1 Sumner finale at 0-7 Brandon

By FRANCIS FEDOR

francisfotography@outlook.com

The Sumner HS Stingrays ran its record to 6-1 with a 48-0 road victory over the Lennard Longhorn JV squad last week. Sumner again got off to a fast start as the team has the majority of the season. The first Stingray score was a 7-yard run by Kade Ray. Then the rains came. The Stingrays did not lose composure and managed to put up more scores on the sloppy surface. The first was a five-yard run by Justin Mitchell after a long punt return. Sumner closed out the first half scoring with a 35-yard run by Devin Spencer. The Stingrays took a 27-0 lead into the locker room.

Sumner scoring continued into the third and fourth quarters with three additional scores. Devin Spencer again ran for a 35-yard TD. Keoni Denny then found the end zone on a 30-yard pass play from Braxton Maenex. Nicolas Gaines closed the TD parade with a two-yard run, breaking the plane of the goal line for the TD. Final score for the Stingrays 48-0.

The stout Sumner defense held the Longhorns JV to a negative 24 yards and a zero on the scoreboard for back-to-back shut outs.

The Stingrays close a very impressive inaugural season Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. at Brandon, who was the 28-0 loser to Blake last week.