TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Sebring Hauls In A Win

Brian Gjurgevich/Highlands Today

Sebring junior Michael Hankerson pulls in a three-yard touchdown pass in front of a Port Charlotte defender on Friday during the Blue Streaks' 27-24 victory over the Pirates at Firemen's Field.

ADVERTISEMENT

By BRIAN GJURGEVICH

Highlands Today

Published: November 15, 2008

SEBRING - Devin Clarke knows the importance of a good set of hands.

On one of the Sebring sophomore's three touchdowns on Friday night during a 27-24 Blue Streak victory over Port Charlotte, Clarke was in the unusual position of being on the front-end of a TD toss: He threw to senior JC Howard on a double-pass play the team worked on all week, though not always as successfully.

"I was overthrowing him all week in practice," said Clarke, who added a 41-yard touchdown and a 65-yard interception return for a TD to lead the Streaks (3-7) to their second straight win to close out the season. "I told him I'd put it on the money."

Fellow sophomore Matt Grubb completed 9 of 12 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns to bail out the Blue Streak rushing attack, which gained just 31 yards on the ground. Grubb said the victory was a combination of great play-calling, great blocking and everything else "clicking."

"It's a wonderful feeling to do this for the seniors that worked so hard for four years," Grubb said. "We're feeling good."

Senior Quinton Robinson, who removed his jersey and let out a string of jubilant yelps outside the locker room long after most of the Firemen's Field crowd had made its way to the parking lot, said to go out victorious in his final game was like "winning a championship."

"The defense made plays, the offense made plays and the D-line stood their ground and did their thing," Robinson said. "Everyone got together and did their job and hit their keys on the money."

Sebring coach Jared Hamlin closed out his fifth season with a smile when talking about the legacy this senior class will leave behind.

"These seniors had a lot of young guys with them, and when times got tough a lot of people would've quit and they never did," Hamlin said. "We always go into a season wanting a different outcome than we had this year, but they hung together as a unit and stayed tight.

"They showed this core coming back what it means to be a family and what it means to never quit."

Sebring scored on its opening drive after a 40-yard kickoff return by Clarke set the Streaks up at the Port Charlotte 48-yard line. Four plays later, Grubb found Clarke on a deep lob down the right sideline, giving the Streaks a 6-0 lead with 10:12 left in the first after a failed two-point pass attempt.

The Pirates (4-6) answered with a seven-play drive from their own 20 that ended with a 17-yard dash to the end zone by Alwyn Laplace with 6:37 remaining in the first, his first of two rushing scores.

Four plays later and after the Streaks converted a third and 11 with a 15-yard Grubb-Clarke hookup, the latter hit a leaping Howard over the middle, and the senior found the end zone in his final game at Firemen's field.

"That was a pretty pass," said a grinning Grubb. "It always helps when you have a good wide receiver."

Port Charlotte looked to be on their way to their second score in as many drives, but Clarke struck again, picking off Pirate QB Tyler Haress on the first play of the second period and racing 65 yards for his third TD in less than 13 minutes.

Hamlin said Clarke "baited" the QB into the costly throw, an example of the savvy the young playmaker has developed on defense.

"Clarke's aggressive to the ball, he's tough, he runs great routes and has great speed," Hamlin said. "He makes plays, and defensively, he's the same way."

Port Charlotte followed with a clock-munching drive that ended with a 29-yard field goal by Samuel Costa, closing the gap to 20-10 at the half.

The Pirates scored on the opening drive second half, moving 66 yards on five plays to cut the Streak lead to 20-17 with 9:10 left in the third quarter. Following a Sebring punt and a three-and-out by Port Charlotte, the Streaks took advantage of field position provided by a 35-yard punt return by Clarke and scored when Grubb found junior Michael Hankerson out of a tight formation in the left corner of the end zone to put Sebring up 27-17 with 11 seconds left in the third.

But Port Charlotte wasn't going away quietly: They stormed 65 yards in eight plays and brought the game within a field goal when Pirate QB Samuel Thurston reversed field on a bootleg and hit TE Travis Marz for a 34-yard strike with 9:51 remaining.

The Sebring offense went into clock-killing mode and stalled at its own 38 with the Pirate offense and big-footed kicker waiting in the wings.

That's when senior punter Caleb McGee unleashed his second of two big punts and senior Kevin Welborn gave the Sebring defense the upper hand when he raced to the pigskin and downed the ball inside the Pirates' 1-yard line.

Its backs against the wall, Port Charlotte wilted under the pressure of the Sebring defense, all but sealing the game for the Streaks.

"That was huge," Hamlin said. "Caleb had two monster punts and Kevin did a good job getting down there like he has all year. All three phases made plays against a good football team. They had to do it together as at team and they did it tonight.

"I was very proud of that."

Clarke said he was glad to send the seniors out on the high note, and that the team already has high hopes for next season.

"We want to go 10-0 next year," Clarke smiled. "We're talking about getting right into it on Monday and getting into that weight room."

Senior Tom Quigg took his time to get to the locker room, taking a moment to look over the field and reflect on his decision to go out for football his senior year.

"It went by so quick," he said. "It was an awesome year. We didn't turn out the wins, but we never quit. I'll remember that attitude the rest of my life."

NOTES: Junior Daniel Burnett led the Streaks with 40 yards on 20 carries ... Clarke led Sebring with 69 yards on five catches, followed by Howard, who had 68 yards on three catches ... Players had to be briefly separated at midfield following the game before both teams lined up to shake hands.

Sebring 27, Port Charlotte 24

Friday at Sebring

PortChar 7 3 7 7 - 24

Sebring 14 6 7 0 - 27

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

Seb - Grubb 41 pass to Clarke (Sutton pass failed)

PC - Laplace 17 run (Costa kick)

Seb - Clarke 45 pass to Howard (Grubb pass to Howard)

Second quarter

Seb - Clarke 65 INT return (Schroeder kick failed)

PC - Costa 29 field goal

Third quarter

PC - Laplace 3 run (Costa kick)

Seb - Grubb 3 pass to Hankerson (Schroeder kick)

Fourth quarter

PC - Thurston 34 pass to Marz (Costa kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING Port Charlotte; Laplace 17-60, Raine 4-8, Tuttle 3-6, Longsworth 1-27, Brown 5-26, Thurston 6-30. Sebring; Burnett 20-40, Clarke 1-0, Grubb 5-(-7).

PASSING Port Charlotte; Harless 2-3-35-1-0, Thurston 5-10-116-0-1. Sebring; Grubb 9-12-109-1-2, Clarke 1-1-45-0-1.

RECEIVING Port Charlotte; Morgan 5-85, Perrault 1-32, Marz 1-34. Sebring; Howard 3-68, Clarke 5-69, Hankerson 1-3, McGee 1-14.

Brian Gjurgevich can be reached at 863-386-5841 or bgjurgevich@highlandstoday.com

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT