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Dragons Make Crusaders Earn Every Point

Brian Gjurgevich/Highlands Today

Lake Placid's Zach Campbell left and John Bennett 52 attempt to tackle Tampa Catholic's Henry McCloud on Friday during the Crusaders' 30-3 victory at Roger Scarborough Memorial Field.

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By BRIAN GJURGEVICH

Highlands Today

Published: September 28, 2008

LAKE PLACID - Tampa Catholic's Christian Green gave all the credit to his receivers, but the junior quarterback put just the right touch on two first-half touchdown passes Friday night to lead the Crusaders to a 30-3 Class 2A-District 5 victory over Lake Placid at Roger Scarborough Memorial Field.

"My receivers came up big for us tonight," said Green, who was 10 of 20 for 145 yards despite being bothered by a sore ankle. "(Lake Placid) did a good job game-planning for us, because they knew what we liked to do in certain situations.

"They played hard, but we fought through it."

Despite the loss, Green Dragon head coach Jason Holden said he was proud of how his team performed, especially against a squad that had won all seven previous meetings between the schools, including a 46-0 victory in 2007.

"We knew we had to play a complete game to compete with them," Holden said. "Our big concern was whether we'd come out and play hard and make it a respectable game.

"If we hadn't come out like we did, it could've gotten ugly in a hurry."

But Lake Placid (1-3, 0-1) made Tampa Catholic earn every yard in the first half, yielding the first score of the game after a 17-play drive that took seven minutes off the clock.

Senior defensive captain Alex Gort said the Crusaders showed right away they'd be able to pass the ball, and that the Dragons simply focused on hitting hard on every play.

"Green is good," Gort said. "But we contained him and our secondary stepped up and knocked the ball down a few times.

"I know we all believe this district is still in play, and this game only made us stronger."

Tampa Catholic coach Bob Henriquez called his Crusaders "the only team in America that makes 30-3 seem tough," noting that the Green Dragons held last year's Class 2A state runner-up to less than two yards per carry in the first half.

"I made it abundantly clear to our offensive line at halftime that 27 yards on 14 carries wasn't good enough," Henriquez said. "We got out of a rhythm on offense trying to make too many big plays.

"But we came back and got back to basics."

The Crusaders got on the board with 5:04 left in the first on an eight-yard bootleg lob from Green to Joseph Ogle. They scored again with 6:44 remaining in the second quarter when Green floated another pass down the visitors' sideline and found Jordan Jones for 45-yard touchdown.

"Their passing is what really got us," said LP junior Navarhi Holden. "We stopped the run a lot, but they have a mobile quarterback and he could run and throw."

Tampa Catholic didn't let up in the third quarter, scoring first on a 17-yard sweep into the end zone by Logan Mielke with 9:09 left in the third and again on a 17-yard pass from backup quarterback DJ Williams to Kenny Broadnax with 6:24 left in the third.

Lake Placid, which was led by 82 yards on 15 carries by senior Chevontray Wilson, scored its lone points on a 24-yard field goal by junior Steven Guelff with 1:12 remaining in the fourth.

Both teams were called for more than 100 yards in penalties, with the Dragons being whistled 14 times for 120 yards. Holden said that trend needs to end if LP wants to compete in the district.

"We definitely have to get smarter," Coach Holden said. "When we get penalties playing hard, like on a roughing the kicker or face-mask on the run, stuff like that doesn't bother me because guys are going hard and angles are just wrong, or we just might get a little unlucky.

"It's the offsides and being lined up in the neutral zone where we're not paying attention, and those are things we have to cut out."

Navarhi Holden agreed.

"We did pretty good against the hardest team on our schedule," he said. "We played hard, but we can't let mental mistakes beat us again."

The Dragons travel to Bradenton next week to face Braden River.

Tampa Catholic 30, Lake Placid 3

Friday at Lake Placid

Tampa Cath. 7 10 6 7 - 30

Lake Placid 0 0 0 3 - 3

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

TC - Green 8 pass to Ogle (McLaughlin kick)

Second quarter

TC - McLaughlin 39-yard field goal

TC - Green 45 pass to Jones (McLaughlin kick)

Third quarter

TC - Mielke 17 run (McLaughlin kick blocked)

Fourth quarter

TC - Williams 17 pass to Broadnax (McLaughlin kick)

LP - Guelff 24-yard field goal

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING Tampa Catholic; McCloud 12-25, Sanabria 2-2, Green 8-14, Mielke 4-44, Lundy 1-(-1). Lake Placid; ZCampbell 9-18, Wilson 15-82, Young 1-2, Lara 1-0, Holden 8-44, Jones 1-2

PASSING Tampa Catholic; Green 10-20-145-0, Williams 2-2-21-0; Lake Placid ZCampbell 1-7-2-1, Wilson 0-1-0-1

RECEIVING Tampa Catholic; Louis 3-22, Grover 1-8, Mulkey 1-29, McCloud 1-5, Jones 1-45, Joiner 2-26, Broadnax 2-27, Mielke 1-4. Lake Placid; JCampbell 1-2.

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

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