By Brad Richardson, Bright House Sports Network
Last Updated: Saturday, September 28, 2013

CLEARWATER--Both Gibbs and Clearwater entered homecoming night at Jack F. White Field looking to make headway in their rocky seasons.

After losing to district rival Lakewood 24-14, Gibbs’ (1-5) offense and defense secured a 48-13 win over the host Tornadoes (0-5), giving them their first win of the season.

For head coach Rick Kravitiz, tonight’s win felt great after the rough start that the Gladiators endured in the season so far.

“It’s been a hard and tough year so far,” said Kravitiz. “We have made a lot of adjustments and played a lot of good teams at the start of the season. But it’s nice for them to get a win. It was a big win for both offense and defense. They played very well. And there was more confidence in our guys tonight.”

In addition, he understands the same struggles Clearwater’s coaching staff is facing.

“Donnie (Abraham) is a class act and has been doing a great job with the Tornadoes. He has been kind of the doing the same thing I have, which is changing things.”

Abraham, the former NFL cornerback, was head coach at Gibbs before taking over at Clearwater this season. He served as an assistant with the Tornadoes in 2012.

Gibbs dominated the first quarter. Brevitt Killet would get the first touchdown for the Gladiators, and then Tyron Lansom would get the second score on a 65-yard run. But a failed two point conversion would leave the score 12-0.

Clearwater would answer back with Tupac Blanch getting the Tornadoes their first touchdown after a fumbled punt return by the Gladiators, but it was all Gibbs after that.

Maurice Hall would get a 43-yard run touchdown in second quarter and Killett would get the two-point conversion. Hall would get his second of three touchdowns, followed by a touchdown by Jacques President after a 20-yard pass from Killet.

The score would be 34-6 at the end of the first half.

Hall would go 80 yards for his third touchdown at the beginning of the third quarter. Killett delivered a 15-yard pass to Troy Killens at the start of the fourth quarter and after fake field goal, Killett would get the two point conversion making the score 48-6.

According to Kravitiz, their first win of the season will be a great reason for his guys to be pumped and ready for their own homecoming next week.

“Once you get a taste of a good win, you are going to be hungry for another one.”

Clearwater will be at Countryside next week, while Gibbs hosts Tarpon Springs.

By Brad Richardson, Bright House Sports Network
Last Updated: Saturday, September 21, 2013, 12:04 AM

SEMINOLE--The Pinellas Park Patriots continued their undefeated streak in Pinellas County, taking another win over the Seminole Warhawks in a Class 7A, District 9 matchup.

After defeating Osceola in a close 10-8 win, the Patriots (4-0) achieved a 35-10 win from the Warriors’ cross-town rival.

After that close game against the Warriors, head coach Kenneth Crawford wanted every part of his team to be ready -- especially now that the stakes are raised in district play.

“For us every win is a big win, especially if it is a district win,” said Crawford. “Every week the offensive line continues to get better. Our own quarterback Angel (Addison) plays offense and defense, but one of the reasons he became one of our quarterbacks is just because he leads so well. I must stress that we are one team, not a single player team.”

Seminole would score first with a 42-yard field goal by kicker Marshall Legard. Pinellas Park would answer back with an 81-run touchdown by running back Pierre Johnson, making it 7-3.

Seminole’s QB Aaron Dever would give the Warhawks a short 10-7 lead after a five-yard touchdown. But the Warhawk celebration would not last after a 20-yard run by running back Kal-El Williams. The score would be 14-10 Pats at halftime.

The Patriots dominated the second half. Donte Maxson had a 67-yard score, while Williams and Oscee Calhoun added touchdowns as well.

Although a setback loss for Warhawk head Coach Chris Miller, he continues to stress that this team is still building to where they need to be before districts.

“We are building and will continue to keep building,” said Miller. “I am proud of the way our kids fought. Pinellas Park is a playoff team. We are going to be working hard to get to that level. We have a lot of young players and since we are a young team, these guys are gaining valuable experience that we hope will benefit them in the long run.”

Pinellas Park will be facing Dixie Hollins at home next week, and Warhawks (1-3) will be at Palm Harbor University.

By Brad Richardson, Bright House Sports Network
Last Updated: Friday, September 13, 2013, 5:32 PM

CLEARWATER --Palmetto Tigers would get their first win of the season after shutting out the Countryside Cougars in a 27-0 win.

For coach Dave Marino, it felt good to come out and get a win, regardless of it being a non-district game, after losing to Lakewood 20-13 in the BHSN Game of the Week six days ago.

“We just had to go out there and protect the ball, which was kind of our downfall last week,” said Marino. “When we played them (Lakewood), we were winning 13-7 in the fourth quarter and when our QB threw a pick, that was demoralizing and it totally killed our defense.

"We wanted to get to the fourth quarter and have something for the team to rally on.”

The Tigers would dominate the first half, after Joshua Hicks would score the first two touchdowns of the game as Palmetto raced out to a 13-0 halftime advantage.

According to Marino, although the game remained in their favor, it was not over yet.

“Even going into the second half for this game, I remind them to remain hungry for the last 24 minutes of the game. Anything could have happened," Marino said.

It turned out that the Tigers would dominate the second half. In the third quarter, Simon Williams would get the first touchdown after a 20-yard pass from quarterback Sean Allison. After an interception by German Edizon, Hicks would gain his third touchdown of the night, making the final score 27-0.

“We really came together as a team tonight,” said Allison. “We just wanted this win more tonight than we have ever have. It’s always great to have someone like (Josh) Hicks on your line. He is a great running threat and has to be respected by all the defense.

"He opens up a lot things on so many different play actions.”

Both teams will be away next Friday when Countryside (2-1) will face the Northeast Vikings, while Palmetto (1-2) will be at North Port.

CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE ON BHSN WEBSITE

By Bradley Richardson, Bright House Sports Network
Last Updated: Friday, September 06, 2013

LARGO-Bad weather did not prevent Indian Rocks Christian from securing a 14-6 win over their 2A District 5 rivals, Carrollwood Day, on Friday night.The game was nearly postponed by thunderstorms before finally beginning about an hour past the scheduled start time of 7:30 p.m.

According to Golden Eagles head coach Mark Buchanan, they did not want a repeat from last season when the Patriots won 28-22 after a second half rally.

"We came out to the game tonight trying to throw more passes and try to move the football,” said Buchanan. “Last year's game came down to the last few minutes of the game and so did this one, and on a night when we were not on our best, it's nice to still know that our kids fought well."

For running back Theo Anderson, they were told to come to the game ready and hungry to win.

"Coach told us to not think about last week’s SPC loss and just come out and play as hard as we did in practice," said Anderson. "Without our defensive line, we couldn't have done anything tonight. (Buchanan) told us just to attack, attack, attack.”

The first half was scoreless, as both teams had repeated failed field goal attempts. Nazir Achecar on the Patriots would get an interception in the Golden Eagles' end zone 43 seconds before the end of the half.

The Golden Eagles would score first when Anderson gained 47 yards for the first touchdown of the game. Kicker Clark Sullivan would get the extra point to take a 7-0 lead in the third quarter.

Running back Elias Early responded with a 24-yard touchdown for the Patriots, but Stephen Yaffe missed the extra point so the Golden Eagles held a 7-6 edge.

Later, Damian King would break away for 73 yards for a Golden Eagles touchdown to put the game away.

Indian Rocks Christian (1-1) will be facing off against Admiral Farragut at home. Carrollwood Day (0-2) will be facing off against Shorecrest Prep at home.