The Strawberry Crest Chargers made their way to Riverview on Saturday after Hillsborough County rescheduled all Friday night games in the wake of Hurricane Idalia, coming away with a 35-31 win over the Spoto Spartans to move to 2-0 on the year.
Lining up to return the opening kickoff, the short kick was brought in by Crest receiver Thimothee Woods and taken up to the 40-yard line as the Chargers took the field for their opening drive. After a handful of strong runs from quarterback Zy Floyd and senior running back Devin Blunt moved the Chargers across midfield, a big gain on a reverse to Woods took Crest all the way down to the Spoto 10-yard line. A pair of quarterback runs up the middle from Floyd left the Chargers at the one-yard line before a quarterback sneak pushed Crest across the goal line for a 6-0 lead following a bad snap on the extra point attempt.
After a return to the 34-yard line from the Spartans, Spoto was immediately moved back to first-and-15 with a false start penalty. A mishandled snap on the next play moved them all the way back to the 18 and an incomplete pass forced by the Chargers’ collapsing defensive line set up a long third down for Spoto, but a roughing the passer call gave the Spartans a first down at the 30. A tackle for loss on first once again moved Spoto backward, but quarterback Nathan Richardson was able to pick up a first with a deep pass completed to receiver Milan Murray at the Crest 45, only for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Spoto to push them back to first-and-10 at their own 40. Despite the Spartans finding their way out of some early trouble on the drive, Crest was ultimately able to get the stop and force a punt to take over at their own 25.
An early completion to receiver Hunter Hall combined with a number of productive carries from Floyd and Blunt ultimately moved the Chargers down the field as the first quarter came to an end, setting Crest up at the Spoto 10-yard line early in the second. A first down carry from Blunt put the Chargers at the five and a defensive holding penalty on second set up a second-and-goal from two before Blunt powered his way into the end zone for a touchdown, giving Crest a 13-0 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the half.
But not allowing the game to run away from them, Spoto immediately answered with a lightning quick drive that culminated in a touchdown as Richardson found receiver Z’orey Cotton streaking over the middle on a deep post for a 50-yard touchdown, cutting the Crest lead to 13-7 in an instant.
Taking over at the 24, Crest continued to lean on their run game led by Floyd and Blunt as they moved up to the 40-yard line before a personal foul penalty off of a horsecollar tackle from Spoto moved the Chargers across midfield. A completion to sophomore Kyle Cherry and another pair of strong runs from Floyd, aided by yet another personal foul penalty, moved Crest up to the 11-yard line and Blunt found the end zone on the next play. A fake extra point punched in from kicker Trey Revoy extended the Chargers’ lead to 21-7.
But Spoto refused to roll over, answering right back with another quick touchdown drive to cut the Crest lead back down to one-score at 21-13 with under four minutes remaining in the first half. With time winding down in the second quarter, the Chargers raced down the field with a huge 38-yard run from Floyd that put Crest just outside of the Spoto red zone at the 23. A 12-yard carry from Blunt moved the Chargers to the 11 and three plays later he punched his third touchdown of the first half as Crest took a 28-13 lead.
With less than a minute left to play as they lined up for the kickoff, Crest set themselves up with an opportunity to tack on some more insurance before halftime as they jumped on a short kick to take right back over at the Spoto 47-yard line. And while they weren’t able to take advantage and secure another score, the Chargers suffered an even bigger loss as Floyd was injured on a late hit just before the end of the second quarter that would force him to miss the entire second half.
Taking over at their own 29 to open the third quarter, Spoto was just able to move past midfield to the Chargers’ 45-yard line before a holding penalty moved them back into their own territory as they were ultimately forced to punt back to Crest, pinning the Chargers back inside their own five-yard line.
With a freshman quarterback under center, the Chargers were able to moved the chains just once before a fumble gave Spoto the ball at the 24-yard line. With a short field, Spoto cashed in with a touchdown two plays later and cut the Crest lead to 28-19.
For the remainder of the contest it was Blunt who was tasked with stepping in as a wildcat quarterback and leading the Chargers offense. On the first drive following the Spoto touchdown, the Chargers went three-and-out before punting back to Spoto where they took over way back at their own 13.
With a long, methodical drive, Spoto marched down the field and inside the Crest 10-yard line as they looked to cut the Chargers’ lead to one score as they faced first-and-goal from the six. A carry up the middle for one on first down put the ball at the five, but a false start immediately moved the Spartans back to a second-and-goal from the 10. A pair of runs were stood up by the Chargers’ defense and in a crucial moment, Spoto was just feet from the goal line as they lined up for a fourth-and-goal from the four-yard line. In a jumbo set, Richardson rolled out to his left and floated a pass to the corner of the end zone but the play was broken up by Hall to give possession back to Crest.
Despite the big play on defense, the Chargers were ultimately unable to give themselves any breathing room as they moved the ball up to the 22-yard line before a snap over Blunt’s head on third-and-six was downed at the seven and left Revoy to punt the ball from his own end zone.
Taking over at the Chargers’ 33-yard line, Spoto took advantage and came up with the score they needed as Richardson hit receiver Jesse Harden for a 28-yard touchdown. The two point conversion attempt was thwarted by Crest’s defense but the Spartans battled all the way back to make it a 28-25 contest with four minutes remaining.
But when the Chargers needed it the most, Blunt and the Crest offensive line responded in a huge way as they led a masterful drive, aided by a number of penalties on Spoto, that culminated in Blunt’s fourth rushing touchdown of the night as he bolted to the left side and dove for the pylon to extend the Crest lead to 35-25 with just 46 seconds remaining.
“We had a plan at quarterback,” head coach Phillip Prior said. “We really didn’t get any practice time this week but it’s things that we’ve been practicing. Losing Zy is a huge part, that was our number one fear because we knew that if that happened we’d be in a really difficult situation, we still are in a very difficult situation and we have to figure some things out but I’m so proud. We had a freshman go in there and take a few snaps and then Devin just really put the team on his back and did a great job but also, props to our offensive line. Everyone in the stadium knew what we were doing there at the end of the game but we found a way to just keep the ball moving… That’s what we had to do. We had to makeshift guys, we were throwing guys out there and telling them, ‘here’s what you’ve got to do on this play.’ Devin did a great job but it’s Devin and the offensive line. We have a very good offensive line, I’m so proud of those guys, they carried the offense tonight. Obviously Devin did a great job running the football but those guys pave the way each and every single night.”
Spoto managed to work their way down the field and tack on one more touchdown as time expired, but it wouldn’t be enough to complete the valiant comeback attempt as Crest held on to take a 35-31 victory and move to 2-0 on the year.
“I’m frustrated but happy,” head coach Phillip Prior said. “I told the kids that I was extremely upset with some of the things that we did but I’m so proud of everybody somehow finding a way to win that football game and that says a lot about this team. We battled through some serious adversity. Injures galore, that’s ravaged us and it got worse during this game, but I’m just proud of us for finding a way to somehow claw and scrap and get this win.”
Before leaving the contest, Floyd completed both of his two passing attempts for 22 yards while adding 86 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries. In the backfield, Blunt racked up 189 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries, followed by 32 yards on one carry from Woods, four yards on three carries from Stevie Parkmond and two yards on one carry from Rodney Addison. Defensively, Abe Craig led the team with nine total tackles, followed by Jake Curtin with six and Zayveon Springfield and Brice Schmidt each
Across town, Plant City moved to 1-1 with a 50-3 loss at the hands of a strong Wharton team while Durant remained undefeated with a 31-0 shutout win over Middleton.
Offensively for the Raiders, quarterback Chris Denson completed seven of his 17 attempts for 51 yards. In the backfield, running back Jaden McCants led the way with 62 rushing yards on eight attempts while Tony Marshall totaled 25 yards on 10 attempts. Out wide, receiver Josh Tyson-Gueh paced the unit with 35 yards on three receptions while Zykee Joyce hauled in two receptions for 10 yards and Marshall added one catch for eight.
For the Cougars, starting quarterback Michael Ryan completed seven of his 11 attempts for 55 yards as Jayden Cornelius added five completions on eight attempts for 73 yards while totaling 19 rushing yards and one touchdown on eight carries. In the backfield, senior Kendrick Jean led the charge with 60 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries, followed by Christian Gambrell with 42 yards on seven carries, Emmanuel Lee with 33 yards on three carries, Michael Gibson with 13 yards on three carries and Dominic Jones with 11 yards on three carries. At receiver, six different Cougars notched receptions as Damari Styles led the unit with 40 yards on two receptions, followed by 30 yards on two catches from Ajani Peavy, 29 yards on four catches from Jaylin Torres, 11 yards on one catch from Dominic Jones, 10 yards on two catches from Cornelius and eight yards on one catch from Treon Williams.
Defensively, Quentin Pope paced the unit with eight total tackles, followed by seven from Brant Bovee and five from Wyatt Zinke.
Bovee added a team-high three tackles for loss, followed by 1.5 tackles per loss and 1.5 sacks from Hunter Smith.
All three Plant City area teams will hit the road this week as Plant City makes their way to Lutz to face 0-2 Steinbrenner, Durant heads to 0-2 Bloomingdale and Strawberry Crest takes on 1-1 Robinson.