The first Friday of the regular season was a good one, as long as you like Durant. And, in my case, as long as you chose to go to Durant for Game of the Week action.
Hillsborough High came in with a top-5 ranking, according to our Tampa Bay Times partners, and all the hype that comes with such a thing. Durant came in with home-field advantage and a chip on its shoulder. Next thing you know, the Cougars’ defense is doing to the Terriers what it did to Sickles a year ago, and the home team came up with the 16-7 upset win.
One of the questions I had about the Cougars pertained to the defense, and how it would hold up after losing some key pieces. I think the final score of this game works well enough for me, and especially so considering that the Cougars started the game by forcing three turnovers and executing a goal-line stand — all in the first half.
You can add blocking a field goal attempt and a quarterback sack for a safety to the list of things it did throughout the game, in addition to keeping one of the county’s better offenses in check. This stop unit can still play well when it wants to.
Offensively, things weren’t quite as stellar. The second and third quarters didn’t have much of anything to offer, and it’s worth noting that the Cougars could only get seven points from three turnovers (and good field positioning) in the first quarter. It could be something that will work itself out over the course of the season.
It’s tough to pin that on the quarterback play, because sophomore Carlton Potter looked impressive out there. I’m not going to call him a world-beater right now, or anything close to that, but I think he proved himself to be quite capable on the field. He doesn’t have the strength or size to really chuck that ball downfield — at least, not yet — but made good, quick reads and usually put the ball exactly where it needed to go. And, on his first-ever regular-season drive, he quickly led Durant to the end zone and threw a nice TD pass to Brandon Myers. Potter can play.
The inexperience of the offensive line was visible, as it had trouble containing the Terriers’ defense for much of the night. This, in turn, led to Hillsborough containing the Durant running backs with little trouble.
Jalen Forté did end up scoring the final touchdown of the game, breaking off a nice, 21-yard run later on, but was often swarmed upon taking the handoff. As Hillsborough is still a very good team, this is an indicator of exactly what the Cougars will need to work on throughout the season in order to survive a tough district.
After the game, as I was editing photos and putting together the online photo gallery, a friend who recently moved to the area asked who I’d give the game ball to. That was tough, and I didn’t have a clear-cut answer for him right then. Potter certainly had his moments, as did Forté and Myers. Jaden Garrett had a really nice game, and you have to give credit to Dylan Novo for coming up huge with the safety that officially killed Hillsborough’s chances of winning.
After thinking about it, I’d give it to Garrett. The junior DB picked off the very first Hillsborough pass of the game, handled his defensive assignments well and was the one who blocked that Hillsborough field goal attempt in the fourth quarter. Can’t knock that hustle.
