Pirates finally get win over Bulldogs

EAST MANATEE — There’s no chance that Ryan Fischer will turn older brother Stephen into Wally Pipp, but the sophomore made the most of another opportunity to start at quarterback for Braden River. Facing a DeSoto team that knocked Braden River out of the playoffs last year, the Pirates rode three first-half touchdown passes by Fischer to 34-13 victory Friday on Homecoming.

The win provided sweet revenge for Braden River (4-1) after the Bulldogs ended the Pirates’ first playoff appearance with a 14-7 win in the Class 3A regional semifinals. A fourth-quarter touchdown run by Marcus Shaw doomed the Pirates to defeat in that game, and the Pirates certainly didn’t forget.

“It’s overwhelming,” said senior Trevor Barnes. “Personally, I’ve been waiting for this game, and I know the team’s been waiting for this game since Nov. 28.”

DeSoto (2-3) had no chance of a comeback in this game thanks to Fischer’s heroics. Younger brother got pressed into duty Friday after Stephen passed out in the locker room a day earlier due to dehydration brought on from an ongoing illness. Two weeks after his first varsity start, Ryan Fischer looked more poised than a sophomore who threw an interception and was 5-of-11 passing against Sarasota. Friday, he capped three of the Pirates’ first four drives with touchdown passes, all of which were longer than 20 yards.

Tevin Bryant added a 19-yard touchdown in the second quarter, doing a complete 360-degree turn as a hopeless DeSoto tried to drag him down by the jersey, to give Braden River a 28-0 lead.

Shaw added a touchdown on the final play of the first half, and a fourth-quarter score got DeSoto within two touchdowns, but Bryant sealed the deal with a 31-yard touchdown run with 3:36 to play.

Ryan Fischer stole the starring role, though, at least for one night. However, the younger Fischer knows what’s coming when Stephen gets healthy. He’ll go back to the being a part-time wide receiver and the back-up QB.

“It’s been difficult going back to wide receiver because I’ve been having a lot of fun at quarterback,” said Ryan Fischer, who finished 7-of-14 passing for 129 yards and added 41 yards rushing.

Braden River coach Ed Volz showed plenty of confidence in Fisher, letting him throw 10 times in the first half. His first touchdown was a 53-yard strike to Michael Glover down the right-hand side.

“He’s just so passionate about the game,” said Volz of his sophomore QB.

All of the Pirates played with a relentless intensity Friday against the Bulldogs. As district foes for the past two years, the Bulldogs had beaten Braden River three straight times.

However, the scores tell part of the story as Braden River went from a 34-3 loser in its first ever district game in 2007 to last year’s playoff loss, which was a huge improvement from the 42-28 loss to the Bulldogs during the regular season. The two teams are no longer in the same district, or even the same classification, but this win should give the Pirates plenty of momentum heading into a critical Class 3A, District 10 contest next week against Southeast.

“That’s what this is about — conditioning, toughness and strength,” Volz said.