ST. PETERSBURG — Allan Gerber challenged his team.
He wanted more intensity. He wanted the nervousness to disappear, and he wanted the wide-eyed gaze gone as well.
So after visiting Bradenton Christian trailed St. Petersburg Shorecrest at halftime of the annual spring game Friday, he told them to step up.
The Panthers did.
BCS erased a six-point halftime deficit to down the Chargers 28-20.
Running back David Schopfer’s 50-yard scoring dash and a 3-yard touchdown plunge in the third quarter enabled BCS to be victorious.
“We played like a young and inexperienced football team in the first half,” said Gerber, the Panthers coach. “In the second half, we were physical, and I think we took advantage of some big plays, and the character of this team showed up. This was about our kids taking pride and being fundamentally sound.”
Schopfer led the Panthers in rushing with 160 yards on 14 carries and two scores.
The junior scored his first touchdown midway through the third quarter when he took a pitch from quarterback Myles Braxton-Johnson, cut to his left and raced 50 yards, giving the Panthers a 21-20 lead.
“I just run straight,” Schopfer said. “I give it all to the offensive line. They just block and execute. I didn’t even look back. The offensive line had to step up, and it did.”
The Panthers’ defense stepped up, too.
BCS held Shorecrest to 157 yards of total offense in the second half and forced two turnovers.
The Panthers lost at Shorecrest in the spring game last season.
Sophomore linebacker Jonny Prince had two sacks after intermission.
“It was my first time being in a bunch of plays on the field,” Prince said. “I just tried to run through the right holes. The defensive line did a great job. Coach Gerber put us through some good weight training this offseason, and it paid off (Friday).”
Chargers quarterback Hunter Tremaine’s 3-yard touchdown run gave Shorecrest a 6-0 lead with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Bradenton Christian took a 7-6 lead on Colton Goodwin’s 1-yard plunge with 48 seconds left in the first quarter.
Then the Chargers scored two touchdowns on a 42-yard interception return by Ian Johnston-Schmidt and a 3-yard run by Jules Jouffroy before halftime.
In the second half, it was all BCS.
“This wasn’t about mystical, magical calls,” Gerber said. “We blitzed a few times that created some big plays for us. It boiled down to the fundamentals of each and every guy on every single play.”
@z-BR Agatehed:BCS 28, St. Pete Shorecrest 20
@z-BR TabQuarters 1col:Bradenton Christian 7 7 14 0 — 28
St. Pete Shorecrest 6 14 0 0 — 20
@z-BR Agate Bold Centered:First Quarter
S — Hunter Tremaine 1 run (extra point blocked), 3:26.
B — Colton Goodwin 1 run (Austin Dumas kick), 0:48.
@z-BR Agate Bold Centered:Second Quarter
S — Jules Jouffroy 3 run (2-point conversion good), 7:07.
S — Ian Johnston-Schmidt 42 interception return (extra point), 7:03.
@z-BR Agate Bold Centered:Third Quarter
B — David Schopfer 50 run (Dumas kick), 6:26.
B — Schopfer 3 run (Dumas kick), 3:13.
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