BRADENTON — Maybe it was the early start to the game. Or maybe it was because the Out-of-Door Academy football team became too relaxed after clinching the district title last week.
Whatever the case, the Thunder had to fight off a sluggish start and an aggressive Saint Stephen’s squad, riding the shoulders of senior running back A.J. Strong in the second half to prevail over the host Falcons 35-24 on Friday in a Class 1B-District 6 game. The Thunder won the Headmasters Cup for the third consecutive year.
Strong had 198 yards on 27 carries and three touchdowns, but 125 yards came in the second half.
“Our (offensive) line came to play in the second half,” said Strong, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the season with the performance. “Coach (Brett Timmons) said a little words to them and stuck a lighter up under them, and I just ran right behind my blocking.”
The game started 90 minutes earlier, and it took ODA (7-1, 5-0) a while to wake up. The Falcons (4-5, 2-3) used that to their advantage.
Saint Stephen’s rammed the ball through ODA’s defense in the first half and had a commanding 17-7 lead with 51 seconds left in the half when Falcons quarterback Adam Vining scored on a 2-yard run.
After a short kickoff, ODA took the ball at their own 40-yard line and marched to the Falcons 33 with 10 second left. Saint Stephen’s linebacker Allen James was whistled for pass interference on Kevin Ramsey with no time left on the clock, giving ODA the ball at the 18-yard line.
Thunder quarterback Brian Ragone hit Brody Wiseman for an 18-yard touchdown on the next play, closing Saint Stephen’s lead to three points, and more importantly, providing ODA with the momentum after halftime.
“I was a little upset with the late pass interference call,” Falcons coach Stan Brown said. “That was in the first half, so we can throw that out of the window. I don’t want to say we ran out of gas, but they just seemed to have that extra gear.”
The Falcons rushed for 265 yards as Cameron Allen led the way with 169 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.
But two fourth-quarter scores from Strong put the game away.
“We just felt like with them having low numbers attrition would kick in,” Timmons said.
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