Saturday, Oct. 04, 2008

Patriots blow past Panthers

Since the start of the season, Bradenton Prep's coaching staff has been warning its players about pitching the ball on the exchange on the reverse.

On Friday in a Class 1B-District 6 contest against Bradenton Christian, the coaching staff's fears were realized one second and the next they were jumping in jubilation.

With the Patriots on their own 27-yard line with 5:01 left in the game, Bradenton Prep's running back Jared Williams took the handoff and ran to his right with Tervaris Hines heading in his direction. As the players met, Williams flipped Hines the ball, Hines fumbled, scooped up the ball, while running back nearly 20 yards to avoid Panthers' defenders and around a referee. He cut upfield and raced 73 yards for the score to cap a Patriots' second-half explosion to defeat Bradenton Christian 42-3 at Palma Sola Park.

"We used to hand that off on the reverse," Bradenton Prep coach Joe Hammond said. "We've been doing this little toss thing and getting fancy, and the running backs coach he he didn't like that, and sure enough, he fumbles it and go back almost 20 yards, and he just had enough of the corner, and he got two or three good blocks, just enough to seal it. It was a heck of a run."

Hines finished the game with 162 all-purpose yards - as he added three receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown.

The play epitomized Bradenton Prep's second half. After taking a 7-0 lead into intermission, Bradenton Prep (4-1, 2-0 1B-District 6) scored 35 unanswered points on a 31-yard interception return by defensive back Bruce Livingston, a 1-yard and 44-yard touchdown runs by Williams, who had 136 yards on 19 carries, a 37 yard touchdown reception from quarterback Zach Hammond to wide receiver Michael Curry and Hines' long scamper.

"We were trying to figure out their scheme," Williams said of Bradenton Christian defense. "Our O-line blocked and I just ran behind them. This is a big win, but we have to get further on into the season, and then these wins will be big."

The Patriots defense stymied the Panthers, allowing BCS 113 total yards and three first downs. The Panthers fell to 2-3, 1-2 in district play.

"I credit Bradenton Prep and their defensive people," BCS coach Allan Gerber said. "They were just a little bit better than us up front. We had a couple inopportune drops hurt us, and they become drive killers. In the end, we ran out of juice."