Lakewood Ranch QB Justin Curtis leads second-half comeback

It was a forgettable first half.

Save for an interception and a couple sustained drives, the passing defense was poor and the offense was slowed a bit.

Even head coach Mick Koczersut found himself a little off when shouting for his special teams to let a punt go, only to see it pin the Mustangs to their own 2.

But in Friday’s spring football game, Koczersut’s Lakewood Ranch Mustangs responded to a nine-point halftime deficit and left Tornado Alley with a 27-24 victory over Sarasota Booker.

“We made some more plays in the second half than we did in the first half,” Koczersut said.

Quarterback Justin Curtis engineered Ranch’s comeback with his legs. A rising junior, Curtis pulled the Mustangs to within two points on the second play of the third quarter when he rumbled 52 yards to pay dirt.

He galloped 44 yards from scrimmage on the first play of Ranch’s next possession, before running back Jay Turner scored on a 7-yard run to give the Mustangs the lead for good.

Thomas Scott added a 35-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to give Ranch a two-score cushion, which it needed following Booker quarterback Arthur Brantley IV connecting with Talik Keaton on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 3:43 left in the game.

“They were giving us some things that if we broke through the line of scrimmage, then we were going to have a big play out of it,” Koczersut said.

Curtis ripped the Tornadoes apart in the second half with 139 rushing yards on 10 carries. That gave him 225 rushing yards for the game on 22 attempts with two touchdowns.

“Our line did a great job of opening the holes ... we played the fake and the hole was there, and I took it,” Curtis said.

For his part, Brantley kept Booker moving in the first half as he shredded the Mustangs for 208 passing yards in the first two quarters. He finished with 313 passing yards on 24 of 31 attempts and two interceptions, while scoring twice on rushing attempts.

The two Ranch picks came courtesy of Blauvelt Georges and Chris Hadley.

Hadley’s interception was during the third quarter comeback that swung the momentum squarely with the Mustangs.

“We knew we couldn’t give up those three points,” Curtis said. “It was big.”

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 11:43 PM with the headline "Lakewood Ranch QB Justin Curtis leads second-half comeback."