Manatee fends off pesky Southeast

With the running game held in check, Manatee High School tailback Josh Booker didn’t fret. Instead, the 210-pound junior reminded himself to stay focused and buckle down.

So when the Hurricanes needed him the most in Friday’s showdown with county rival Southeast at Paul Maechtle Field at John Kiker Memorial Stadium, Booker delivered.

Rumbling 15 yards to paydirt, Booker gave Manatee (7-3) breathing room in a 42-24 victory as part of the Great American Rivalry Series presented by the U.S. Army.

“You always have to be prepared for the next worst thing that can happen, because you never know what can happen in a game,” said Booker, who finished with a team-high 47 rushing yards.

Canes senior quarterback A.J. Colagiovanni was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after completing 18 of 27 passes for 336 yards and four touchdowns.

Starting out, it looked like Colagiovanni and Co. would blow the Seminoles (4-5) away. Colagiovanni delivered three touchdown passes to three different receivers as Manatee jumped out to a 28-0 lead.

Then, Southeast began clawing its way back just like the Noles did in last week’s playoff-clinching win over Sarasota Booker.

“When we play, we can play,” Southeast head coach Rashad West said. “We just can’t wait to start playing. But when we play, we can play with anyone.”

Behind quarterback Alex Taylor, who completed 31 of 55 passes for 332 yards, Southeast crept to within 11 points by the start of the fourth quarter.

Southeast senior Qion Burch, who had a game-high 48 rushing yards, struck for the first score on a 10-yard scamper late in the third quarter before Taylor found J.T. Galloway on a 34-yard touchdown reception to close out the period.

“To think that they were down 28 and they were going to kind of roll over, we knew that wasn’t in the cards,” Manatee head coach John Booth said.

But a personal foul penalty at the end of the quarter swung momentum back to Manatee and Booker was given the rock for an important carry in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

“Josh is a very confident kid, who can play any position on the field,” Colagiovanni said. “He’s an athlete. He’s a longtime friend. I’ve known him since I was 5 years old. ... And I know he can do anything he sets his mind to, and when he goes on the field he’s going to make plays.”

Manatee, which improves to 21-14 in the all-time series between the two Bradenton rivals, and Southeast are each heading to the playoffs next week. And Friday’s contest, which turned ugly in the fourth quarter with several penalties, provided both team’s a dress rehearsal for next week’s postseason.

That meant Manatee could try out a new-look defensive line featuring four players instead of the three that they’ve used most of the year.

“We got some pressure in the backfield, which was good,” said Booth, whose defense snagged three interceptions on Friday. “I thought we controlled the run game pretty well.”

West said about his team moving forward: “We’re just still building it, trying to have success each week. I just wanted us to have some success, a little bit more than what we had here (Friday), so we could carry it over to the playoffs next week.”

Manatee 42, Southeast 24

First quarter

M— Javarious Pollock 45 pass from A.J. Colagiovanni (Daniel Reyna kick), 10:40

M— Jadan Robinson 76 pass from Colagiovanni (Josh Booker run), 3:27

M— Pollock 28 run (Run failed), 1:29

Second quarter

M— Jernard Porter 47 pass from Colagiovanni (Reyna kick), 8:00

S— Qion Burch 6 pass from Alex Taylor (Julio Martinez kick), 4:10

M— Tarique Milton 32 pass from Colagiovanni (Reyna kick), 2:26

S— Martinez 24 field goal, 0:00

Third quarter

S— Burch 10 run (Martinez kick), 2:24

S— JT Galloway 34 pass from Taylor (Martinez kick), 0:15.2

Fourth Quarter

M— Booker 15 run (Reyna kick), 11:01

Individual leaders

Rushing: Manatee 26-85: Keyon Fordham 7-(-7), Colagiovanni 9-17, Booker 9-47, Pollock 1-28. Southeast 25-45: Burch 14-48, Taylor 9-3, Frankie Clercius 1-(-6), Tyler Stevenson 1-0.

Passing: Manatee 18-27-1, 336: Colagiovanni 18-27-1, 336. Southeast 31-55-3, 332: Taylor 31-55-3, 332.

Receiving: Manatee 18-336: Pollock 5-73, Xavier Stuart 1-10, Robinson 4-131, Porter 2-52, Milton 5-65, Fordham 1-5. Southeast 31-332: Terrance Pryor 11-108, Stevenson 10-129, Steven Amato 3-21, Burch 4-29, Galloway 3-45.

This story was originally published November 5, 2016 at 12:25 AM with the headline "Manatee fends off pesky Southeast."