Manatee High dominates Steinbrenner High to take over first place in district

LUTZ -- Even the Mona Lisa had a few flaws.

So the Manatee High football team can be excused if its 52-17 domination over previously unbeaten Lutz Steinbrenner Friday night wasn't perfect. But it was a pretty sight for the Canes, who are now the only unbeaten team in Class 8A-District 6 play.

A.J. Colagiovanni completed 17-of-26 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns and took one in on the ground from the 10. He joins a select few Manatee High quarterbacks who topped the 300-yard passing mark, including a guy named Tommie Frazier.

"He had a great game tonight," Manatee head coach John Booth said. "He has a great command of the offense. He understands what we are trying to do and where we are trying to go, but he also plays with such poise and confidence. There is not a lot that rattles him. We put a lot of ownership on our quarterbacks."

Colagiovanni also knows where to spread the credit and expressed thanks for his offensive line, running backs and receivers.

The Canes' Kavious Price has a way of making those passing stats look awfully good. In the second period, Price took a little swing pass and turned it into an 80-yard touchdown with nearly all of it coming with his legs.

Price finished the night with six receptions for 159 yards and ended the night's scoring when he caught a 24-yard touchdown pass. Reggie Carter caught six passes for 74 yards and Tarique Milton hauled in a 15-yard TD catch to open up the second half.

"It helps your passing game when you have a guy like Kavious, and Reggie had a good night," Booth said. "You can be the best quarterback out there, but if you don't have anybody to throw it to it makes your job tough. We've got a nice balance with KP, Reggie and Tarique. A lot of times we are using our pass game to open up our run game."

Lorenz Allen went over 100 yards rushing for the third straight game, finishing with 141 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries.

For the second straight game, the Canes hurt themselves with penalties and their pass defense showed a few cracks. They finished with a season high 14 penalties for 155 yards. It included two unsportsmanlike calls for two players celebrating after a sack.

"It's unacceptable," Booth said. "We had too many late hits on the quarterback, hits to the head and unsportsmanlike conduct, and that is not good football. We are going to address that on Monday. We are not going to be able to continue to do that. We don't need it. You act like you've been there before."

Manatee fell behind 7-0 When Steinbrenner (5-1, 2-1) scored on a 34-yard touchdown after Justin Moffatt beat the Manatee secondary. The Canes led 17-7 when busted coverage left Carson Kaleo wide open in the end zone as the Warriors cut their lead to 17-14.

Manatee led 24-14 at halftime and scored on its first three possessions of the second half to open up a 38-14 lead with 8:41 left in the third quarter.

"Things couldn't have gone any better. Everyone is excited when we are throwing for over 300 yards," Colagiovanni said. "It was good game for me and my teammates and we didn't have any turnovers. Having a guy like KP where you just put the ball in his hands and he makes things happen is great. He is a playmaker and our offensive line did a great job. It was a total team win."

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 12:11 AM with the headline "Manatee High dominates Steinbrenner High to take over first place in district ."