Manatee upsets state power Armwood as Colagiovanni comes off the bench to lead offense

Coming off early summer surgery, quarterback A.J. Colagiovanni didn’t know if he was going to play in the Manatee High’s preseason opener against power Seffner Armwood, which has been to three straight state finals.

But the senior came off the bench with 2:17 left in the first quarter with the Canes trailing by two touchdowns and provided the spark in engineering Manatee to a 28-19 victory Friday night at Hawkins Stadium.

“I didn’t know if I was going to play, but we had a game-time decision that we had been talking about during the week and I was supposed to get a couple of series and see how my foot would respond,” Colagiovanni said. “I was playing well and feeling good and they wanted to keep me in. I wasn’t asking to go in. It was totally on the coaches. I didn’t put any pressure on them or ask them to put me in. They just told me to go in and perform.”

Colagiovanni did more than just perform. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns, helping Manatee overcome a 13-0 deficit in the first half. He hit Tarique Milton with an 11-yard scoring strike in the second quarter and with 31 seconds left before halftime connected with Jernard Porter on a 15-yard touchdown pass to give Manatee a 14-13 halftime lead.

“It feels great to go out and beat a team like Armwood,” Colagiovanni said. “Their tradition and their program is very high. They are a top tier program and to knock them off says something about our program. My foot feels great. I was able to run and feel no pain or soreness so I am happy.”

Tarique Milton, the Canes’ top receiver, started at quarterback for Manatee. He showed his running skills by rushing for 105 yards on 12 carries and caught three passes for 28 yards.

Manatee head coach John Booth said he wanted to get Colagiovanni about 20 plays and a couple series, but he kept him in most of the second half because he felt good and was looking good.

“He looked comfortable and his foot felt fine. We limited what we called offensively where we weren’t doing a whole lot of read option,” Booth said. “He made me a little nervous in the fourth quarter when he pulled some of those (read options), but he got down pretty quick which was smart on his part. We kept asking him how he felt after each series and he said great, so we kept rolling with him. Tarique did a nice job moving the ball, but we weren’t finishing drives.”

Manatee also got a productive game out of Josh Booker, who piled up 125 yards on 12 carries and scored from 16 yards out with 3:17 to account for the Canes’ final points. Javarious Pollock led the receiving corps with 47 yards on five catches.

Manatee’s defense was impressive against Armwood, which has one of the most powerful running games in the state. It limited the Hawks to 160 yards rushing.

“They did well. Armwood is a great team loaded with talent,” Booth said. “One of the things we preached was doing your job and taking care of your responsibilities on each play and our guys did that. They played fast and hung tough, especially after being put in some tough situations by our offense.”

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 11:58 PM with the headline "Manatee upsets state power Armwood as Colagiovanni comes off the bench to lead offense."