PLANT CITY – Coming into Friday night’s game between Strawberry Crest and Durant, there was a nasty west-to-east wind that cut across the field that had Durant kicker Peyton Ledbetter on the field almost an hour and a half before kickoff between the 7A-9 opponents. He wouldn’t be needed to kick a game-winning field goal, as his Cougars scored 40-plus points for the third straight game in their rout of the Chargers on Friday night.
The Chargers (0-6, 0-4) couldn’t muster up any offense as the furthest they got was to their 40-yard line before they had a long, and their best, drive of the day in the fourth quarter. Durant (6-1, 4-0) was running on all cylinders throughout the game, with several plays that went for big yardage. Cameron Myers got it started with a 16 yard rush that was set up by a failed Charger fake punt attempt.
Durant took a 21-0 lead into the beginning of the second quarter after Jake Harris broke through a porous defense en route to a 32-yard rushing touchdown, and QB Carlton Potter throwing an eight-yard dump off pass to David Tabakovic. Harris finished 75 rushing yards on six carries and the one score.
It was more of the same story in the second, as the Cougars put up another 21 points in the quarter. Potter found Jory Cole for a 30 yard touchdown pass through a bunch of Strawberry Crest defenders. Cole would be the center of a little scrum between the two squads midway through the second, after he was pushed back and forth without a whistle being blown. Michael Acosta of Strawberry Crest and Kolton Smith of Durant were ejected from the game and will not play next week.
After that was sorted out, Edrick Davis scored on a ten-yard touchdown run, and Potter would throw it to Brandon Myers from 13 yards out, to get his third passing touchdown of the evening, and to put the Cougars up 42-0 at halftime. Tyrhon Brooks added one more score to finish the scoring in the third quarter for the Cougars, and Chris Gay picked off a pass in the fourth quarter to seal the shutout.
“I’m really proud of our offense because we executed at a very high level, we didn’t have any turnovers, and if the offense keeps doing that, then we’re going to score 40 points a game. Defense plays well, we get good field possession with special teams work, then we’re going to have a much easier time scoring,” said Durant Head Coach Mike Gottman.
Potter finished 10 of 14 for 167 yards and three touchdowns on the evening, and seven different Cougars scored a touchdown this evening. Cameron Myers had 47 yards on eight carries and a touchdown, while his brother, Brandon, had six receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown. For the Chargers, QB Braxton Plunk finished 9-of-20 for 90 yards.
Durant will face Plant City next week in a game that will have playoff implications attached to it in 7A-9 play. The Raiders took care of business against Bloomingdale this evening, improving to 4-2 on the year. Strawberry Crest will have a bye week before they battle against East Bay, in hopes to win their first game of the season.