Carrollwood Day came out of the halftime break against Shorecrest Prep with a surprisingly slim 12-3 lead. An obvious fire lit underneath them, the Patriots (3-1) scored 35 points holding the Chargers to only one score, to take the game impressively 47-10. PHOTOS HERE
The Chargers (1-3) struck first when they controlled the clock for 10 minutes of the first quarter, driving 63 yards, capped with a 22-yard FG to take an early 3-0 lead.
Highly touted RB Robert Davis struggled with a shoulder injury, but still was a spark rushing 7 times for 99 yards, including a TD run of 65 yards in the third quarter. That run, in particular, Davis broke four tackles, shook off a facemask, and outran everyone down the CDS sideline.
It wasn’t his only score though. With just 20 seconds to go in the first half CDS stood up the Shorecrest ball carrier stripping him of the ball where Davis picked it up and scampered 70 yards for the score to give the Patriots a 12-3 lead going into half.
The Chargers’ attack was pretty one dimensional as they ran for 170 yards, only completing 3 of 10 pass attempts.
Although focused on the run, Patriots’ QB Gruden still was able to complete 10 of his 19 pass attempts for 165 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. He and junior Dominiq Sicardo connected on a 26 yard TD in the first half to give CDS its first lead, a lead they would never surrender.
After receiving the third quarter kickoff Carrollwood Day drove right down the field on a 1:40 drive capped with a 42 yard TD reception by Dillon Floyd who finished with 3 catches for 65 yards.
The next Shorecrest drive ended with Patriots’ Andy Embody scooping a Shorecrest fumble and returning it 36 yards for another score. The 12-3 halftime lead quickly grew to 26-3 and the game was out of reach.
The Patriots would stretch its lead to 33-3 until Shorecrest answered on a short TD run to make it 33-10. CDS would add two more scores late to put the game out of reach.
The bright spot for the Shorecrest offense was RB Jared Schultz who rushed for more than 100 yards and was a load to bring down. He scored the lone Charger TD.
Big Games:
CDS DL/T Adonis Welch. 2014 6-6 250: It’s his size that initially catches your eye. What keeps your attention is his skill set. Only a sophomore, he has some things to learn and plenty of time to do it. He was consistently in the Chargers’ backfield reeking havoc. He played both on the edge where he used his speed to get off the edge. He also played inside where he bottled up the inside run and used his strength to drive the interior linemen into the backfield. Keep your eye on him.
CDS WR/CB Dillon Floyd. 2012 6-1 170: Although he only had three catches he could have easily had six catches for 100+ yards. Noone could cover him. He and Gruden were unfortunately not on the same page on a number of routes. Where Floyd surprised me most was on the defensive side of the ball. He wasn’t really tested as a cover corner, but he is a sure tackler on the edge and does a nice job forcing ball carriers back to the middle of the field.
Twitter: @KyleBennettUT
Email: kbennett.ut@gmail.com