CLEARWATER, FL – It was clearly evident from their offseason progress that Countryside was ready to explode once they finally put the pads on for their spring contest versus Citrus. The Cougars confirmed they were ready to do just that from the opening whistle on Friday night as they demolished the Hurricanes, 56-6.
The game was delayed for nearly 45 minutes following as the two teams and their fans waited for a severe thunderstorm to blow through the area and if not for the wet conditions that remained causing a few passes to be dropped, Countryside QB Trent Chmelik might have had a perfect night completing the first half 10-of-15, for 149 yards and two touchdowns helping the Cougars run away and hide 35-0 before the clock hit zero for the halftime break.
Senior Nose Guard Alex Pollack Jr. used his 6-feet, 300-pound frame to push Citrus’ blockers into the backfield all night causing havoc from the first drive. Pollack Jr. split the tackle and guard the first two plays putting the Hurricanes into a punting situation. Following Felix Dixon’s return into Citrus territory, the Cougars went to work scoring just two minutes later on an Andrew Grimes two yard touchdown. Following a Citrus drive that ended in downs, C’Side and Chmelik went back to work this time hooking up with Kee Whetzel for 28 yards to setup the first of Markeas Jerrido’s two touchdowns on the evening.
Much of the same for Countryside took place on the following possessions of the first half as they forced Citrus into punting situations all but one drive for the entire game as matter of fact. Following Jerrido’s second TD of the evening, the Cougars got the ball back on a Felix Dixon interception that was returned to the ‘Canes 11 yard line. That’s when Chmelik found Whetzel from 11 yards out for his first touchdown of the night and his fourth of the game totaling 77 yards at that point as the Cougars pushed their lead to 35-0 just before halftime.
As the running clock began in the second half, Countryside handed the ball off nine consecutive times from their own-48 then stalled at the two yard line and decided to bring placekicker Tom Truong on to attempt a 19-yard field goal. Whetzel, who is the holder on kicks on Special Teams bobbled the wet pigskin then decided to improvise finding Patrick Molen in the end zone for a 3-yard TD pass. On Citrus’ ensuing possession and in yet another punting situation, punter Max Cyr was met by as many as five Cougars as he tried to get the ball away and that left Gavin Petrillo in a position to pick up the ball and scamper into the end zone for a touchdown and a 49-0 lead at that point.
Citrus never stopped working though and following the gaffe on special teams, ‘Canes QB Ryan Grow decided at least the shutout had to end and he went running off the left side 53 yards for Citrus’ line score on the evening. The positive vibes were short-lived as Felix Dixon took the kickoff from Cyr and returned it 85 yards for the touchdown capping the night off and sending the Cougars and their fans home with a win. In addition to Dixon’s big night on defense and special teams, Whetzel added to his big night on offense with a stellar night on defense as well making eight tackles (three-for-loss) and recording two sacks. Countryside finished the evening with over 300 yards of total offense, with 166 of those yards coming on the ground.
Following the game, Head Coach Eric Schmitz seemed quite content with what his team was able to accomplish on the evening. “They’ve had a tremendous offseason in the weight room and the conditioning drills, and we just talked about putting the exclamation point on this particular part of the season and build-on to this performance into the summer workouts.” said Schmitz. “I know it’s just one game, but to put it all together like this feels pretty good.”
Still, for a team like Countryside to make it through the toughest district in Pinellas County this season and a pretty tough non-district schedule, Schmitz knows there’s some things that his squad can improve upon. Specifically, the temporary lapses in the receiving games and some careless penalties that totaled 60 yards for the game. “There’s obviously a lot of little things to get cleaned up especially from an operational standpoint on offense and defense, but they played hard and for the most part they executed and got the job done tonight.”