Palmetto, FL – It’s been a long time. It’s been a real long time since Palmetto defeated their cross river rival Manatee. 2004 to be exact and the streak will continue for the Hurricanes as they boarded the buses back home victorious. Live on Bright House Sports Network, the two teams showed lots of fight, passion and respect. As the fourth quarter time continued to decrease it seemed as though Palmetto would finally defeat big bad Manatee leading by 9 points with less than 4 minutes to play. Then it happened!
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The Good
Quarterback Play. Manatee QB A.J. Colagiovanni finished the night 18-of-28 for 282 yards and led the Hurricanes on a 50-yard drive that started with just over one minute left to set up Null’s game-winning kick.
Palmetto’s Jack Allison finished with 164 passing yards, 3 passing TDs and 1 rushing TD. Played extremely well through 3 quarters and sputtered some late.
Better
Sudden Change defenses. Several times in the game each team’s offense put the defense in bad situations due to turnovers deep in their own territory. With their backs to the wall the Tiger and Hurricane defenses stood tall holding teams three or no points. Palmetto struck twice in the first half due to Manatee turnovers but had to fight to come away with points. Palmetto’s defense created a huge turnover at the 1 yard line as it looks as if Manatee would waltz in the end zone with ease.
The Bad
Tackling! Both teams did a great job flying to the football and gang tackling for much of the evening. However, too many big plays were created by missed tackles. Manatee Lorenz Allen scored on the same play twice on the Palmetto sideline due to missed tackles. Palmetto’s Azavion Smith took a short pass 80 yards to the promise land up Manatee’s sideline eluding several tacklers. The biggest play of the game came with 3 minutes remaining. Kavious Price struck once again as he took a short pass 58 yards to the end zone to bring Manatee within two. Missed tackles again by Palmetto.
The Ugly
Ball security was horrendous for both teams. Palmetto and Manatee combined for 14 loose footballs though out the night. Each team losing their share.