Week 7 Game Reactions
Eric Clark
• I didn’t know there was a such thing as Arena Football in High School
But there is and it is called 2A-5. Again in probably what was the most exciting game in the Bay Area Canterbury outlasted Indian Rocks Christian 49-47 in a thrilling overtime battle. The road to the playoffs goes through Canterbury and Admiral Farragut. As it stands right now Canterbury would be the district champ and AFA would be the runner up. Canterbury should coast through the rest of their schedule, while Farragut still has a tough game awaiting them on November 11th against Cambridge.
• Top teams gets offensive
Lakewood and Countryside are the top teams in Pinellas County right now and they both put 60 points on the board last week. For Lakewood it was a Tune-up for their biggest game of the season yet (but we will get to that later). For Countryside this was just another weak team on their schedule they must face in pursuit of an undefeated season. The question is looming will any of the remaining teams pose a challenge for the Cougars and will the lack of a challenge affect them in the playoffs.
• Kenny Blanch and Louis Pappas lead their Spongers in a revenge campaign.
The Spongers were embarrassed 31-9 last year at Palm Harbor where Blanch and Pappas played key roles playing for opposing teams. This year Blanch welcomed his old team to his new home in Tarpon only to send them home with a 37-31 loss. Blanch was pivotal both on offense and defense for the Spongers. On offense he accounted for 135 all-purpose yards including a 3rd and 40 conversion and 2TD’s. On defense he was responsible for spying the speedy QB Billy Pavlock and keeping him in check. Meanwhile Pappas avenged a loss from last season and threw for 318 yards and 2TD’s
• Slow week but still a few interesting scores
o St. Pete Catholic 39 Cardinal Mooney 33- No one really expected SPC to win another game but anytime you have a guy (Ryan Green) who can rush for 310 yards you can never count them out.
o Pinellas Park 27 Boca Ciega 6- The outcome wasn’t surprising but the fact that Boca Ciega has fallen so far after having lofty expectations of making the playoffs.
o East Lake 52 Sarasota 38- Many assumed East Lake’s offense would be high powered but it has been pedestrian thus far. They opened up the flood gates against Sarasota in a much needed confidence builder before the big showdown with Palm Harbor.
• BIG GAME WEEK AHEAD
With the playoffs looming this week will have big Implications for several teams.
Jesuit @ Lakewood- This game should decide the district championship and subsequent runner up.
Berkeley Prep @ CCC- This game is for all the marbles for CCC. If they win they are essentially the district champion here and they will have pulled off one of the biggest wins in Coach John Davis’s 2nd stint at CCC.
Palm Harbor @ North Port and East Lake @ Riverview (Sarasota)- If both Pinellas teams win this week they will meet on the November 4th to decide the district champion and runner up.