How did Manatee score 56 and lose by 22?

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Like most of the area football games this weekend, this notes column was delayed a day because of a soggy keyboard.

 

Score 56 and lose by 22?

When a high school football team scores 56 points, that team is expected to come away with a victory, especially when that team is one of the elite teams in the state.

The team that scored 56 points, not only lost, but lost by 22 points.

Manatee quarterback AJ Colagiovanni completed 24-of-39 passes for 345 yards and five touchdowns. file photo

Manatee quarterback AJ Colagiovanni completed 24-of-39 passes for 345 yards and five touchdowns. file photo

That was the fate of the Manatee High football team.

When the clock struck 0:00 at Hewitt-Trussville Stadium in Alabama, it was the homestanding Huskies 78 and the visiting Hurricanes 56.

“With 56 points, you should come away with a win,” Manatee High coach John Booth said Saturday somewhere between Alabama and Bradenton. “Obviously, we didn’t play very good at all defensively.”

The Hurricanes coaching staff watched Hewitt-Trussville shred the zone coverage of Montgomery Bell Academy (Tenn.) for 341 passing yards the previous week. Manatee decided to press the receivers in the Huskies’ five-wide, empty-backfield set.

Hewitt-Tressville QB Connor Adair threw for 281 yards on 17-for-24 accuracy and four touchdowns, but it was the Huskies’ running game that did more damage.

Led by RB Grayson Cash’s 255 yards on the ground, Hewitt-Tressville gained 369 rushing yards.

“We didn’t do a very good job of getting good pressure on their quarterback,” Booth said. “It left us more susceptible in the run game.

“They ran a lot of zone and we ended up out of position. We created some big runs lanes for them. Either that or we had a guy on the edge and didn’t make the tackle.”

Booth was more than pleased with his offense. QB A.J. Colagiovanni completed 24-of-39 passes for 345 yards and five touchdowns. RB Josh Booker gained 115 yards on the ground in less than two quarters before leaving with an injury. Booth said it was more “precautionary and he felt good” Saturday.

The Hurricanes piled up nine touchdowns, five rushing, four passing and one on an interception return.

“Our offense was fantastic,” Booth said. “Any time you’re putting up 600 yards of offense and throwing for 360 yards …  we’ve got to find a way to make some stops and win.”

Unsuccessful in its second straight trip to Alabama - Manatee lost to nationally ranked Hoover, 42-21, to open last season - the Hurricanes now must set their sights on county rival Palmetto. The Tigers are coming off an impressive win over Fort Myers and gave Manatee all it could handle in a 36-35 loss a year ago.

“We’ll respond and bounce back and get ready for Palmetto now,” Booth said.

The coach said there were positives his team could reference later in the season.

“Any time you get out there - obviously you want to win - but there are a lot of things we can pull from this experience that we use to benefit us down the stretch as we get into our district play and the postseason,” Booth said.

“Any time you get to do this it’s a positive thing. There’s a lot of distractions that come along with the trip, not bad distractions, just a different environment. It’s good to experience that and see how the kids handle it and respond. Unfortunately, we weren’t ready to play defensively.”

 

The color of yellow

If Riverview and Booker are going to have successful seasons, they are going to have to cut down on the penalties.

There were 29 accepted infractions in Friday night’s 51-30 Rams victory over the Tornadoes.

Booker coach Recharde Goodwin has lamented his team must do a better job in that department, but the Tornadoes were flagged 13 times for 108 yards, not counting the ones that were not accepted.

Riverview was guilty of 16 penalties for a whopping 160 yards, figures Coach Todd Johnson thought were exceptionally high, even for the first game of the year.

There was little bad blood, just some yapping, during the game after the Rams captains refused to shake the hands of the Booker captains during the pregame get together. Both sides were sent back to their respective sidelines and returned to the center of the field where the coin flip went off without incident, and with both sides shaking hands.

 

Mustangs have seen enough of Davis

Lakewood Ranch has seen enough, actually more than enough, of RB Malik Davis. In four games against the Mustangs, the Tampa Jesuit back has rushed for 460 yards on 47 carries, a 9.79 average, and eight touchdowns.

Thursday, Davis gained 193 yards on 17 attempts and scored four times in just more than two quarters in the Tigers’ 39-3 victory over Lakewood Ranch. He had one touchdown as a junior and three as a sophomore.

Good news is Davis is a senior and has faced the Mustangs for the final time.

 

Looking ahead to this week’s slate

Some of the key games on Friday’s slate include Palmetto at Manatee, Venice at Riverview and Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic at Saint Stephen’s.

Palmetto and Manatee is always a backyard brawl. Venice and Riverview should be a fast-paced contest with both teams playing up tempo. Santa Fe Catholic handed Saint Stephen’s both its losses a year ago, including a 33-0 whitewash in the Sunshine State Athletic Conference championship game.

On the subject of  SSAC, Bradenton Christian (vs. St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep) and Out-of-Door (vs. St. Petersburg Keswick Christian) make their debuts in Coral Bay Conference games.

Dennis Maffezzoli

Dennis Maffezzoli is the chief reporter for HT Preps. He can be reached by email or call (941) 315-0598.
Last modified: August 28, 2016
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