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Falcons Lay Egg, Largo Moves On

Packers 31, Falcons 0

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By Eric Horchy | The Suncoast News

Published: November 23, 2007

DUNEDIN - DUNEDIN - Largo walked onto the field for their regional semifinal battle against host Dunedin with a perfect 11-0 record.

When they walked off, everyone in attendance clearly witnessed how and why they are now a pristine 12-0.

It was a rematch of Week Six's thrilling double overtime game that ended with Largo on top 37-30.

Emotions were high, but Dunedin's offense came out plagued by mistakes. Largo made virtually none. The Packers also did another thing top tier teams do: Making the opposition pay for each and every one of those foul-ups.

The stat line of the game: Dunedin - three lost fumbles, one interception, one costly intentional grounding penalty.

All four turnovers resulted in Largo points and the grounding infraction occurred with 11.5 seconds remaining in the first half and Dunedin threatening. It turned a manageable 26-yard T.J. Day field goal attempt into a 37-yard tester that Largo subsequently blocked.

Dunedin also fumbled but recovered on three other instances. The majority of the fumbles were caused by both miscommunications and poor execution during shotgun and long snaps.

With all the fundamental errors, the game actually began with Dunedin looking impressive.

After winning the coin-toss and electing to receive, Largo was forced to punt on their first possession. Dunedin started at their own 22-yard line and - led by tailback Adaris Bellamy - marched methodically down the field for a first-and-ten at Largo's 13.

That marking proved to be extremely unlucky for the Falcons as the wheels immediately began to fall off right then.

Dropped back in the shotgun formation as quarterback A'Darrius Anderson typically is, the snap flew over his head. Negative-22 yards and two plays later, running back Mike Towns fumbled away an end around from Bellamy.

Largo returned the favor with a long, 13-play drive of their own, culminating in an athletic 6-yard touchdown scamper from quarterback Leonard Johnson.

Dunedin's next possession ended abruptly after three plays when quarterback Terry Nnatubeugo - spelling for Anderson - was not ready for the shotgun snap and had the ball deflect off the side of his helmet. Largo recovered with phenomenal field position, down to the Dunedin 22-yard line.

After a couple of runs by Pinellas County single-season rushing record holder Brynn Harvey, the electric Johnson showed how dangerous the Largo offense could be.

Rolling to his left looking to pass, Johnson nearly got sacked. He shook that attempted arm tackle and eluded another, now coming back to his right. After receiving an enormous open field block from lineman Travis Feldman, he tore to the right corner pylon and left his feet, soaring head first with arms and legs outstretched for the 16-yard improvised scoring run.

Johnson spoke of his big man up front after the win.

"He (Feldman) told me the first time I scored a touchdown, if I ever get in that situation again, 'You come make sure you cut off my block, cut off my block!'" Johnson said. "That's what I did and I saw an opportunity to get in and I stretched the ball out."

The senior signal caller finished with 13 carries for 63 yards and was 2-for-3 passing with 37 yards. He took part in all three of the offensive touchdowns, running for the two and passing for another.

The aforementioned touchdown pass came on Largo's first possession of the second half. Starting with great field position in Dunedin territory once again, Johnson found receiver Reginald McCray in the end zone for a 29-yard connection and score. Using his height and leaping ability, McCray turned what looked to be a sure interception by cornerback Towns into six points by jumping and snaring the ball right over Towns' head.

"I jumped over him," McCray said bluntly about the athletic midair snatch. "It's all timing."

"That's the way he plays. Just throw it up high and he'll take it from them," Largo head coach Rick Rodriguez said of his rangy receiver. "It was an easy play really, a straight go pattern. The simplest play in football."

Though the 21-0 hole Dunedin dug themselves into through two-and-a-half quarters looked to be unscalable as it was, the final nail was pounded in a minute later.

The Falcons looked to be gaining some momentum and inspiration from Bellamy after he charged ahead for consecutive runs of 15-and 16-yards to begin the drive.

Seeing it was time to tighten up, the Largo defense did just that. Defensive back Mike Lang grabbed a deflected Anderson pass at the Packer's own 38-yard line and sped down the right sideline. Sixty-eight yards later, it was 28-0 Largo.

The Packers capped the evening off by stealing away yet another errant snap on Dunedin's next crack on offense and driving down field for a 22-yard Louis Marroquin field goal.

"We just came out and played fundamental football, and we made it happen," Johnson said.

The Packers certainly did just that by not shooting themselves in the foot and being patient on defense. Standing their ground, they kept holding up the Falcon offense just enough until it eventually handed the ball straight over.

Undefeated Largo also showed how formidable their offensive attack is featuring the threesome of Johnson, Harvey and McCray.

As it was last week against East Lake, Johnson stole the show statistically. But much of his ability to get open-field looks comes from defenses having to keep Harvey in check. The tailback still managed to rush for 95 yards on 19 carries.

His contemporary across the field, Bellamy, had himself another solid performance with 23 rushes for 153 yards. It was when the ball wasn't in his hands that Dunedin ran into problems.

It is the second consecutive year that the Falcons exit the playoffs after the second week.

Largo will now go on to host Cape Coral High - who ousted Manatee from postseason play 31-28 - for a chance to go to Orlando for the State Finals.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Largo - 0 14 17 0
Dunedin - 0 0 0 0

Largo Dunedin
First Downs 10 13

Total Yards 236 223

Rushing 40-199 35-156

Passing 2-3, 37 3-7, 67

Fumbles/Lost 0/0 6/3

Punts-Yards 2-66 2-68

Pen-Yards 4-35 2-16

Sacks 1 2

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