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Dunedin steps closer to district title

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By Eric Horchy | The Suncoast News

Published: October 20, 2007

East Lake, FL - East Lake, FL - The Dunedin Falcons and star running back Adaris Bellamy got off to a sluggish start Friday night at East Lake in what was a crucial Class 5A District 9 showdown.

After sloppily falling behind 3-0 following a Drew Petzoldt 36-yard field goal, Bellamy decided he had seen enough.

On his fifth carry of the night, Bellamy broke off a 45-yard touchdown run, displaying a mix of power, then agility, and then speed.

The Falcon defense answered by forcing a fumble when East Lake quarterback Blake Robles could not hook up with Richie Bailey on a swing pass behind the line of scrimmage.

Enter Bellamy.

All quarterback A'Darrius Anderson had to do was turn and hand the ball off to his backfield partner. Bellamy took care of the rest, flying down the sideline for a 58-yard score.

Unfortunately for the Eagle defense, he wasn't quite done yet. The very next Falcon possession ended almost exactly the same - only longer.

This time it was the second play from scrimmage after the Eagles "contained" him for a 10-yard run on the first. Bellamy exploded through a hole and the race was on.

Seventy-eight yards later, it was Dunedin 21, East Lake 3.

Four consecutive carries totaling 191 yards and three touchdowns. Not too bad.

Bellamy ended the evening with a cool 270 on 22 carries.

"Basically we came in kind of flat, but everything kind of started going smooth from there," Bellamy said after the game about how the Falcons began as a whole.

"It's like he was in a zone for about a quarter-and-a-half," Dunedin head coach Mark Everett said of his junior tailback's performance.

While Bellamy stole the majority of the spotlight, the Dunedin defense flexed its collective muscles as well.

East Lake managed only 177 yards of total offense and was not able to take advantage of stellar field position opportunities throughout the game.

The only touchdown the Falcon defense surrendered was on the offensive highlight of the night for East Lake, starting on a short field at the Dunedin 18 after a fumble. It was a beautiful 11-yard fade pass from Robles towards the corner of the end zone to fellow junior Nick Franz who held on for a spectacular over-the-shoulder grab with under eight minutes left in the game.

Those plays were few and far between for East Lake and Robles, who, himself, struggled through a 5-for-19 night passing for 49 yards and two interceptions.

Dunedin also forced two other picks that were thrown by running back Micah Powell and Petzoldt, respectively.

Speedy Dunedin cornerback/wide receiver Mike Towns took advantage of Powell's passing attempt for a 75-yard pick-six.

Towns also contributed with 55 yards receiving - snatching down Anderson's only two completions of the night - and 25 yards rushing on the ground. He would have ended with that rushing total at 57 yards if it were not for being the man to fall on a fumbled shotgun snap to Anderson that resulted in a 32-yard loss.

Everett spoke after the win about the advantage of having kids like Towns, Bellamy and others on his sideline.

"We've got some athletes, it's not something people don't know," he said. "Our athletes can run a little bit. Mike Towns made a great play and Bellamy clipped off those runs early."

He also credited his quarterback for sniffing out a opening in East Lake's defense.

"A'Darrius Anderson actually saw something in the defense and said, 'Coach, quit running outside, the middle's open, hit Bellamy up the middle.' So we got the three big plays."

Additionally, Dunedin sealed their playoff invitation with the win, pushing their district record to a perfect 3-0. They are 6-2 overall.

As for East Lake, the loss dropped them to 1-1 in the district, but hope is certainly still alive for the second available playoff spot.

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