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Hurricanes Keep Rolling, Undefeated in District

HURRICANES 14, EAGLES 10

Eric Horchy/SUNCOAST

Palm Harbor head coach Pete Just talks to his players after Friday night's victory. The Hurricanes can win the District 5A-9 title outright next week with a win over Dunedin.

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By Eric Horchy | The Suncoast News

Published: November 1, 2008

EAST LAKE - Palm Harbor University kept its improbable dream of a season running full-steam ahead Friday night, edging Class 5A-District 9 rival East Lake 14-10.

The win keeps the Hurricanes (6-2, 3-0) all alone atop the 5A-9 standings and sets PHU up for a shot at its first district title in school history next week at home against Dunedin.

"It's a season of firsts this year," PHU head coach Pete Just said, referring to the record-breaking year. Last week's 34-0 shutout over Clearwater locked up the Hurricanes' first five-win season and Friday night's triumph at East Lake guarantees the school's first winning campaign. Earlier season victories over Dixie Hollins and Countryside were also firsts, in that PHU had never previously beaten either program.

"Hopefully we've got one more first, and that's winning the district title."

Emotions were certainly not thinly veiled on the field after the game as the unexpected run continued for another week.

"Six in a row. Are you kidding me?" an elated Sean Shelton said. "A lot of firsts this season and there's more to come. Just the excitement around it, you know. Even in the school, we had more fans here than they did tonight. The school's behind us, everyone's behind us and we've gotta take this to the top. Districts baby."

"It feels great, I love it," senior defensive back Joey Kenyon said. "I've been here for three-and-a-half years and there's nothing like this team. It's so much fun."

With how Friday night's game began, it's almost hard to believe PHU players were the ones with helmets held high during post-game huddles.

East Lake (3-5, 1-2) came out swinging immediately after receiving the opening kick, using a 12-play, 70-yard march downfield to take the 7-0 lead after fullback Billy Byrne plunged into the end zone from 3 yards out. The drive - with all 12 plays coming on the ground - ate up the game's first 7 minutes and 33 seconds as the Eagles looked to set the tone early.

The Hurricanes appeared to strike back quick when Shelton took PHU's first offensive snap and hit wideout Mike McNeely down the right sideline for a big gain deep into East Lake territory. The play was negated, though, because the Hurricanes had only six men on the line of scrimmage in their trips right formation. East Lake's defense took advantage of the mistake and held PHU to a three-and-out to force a punt.

Though with great field position at midfield after T.J. Herman's punt return, East Lake would slowly witness PHU begin to shift momentum to the opposite sideline. On the Eagles third play of the drive, quarterback Sam Shaffer's pass was deflected and Hurricane linebacker Scott Santangelo snared an interception, giving PHU possession at its own 45.

The pick would be the first of East Lake's three turnovers on the night.

On third-and-five, PHU took advantage of a combination consisting of a big play and an East Lake miscue. Shelton scrambled around the corner after a broken pass attempt for an 18-yard run and a first down, but East Lake tacked on 15 additional yards with a personal foul penalty, moving the ball to the Eagles' 17. Following two runs by running back J.J. Rivera of 2 and 8 yards and a 5-yard East Lake penalty, tailback JaTyuan Landing pounded in a 4-yard touchdown run for the Hurricanes' first score, tying things up at 7-all.

The Hurricane defense would waste no time at all in thwarting Shaffer and the Eagles yet again on the very next possession. Under heavy duress, Shaffer flung a wobbly pass off his back foot over the middle of the field that Kenyon stepped under to record PHU's second interception.

"I saw it coming," Kenyon said of the play. "Our defensive line came through strong and it was a bad throw. I just came under it and grabbed it."

"It was a big turning point. It really got our offense going."

And that it did.

Mixing it up on the ground and through the air, PHU worked its way to the East Lake 16-yard line. Then Shelton hooked up with Brandon Garoutsos when the big tight end released into the left flat for a touchdown-scoring catch and run. The ensuing Max Gallin extra point put the Hurricanes on top 14-7 with 3:23 left in the second quarter.

The Hurricane defense came out strong once again to begin the second half. PHU's opening drive stalled out when East Lake's Chad Hill and Byrne combined for a sack on Shelton, forcing a punt. Herman's second quality punt return, this time for 34 yards, took the Eagles down to PHU's 41. But while trying for a first down on fourth-and-two at the PHU 20-yard line, Shaffer and Byrne fumbled the hand off and gave the ball right back.

East Lake quickly regained possession early in the fourth quarter and threatened to tie the game again. On the seventh play of the drive, Shaffer hit Byrne on a first-down pass of 7 yards, moving the ball inside the PHU redzone. As they had done all night previously, the Hurricanes again responded when their backs were to the wall. Linebackers Barry Owens and Santangelo stuffed East Lake running back Jamaal Wilburn for a loss of 1 on first down, and then linemen Sean Marschner and Julius Matusewicz combined to sack Shaffer 2 yards behind the line. Shaffer's next pass would sail incomplete and the Eagles settled for a 34-yard Travis Mullen field goal, making the score 14-10 PHU.

The sack was the second Marschner was in on, teaming up with Owens for one in the first half as well.

Shelton and the Hurricane offense then took the stage to ice the game and seal victory. The senior signal caller twice kept the ball in PHU's possession on the final drive, first with a third-and-one sneak to move the chains with 3:40 remaining. The second came after near disaster. Shelton fumbled the snap on third-and-inches, but was able fall on top. Undeterred, he got back under center on fourth down with just under two minutes to play and found a wide-open gap in East Lake's defensive line, leading to a 24-yard run. A couple of kneel-downs later and PHU's pristine 3-0, District 5A-9 record was secured.

"We played hard-nosed defense, that was the main goal," Shelton, also a safety, said. "We knew they couldn't throw the ball on us and we just had to stop their big fullback and quick little running back, and we did that. They have a tough 'D', but the offense just had to do what it had to do and we just scored enough."

Both PHU touchdowns came as a result of turnovers. Over the past two weeks, the Hurricanes have forced 11 turnovers and given the ball away only once.

"We preach it at practice," Just said of his defense's propensity for thieving away balls. "Get 11 people to the ball and once we've got the tackle, strip the ball."

"We force turnovers like no other defense I've ever seen," Shelton said. "Coach (Mark) Haye [the PHU defensive coordinator] preaches strip the ball, stay back and pick the ball, and we do. That's why we win a lot of our games."

Next Friday night's home game against Dunedin (6-2, 2-1) will play a major role in how the District 5A-9 field settles out. A Palm Harbor win guarantees the Hurricanes the outright title and leaves second place to either Countryside or Dunedin. Countryside (5-3, 2-1) plays at East Lake next week and a win, coupled with a PHU win, locks the Cougars into second. If the Hurricanes and Cougars both lose next week, Dunedin would be champs and PHU would finish as runners up. The wild scenario would be a PHU loss coupled with a Countryside win, setting up a three-way tie between those two programs and Dunedin, all at 3-1 in district play.

"Obviously Dunedin's a very good football team, and that will be a big challenge for us," Just said. "We're just going to come back Monday, work hard and see what happens."

SCORING:

Palm Harbor; 0; 14; 0; 0; - 14
East Lake; 7; 0; 0; 3; - 10

EL -Byrne 3-yard run. PAT kick (Mullen) – 1st Quarter
PHU -Landing 4-yard run. PAT kick (Gallin) – 2nd Quarter
PHU -Garoutsos 16-yard pass from Shelton. PAT kick (Gallin) – 2nd Quarter
EL -Mullen 37-yard field goal – 4th Quarter

TEAM STATS:

---------------PHU---------EL

First Downs-----9-----11
Atts./Rushing Yds.-----30-117-----38-161
Comp./Pass Atts./Int.-----4-9-0-----2-5-2
Passing Yds. -----41-----17
Total Offense-----158-----178
Fumbles/Lost-----1-0-----2-1
Punts/Avg.-----4-38.5-----1-27
Penalties-----4-30-----6-50

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:

RUSHING
PHU – Shelton (10-50), Rivera (10-46), Landing (10-21, TD).
EL – Hunter (14-67), Byrne (11-45, TD), Wilburn (7-34).

PASSING
PHU – Shelton (4-9 for 41, TD).
EL – Shaffer (2-5 for 17, 2 INT).

RECEIVING
PHU – McNeely (3-25), Garoutsos (1-16, TD).
EL – Franz (1-10), Byrne (1-7).

Eric Horchy can be reached at 727-815-1071 or ehorchy@suncoastnews.com

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