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Second Half Surge Lifts Spongers

Tarpon Springs 27, East Lake 17

Eric Horchy/SUNCOAST

Tarpon Springs QB Danny Reyes delivers a pass downfield during the first half of Thursday night's battle.

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By Eric Horchy | The Suncoast News

Published: September 19, 2008

TARPON SPRINGS - Apparently Tarpon Springs enjoys a little drama to go along with its football.

For the second straight game in this young 2008 season, the Spongers started shaky and sporadic Thursday night, but finished motivated and aggressive while beating rival East Lake 27-17.

As if the packed house and intensity-filled atmosphere of one of the area's greatest grudge matches isn't enough already.

All of Tarpon's 27 points came in the final two quarters via big plays both offensively and defensively after entering halftime in a 7-0 hole. The Spongers needed a similar second-half surge of 23 points during their Week 1 victory at Palm Harbor.

The 180-degree turnarounds are something of a mystery for the Spongers; a phenomenon they realize with a cure they can't quite put their collective finger on.

One thing is for certain, though - when they get it going, they don't like to stop.

"We've got a throttle that we don't like to take off once we get rolling," Tarpon Head Coach George Kotis said. "It showed with those 27 points tonight."

After a scoreless first quarter sprinkled with stalled out drives from both sidelines, East Lake struck the initial blow with a 4-yard touchdown run from senior Derek Hunter. The score was during the Eagles' 11-play, 78-yard drive sparked by quarterback Sam Shaffer's 37-yard hook up with No. 1 receiver Nick Franz.

Shaffer had a near flawless first half, going 6-for-7 and 68 yards, and Hunter powered much of the Eagle attack throughout, rushing for 113 yards on 21 carries.

That East Lake drive came on the heels of a 62-yard pitch-and-catch for a touchdown from Tarpon's Danny Reyes to Bobby Vavlas that was negated by an offensive pass interference call.

Immediately after the Eagles went up, Travis Mullen slammed a line-drive kick off the back of an unsuspecting Sponger. East Lake recovered the unconventional onsides kick with under 3:00 to play.

Rather than go for the jugular, East Lake opted for three consecutive runs and failed to move the sticks. Tarpon missed the opportunity to convert, though, pushing to the Eagles' 12-yard line before running out of time.

But then the second half started and it was time to cue the real Tarpon Springs Spongers.

Tarpon pulled a little trickery of their own right off the bat by successfully executing an onsides kick.

The Spongers answered quickly with fullback Marcus Nemeth bouncing through the left side for a 15-yard trip to the end zone, but the East Lake special teams unit preserved the lead when Billy Byrne blocked the point after.

Unlike Week 1 when the Spongers put Palm Harbor to bed in the third, rival East Lake would not go quietly into the Tarpon night. Two series later, the Eagles raised their lead to 10-6 off Mullen's foot, with a 27-yard field goal.

Franz hauled in another big gain from Shaffer for 34 yards during the drive. The senior finished with three catches for 76 yards.

Holding East Lake to three points on the drive proved to be a pivotal moment in the contest for Tarpon, Kotis would say afterward. The Eagles pushed quickly to the Sponger 5-yard line, but the Tarpon defense locked down, with linebacker Dillon Goodell tackling Hunter to force the fourth-and-goal.

The Sponger offense would build on the momentum of the defensive hold in its next possession and grab the lead for good.

Reyes led his unit on clock-draining, 75-yard, 15-play scoring drive that began with under two minutes remaining in the third and ended with 5:26 left in the game. The touchdown certainly did not come without its labor. Running back Ladarrius Only finally broke through the East Lake defensive front for a fourth-and-goal, 1-yard plunge.

Reyes spoke of the game-changing drive and the Spongers' affinity for late-game awakenings after the win.

"I can take my offense aside, talk to them, and tell them we need to get straight, and we'll do it," he said. "We just gotta step it up. I don't know what it is."

Only was making his 2008 debut Thursday night after serving a team-mandated suspension and factored in largely. He led the Tarpon ground attack with 81 yard on 12 carries.

On the ensuing East Lake possession, it was the defense's turn to come up big for the Spongers as they notched the first of two game-sealing plays.

Safety Stamati Damalos snatched a tipped-ball interception off of Shaffer at midfield and scampered 49 yards to the Eagle 1-yard line. Tarpon's Marcelle Lewis capitalized on the first play from scrimmage for the scoring run that put the home team on top by 10 points, 20-10.

"It was a 51 special coverage play, the ball was tipped and I chased it down," Damalos said, adding that the interception and subsequent score amped up the Tarpon sideline. "It got the crowd into it, our players into it - we just woke up."

The defense struck again mere seconds later, forcing a Shaffer fumble as he was being dragged down in the backfield. Linebacker Dre Danapas scooped up the loose ball and streaked 14 yards for a touchdown, making it 27-10.

East Lake would tack on a late score when Shaffer found a diving Tyler Higbee in the right-corner of the end zone with under a minute to play.

It was the second straight year Tarpon defeated their nemesis by double-digits and Kotis would vocally encapsulate the emotion of the rivalry at the end of his postgame team huddle: "We beat East Lake!"

SCORING

East Lake 0-7-3-7---17
Tarpon Springs 0-0-6-21---27

EL - 4-yard run by Hunter. PAT kick (Mullen) -- 2nd Quarter
TS - 15-yard run by Nemeth. PAT blocked -- 3rd Quarter
EL - 27-yard FG by Mullen -- 3rd Quarter
TS - 1-yard run by Only. PAT kick (Michael Hill) -- 4th Quarter
TS - 1-yard run by Lewis. PAT kick (Hill) -- 4th Quarter
TS - 14-yard fumble return by Danapas. PAT kick (Hill) -- 4th Quarter
EL - Higbee 6-yard pass from Shaffer. PAT kick (Mullen) -- 4th Quarter

TEAM STATS

------------East Lake----Tarpon Springs
Plays-Total Yds--47-249---50-288
Comp-Atts--8-15---12-21
Pass Yds--108---157
Rushes-Yds--32-141---29-131
Punts-Avg--4-44.0---4-38.3
Fumbles-Lost--2-1---0-0
First Downs--10---13
Penalties-Yds--8-40---9-70

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING
EL - Hunter (21-113, TD), Byrne (8-31).
TS - Only (12-81, TD), Nemeth (3-22, TD), Lewis (6-15, TD).

PASSING
EL - Shaffer (8-15 for 108, TD, INT).
TS - Reyes (12-21 for 157).

RECEIVING
EL - Franz (3-76), Higbee (2-15, TD).
TS - Vavlas (5-66), Kier (2-34), Nemeth (2-25), Josiah Fisk (2-19).

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

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