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NCT suffers fourth-quarter fade

FOOTBALL

Photo by ALICE MARY HERDEN

Nature Coast running back Tevin Drake weaves his way through the East Lake defense Thursday night.

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: November 13, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - With a little over eight minutes left, it appeared Nature Coast's final regular-season game would play out much like its regular season.

Somehow, in spite of missteps and missed opportunities, the Sharks would find a way to survive.

Instead, Nature Coast crumbled in front of a raucous home crowd and a television audience Thursday night, as Tarpon Springs-East Lake tallied three fourth-quarter touchdowns in a come-from-behind 19-7 victory.

On Senior Night, with the postseason looming, the Sharks (7-3) couldn't overcome themselves as much as the Class 5A playoff-bound Eagles (7-3) on the Bright House Sports Network Game of the Week.

"Offensively, we put the defense in a bad position," Nature Coast Head Coach Mark Lee said. "We had five turnovers. We had chances to score and we didn't. We went for it on fourth and a couple of inches.

"Offensively we just didn't do very well tonight. You've got to give East Lake credit. Defensively they did a good job against us. There's no reason for us to come out as flat as we did."

Long short week

While the coach wouldn't use it as an excuse, the Sharks did endure a long short week.

Not only did they play a night earlier than normal, they were just three days removed from winning a three-way tiebreaker on this same field.

Monday's triumph earned Nature Coast the Class 3A, District 6 runner-up spot and a trip to fourth-ranked Citra-North Marion for next Friday's regional quarterfinals.

Lee hoped this defeat would spark his team like its last one, Oct. 16 against eventual 3A-6 champ Dunnellon. The Sharks responded by winning three straight plus the tiebreaker.

"We've got to learn from it," Lee said. "I know we're not going to be flat next week. Everybody in the state of Florida will be picking North Marion over us. We feel we can play with anybody if we do our assignments and play our type of football.

"…We got ticked off (after losing to Dunnellon) and it didn't matter who we were playing, we were going to take it out on them. When our guys play ticked off, we usually play pretty well."

On this night, the Sharks dominated time of possession in the first half, starting off the game with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that stalled on the East Lake 5-yard line.

To the naked eye, Tevin Drake appeared to have first-down yardage on a fourth-and-2 run, but a questionable spot gave the ball to the Eagles.

That marked the first of three straight possessions that Nature Coast failed to convert on fourth down in East Lake territory.

Despite massively out-gaining the Eagles in the first half, 143-19, the Sharks found themselves locked in a scoreless duel at halftime.

Big plays

When East Lake started a third-quarter drive on the Nature Coast 23 thanks to a 13-yard punt, it seemed someone would finally dent the scoreboard.

Someone did, but it was the Sharks. Brenton Nuby stepped in front of a pass in the end zone and scrambled down the left sideline for a 101-yard touchdown.

That advantage wouldn't last, however, as Nature Coast couldn't get out of its own way in the fourth quarter.

Three out of the Sharks' final four possessions ended in turnovers, two fumbles and one interception. The Eagles didn't waste those chances, either. Brandon Vazquez ran in three short touchdowns (2, 1, 1).

Following his first score, senior Justin Beetz pulled off what was at the time the play of the game; blocking Cameron Mitchell's PAT to preserve the Nature Coast lead with 8:10 remaining.

"I saw the center was really low and I just went between the guard and the center and got my hands up," Beetz said. "I was really excited and felt amazing."

Beetz paced a tremendous defensive effort, providing a sack for a 10-yard loss early in the fourth. He was also in on two tackles for a loss in what could be his final home game.

The defense could simply not cover up an offense that managed just 165 total yards, only 90 after the opening drive and 22 in the second half. Drake was limited to 77 yards on 18 carries.

"We really wanted to win this one on Senior Night. But we didn't want to do anything stupid at the same time," Beetz said. "It's big. It's tough, but you've got to overcome some stuff.

"…We're coming (against North Marion). We're coming really strong. We're going to practice hard next week. We'll definitely work harder than we've ever worked, because we've never won a playoff game."

TARPON SPRINGS-EAST LAKE 19, NATURE COAST 7
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
EL 0 0 0 19 – 19
NCT 0 0 7 0 – 7

Individual Scoring:
NCT – Nuby 101 interception return (Callaghan kick)
EL – Vazquez 2 run (Mitchell kick blocked)
EL – Vazquez 1 run (Wilbburn run failed)
EL – Vazquez 1 run (Mitchell kick)

EL NCT
First Downs 13 7
Atts./Rushing Yds. 43-130 37-89
Comp./Pass Atts./Int. 5-15-1 5-11-1
Passing Yds. 75 76
Total Offense 58-205 48-165
Fumbles Lost 1-0 5-3
Return Yards 2-54 4-39
Punts/Avg. 6-34.3 3-20.3
Penalties 4-40 11-66

Sports writer Chris Bernhardt Jr. can be reached at 352-544-5288 or cbernhardt@hernandotoday.com.

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