Pirates: No Longer Unbeaten

There were moments Friday night when a Nature Coast victory wasn't such a sure thing.
The Sharks left W.F. Edwards Stadium with a satisfying, 18-17 triumph, but with just under four minutes remaining, that one-point advantage was in doubt.
"It was kind of a sloppy game for both of us, but we'll take the win," Sharks Head Coach Jamie Joyner said. "It was a great game, matching up two pretty good teams. They're a playoff caliber team and I'm sure we'll see them again.
With 4:01 remaining in the game, Nature Coast tailback Tevin Drake cracked the goal line for a touchdown and then collected the 2-point conversion to give the Sharks (4-0) an 18-17 advantage.
The gutsiness of that 2-point conversion was almost lost when on the first play of Pasco's ensuing drive, Josh Johnson blazed up the home sideline. He took the handoff at the Pasco 31 and raced to the Sharks 16, but fumbled the ball.
Considering Pirates kicker Brennan Allen crushed a 53-yard field goal in the second quarter with a good 10-yards to spare, had Johnson held on to the ball, that was all the yardage needed for Pasco (4-1) to knock in a game-winning field goal.
"We've been in a couple of close ones and this time we came out on the wrong side of it," Pasco coach Tom McHugh said. "Three weeks in a row. If you look at it, we've won one by one, won one by two and lost one by one. [Nature Coast is] a good team, so what are you gonna do?"

NCT: early lead

Drake put the Sharks head on their first possession, which was courtesy of a Michael Fields interception of D.J. Clower. Nature Coast needed three minutes, 36 seconds to cap the nine play drive. Drake scored on a 1-yard run.
Seven minutes later, Sharks kicker Danny Colon ended the first quarter with his 28-yard field goal.
Pasco cut into that 10-0 deficit late in the second quarter when Clower hit Hakeeme Ishmar on the right side of the offensive formation in the end zone. That scoring drive was set up by a blocked punt by Pirates linebacker Dominique Wilson at the 5:17 mark of the second quarter.
Allen's 53-yard field goal knotted the game, 10-10 in the final moments of the second quarter.
Pasco took its first lead of the game in the fourth quarter when Jamall Haynes, who ended the night with 63 yards on 16 carries, scored his lone touchdown of the night with 10:41 remaining. Pasco went ahead 17-10.
Nature Coast's offense sputtered in the second half, having just two possessions in the third quarter. Both were fairly short drives, taking up little time and little yardage.
That game-clenching touchdown and 2-point conversion by Drake didn't come until late in the fourth quarter.
Drake ended the night with 28 carries for 112 yards. Teammate Antwan Story collected 100 yards on 11 carries.

NCT 18, Pasco 17
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Nature Coast 10 0 0 8 -- 18
Pasco 0 10 0 7 -- 17

Individual Scoring:
NCT - Drake 1 run (Colon kick)
NCT - Colon 28 FG
PAS - Ishmar 14 pass from Clower (Allen kick)
PAS - Allen 53 FG
PAS - Haynes 1 run (Allen kick)
PAS - Drake 4 run (Drake run)

NCT PAS
First downs 14 8
Rushing 54-262 28-151
Passing Comp./Atts./Int. 3-4-0 5-17-1
Passing yards 35 49
Total Offense 68-297 45-200
Fumbles/Lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 7-50 5-40