C-Side vs. Palm Harbor

PALM HARBOR - A standing room only crowd packed the stands and sidelines at Hurricanes Stadium in Palm Harbor on Friday night to witness the first Class 5A, District 9 match-up for both teams this year. Despite a Hurricane team that entered pumped up and ready to whitewash the opposition, it was the Cougars who pummeled the Canes after a shaky start.

After a three and out to start the game, the Cougars erred on the first play from scrimmage as L.D. Crow threw an errant pass into the hands of Kevin Dickinson for his first of two interceptions. Countryside was subsequently flagged so often it seemed like a U.N. convention. Thanks to this, PHU quarterback Anthony Diaz was able to find the end zone from the one to give the Hurricanes their only points of the game, but nevertheless a 7-0 lead. Slow but steadily, the garnet and gold maneuvered their way down the field and reached the drive's zenith with a 4 yard strike from Crow to Ryan Messmore on a huge third down play to tie it at 7. On the ensuing play, momentum changed quicker than Jeckyll to Hyde.

Diaz dropped back to pass on first down from the 20, and under duress got rid of the ball a tad too quick and into the hands of Derek Nagel, who returned the pick approximately 30 yards for a score and just like that a 14-7 Cougar lead. This would be all the scoring for either team going into halftime, which makes it the first time this season the Cougars have gone scoreless in any quarter of any game.

The team did not let up in the second half, as Dawrence Roberts scored a 5 yard touchdown, his fifth score of the year, on the team's first and only possession of the third quarter. Chris Ramsey would ultimately tack on the final points for CHS with an 11 yard plunge across the goal line and a final of 28-7, marking the first time in four contests the Cougars have failed to score at least 30 points in a game. Countryside has allowed just 46 points this season, an average of just 11.5 points per game. As for the offense, the team has scored 136 points (34 ppg).

The Countryside Cougars (4-0) will play Thursday September 21 to begin a 4 game home stand vs. Dixie Hollins next week, while the Palm Harbor Hurricanes (2-2) will be at home against Tarpon Springs. Game time is 7:30.