Brandon High Football Blanked in Regional Quarterfinals

The Eagles were already stumbling.

Brandon High dropped a 47-19 decision to Jefferson to end the football regular season. To make things worse, senior running back Tyrell Garner sufferred a knee injury that kept him out of Friday night's Class 7A playoff contest with Tampa Bay Tech. The Titans knocked out sophomore full back Cyrus Dooley, Brandon's second-best running threat, and the Eagles completed just two passes in the game as they endured a 37-0 rout at the hands of Tampa Bay Tech.

"If you don't complete any passes, you don't deserve to win the game," said head Eagles head coach John Lima.

On a night that might have favored the passing game of Tech over the running game of the Eagles, Tampa Bay Tech's running was truly the difference in a contest that went from even, to tight, to nervous, to exasperating/elating.

"Our run game is our strenghth," said Titans head coach Jayson Roberts. "If we don't run the ball, it's going to be a long game for us."

The Titans rushed for 254 yards on the ground behind a 21-carry, 158-yard performance from Titans senior running back Clunder Lecount. Meanwhile, the Eagles mustered only a paltry 123 yards of total offense and were shut out on the scoreboard.

The Titans owned fourth down, going for their first three 4th-and-short opportunities and getting them.

"You just expect the guys to do their jobs just like we practiced all week and get those conversions," said Roberts.

Indeed, it was the Titan running game that battered the Eagle defense, kept them on the field and exploited them when they overcompensated to stop the run.

"They really didn't use but one safety over the top, when they were trying to stop the run," said Roberts. "You have to go after them when they do that."

The passing game opened up big in the second quarter when senior quarterback Aaron Midthus found junior running back Jamaruz Thompkins cutting up the seam for a 45-yard touchdown pass. It was a great effort from Thompkins reaching back over his right shoulder to haul it in.

That made it 14-0 with four minutes left in the first half.

Brandon got the ball back and tried to run a hurry-up style offense.It  penetrated to the Titan 36-yard line but came up short on a 4th-and-4 to take the 14-point deficit into halftime.

Another fourth-down conversion kept the opening drive alive for the Titans to start the third quarter. Then Midthus, who had protested for more pass plays, took the best run of the game 26 yards for a touchdown.

"I got through the pack with my head down, I looked up and I could see the goal line and I just had to get it," said Midthus.

He got it all right, dragging a couple Eagles into the endzone with him.

The Titans continued to pound away with Lacount, averaging 7.5 yards a carry, and just before the end of the third quarter, the Eagles collapsed. Lacount took a handoff 35 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-0 and pretty much put the icing on the cake.

To his credit, Dooley got back in the saddle and gained 54 yards on nine carries. Brandon had a chance on a couple deep balls, two in the first quarter and one in the third, but the receivers just could not hang on.

As Tech made substitutions in the fourth quarter, junior running back Michael Fry made some good efforts carrying the ball and on special teams. He gained 61 yards on seven carries and was caught from behind on a 48-yard run that nearly went for a TD.

"I worked hard all week in practice, hoping to get the reps in, and it's exciting to make plays like that," said Fry.

The Titans (8-3) move on to the regional semifinal in a rematch with Gaither next Friday, Nov. 25.

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