TAMPA — Clearwater Central Catholic and Jesuit took 10 paces, whirled — and ran the football at each other.
All night long.
The Marauders were better equipped for the quick-hitting stuff. They had Jeff Smith, one of the area’s most elusive quarterbacks in the area. With spectacular bursts of speed, the Boston College commit turned the corner and left pursuers breathlessly behind, rushing for 216 yards and scoring three touchdowns on the ground. His last score, a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter, proved to be the difference in a 41-27 CCC victory.
“Watching film, I thought we would really go through them,” Smith said. “I was surprised at how well Jesuit played. We just have to learn from this and not come out flat the next time.”
For a while, Smith’s performance was matched by the Tigers’ Malik Davis, a battering ram who splattered defenders.
Together, both backs combined for 489 yards and four touchdown. In all, the teams combined for 776 yards on the ground in a game that saw a barrage of big plays and left both defenses wobbly.
Early on, it was the Marauders (3-0) who had more success running. Taking advantage of its speed, CCC built a 17-7 lead thanks to a pair of Smith touchdown runs that were each more than 50 yards.
Then, Davis went to work.
Running through defenders rather than around them, Davis scored twice to give the Tigers a 21-17 lead. Brenden Gonzalez added a field goal late in the second quarter to make it 24-17.
In the second half, the Marauders defense clamped down, holding the Tigers to three points the rest of the way. Smith and CJ Cotman (129 yards rushing) did most the work for CCC on offense, each scoring on runs to put the Marauders back in control. The final score came on a 2-yard run by Demetri Royer with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
Twice, CCC held Jesuit on downs and Royer also picked off a pass in the fourth quarter. This is the first time the Marauders have beaten rivals Tampa Catholic and Jesuit in the same season.
“We got a bunch of big plays early and that helped,” CCC coach John Davis said. “We needed it because Jesuit started hammering the ball and we couldn’t stop it.
“We challenged our guys at thee half to step up. It’s a good win from a coaching perspective because we had to reach down and find a way to pull it out. Special teams find a way when things aren’t going so well.”