 
FHSC @ Buccaneers
Thursday, Oct 23
Won 28-24
As of: end week 11
 |
| Standings |
W |
L |
T |
| Sonora |
9 |
1 |
0 |
|
| New Orleans |
6 |
4 |
0 |
|
| Atlanta |
5 |
5 |
0 |
|
| Tampa Bay |
5 |
5 |
0 |
|
|
 |
| 
| WEEK 11 -- FHSC at Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| The uniforms weren't the only things 'thrown-back' by Sonora |
 | OLB Jason Pfeifer throws back the Bucs runner |
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Tampa Bay, FL - Sporting some old skool helmets, Sonora looked to turn back the clock a couple weeks and remind the Bucs of the beating that they took at Norman J. Faber field. With the FHSC trying to repeat their performance from the 41-23 defeat of Tampa Bay in week 8, the Bucs hoped that the old orange would see them to victory.
The Buccaneers came out of the gate hitting on all cylinders and put up a quick 14 unanswered points before the FHSC found some solid footing.
The Buccaneers opening drive lasted half the first quarter and consumed 74 yards before Tampa runningback Michael Pittman scored from 25 yards out to give the Bucs a 7-0 lead.
After the FHSC drive stalled our deep in Tampa Bay territory following a failed fourth down conversion, the Bucs were back on the ball and driving.
Pittman decided that he was not going to be brought down and broke about six FHSC attempted tackles on two carries, the second of which resulted in a 67 yard touchdown scamper.
On the following FHSC drive, Sonora again turned the ball over on downs after being unable to pick up the needed yardage on fourth and inches. "The two drives that ended on downs really killed any momentum that we may have had in the beginning of the game" said offensive lineman Russ Ford.
Late in the first half, the FHSC offense finally got things on track and, thanks to a Bucs miscue, put 7 points on the board. Working mostly out of a shotgun, Roberts pulled off another hurry-up offense scoring drive, one of many on the season.
The drive covered 81 yards on 6 plays with Roberts completing passes of 23, 30, and 28 yards, the last of which was a touchdown strike to Adam Jensen who found a huge gash in the Tampa secondary.
In the minute that remained, the Bucs managed to maneuver into field goal range and added another three points before the half giving them a 17-7 lead going into the locker room.
The second half, however, would not go the Bucs way.
Costly Buc turnovers and key defensive plays for the FHSC made all the difference in the second half as Sonora looked to claw their way into a lead.
While the FHSC offense continued to flounder around, it was the defense that provided the team with a spark. On first and ten from their own 45 yard line, Tampa Bay QB Brad Johnson threw an ill-advised pass into double coverage that was intended for Keenan McCardell.
Instead it was FHSC CB Chris Souza who came up with the ball and had nothing but open field in front of him. 40 yards later, it was the Bucs game MVP, Michael Pittman, who brought down Souza from behind at the 14 yard line to save the touchdown.
Two plays later, Roberts found TE Derek Cole in the corner of the endzone for the FHSC score and Sonora trailed only by 3 points. On the very next drive, Johnson and the Bucs were violated again, this time at the hands of the other FHSC cornerback Nick Kam.
Kam pulled in his third interception of the season on a pretty poorly thrown ball by Johnson that looked to be intended for Kam.
This time from 30 yards out, it took the FHSC offense three plays to get into the endzone including a 25 yard reception by Brett Woodruff to the Tampa Bay inch line and finished off by a Thorpe dive straight ahead.
And, midway through the third quarter, Sonora had it's first lead of the game with the score 21-17. The Buccaneers' response was swift and firm.
Tampa fullback Mike Alsttot took his only carry of the game off left tackle then slipped through the FHSC defense via a little Houdini escape trick and rumbled 41 yards to the endzone.
The scoring strike left the FHSC defense shell-shocked as they tried to figure out how to close up a suddenly porous run defense that had not given up 100 yard on the ground to any team - aside from during their loss to the Packers - but surrendered a season high total of 209 rushing yards to the
Bucs, 168 of which contributed by Michael Pittman. "They really had us on our heels, we didn't know what to do" said OLB Nick Walker about the Bucs ability to run the ball.
At the end of the third quarter, the FHSC offense began a 9 play, 74 yard scoring drive that concluded with a 6 yard run by Thorpe and another FHSC lead at 28-24. Somehow the defense pulled together and came up with two very huge stands the last of which ended
with Johnson throwing an incomplete pass under heavy pressure on a fourth down that turned the ball over deep in Sonora territory.
A couple kneel downs later, the FHSC victory was confirmed and Sonora moved to 9-1 on the season and in firm control of the NFC South with the best record in the NFL. Next up for the FHSC, they will be facing the Falcons for the second time. this time they will be hosting Atlanta at NJF field and look to repeat
their last effort to go 10-1. Game time is at 1:00pm Sunday and will be televised in some areas (some very remote and small areas, like Jamestown maybe) on FOX. |
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