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Football: East Lake 38, Tarpon Springs 0

 
Published Sept. 24, 2016

TARPON SPRINGS — The way Tarpon Springs coach George Kotis had it figured, if everything went his team's way, and the Spongers got a little luck, then they might have a chance against rival East Lake Friday night. Instead, not much went Tarpon Springs' way in a 38-0 home loss.

East Lake quarterback Tyler Rupe threw two touchdown passes and Bryce Miller scored both as a receiver and a kick returner in a game that used a running clock in the fourth quarter. The Eagles held the Spongers to 67 total yards of offense. For East Lake's defense, it was their second straight shutout. St. Petersburg's only score last week came on a punt return.

"We have to have everything go our way to be successful,'' Kotis said. "We're struggling at every level right now, but that's fine. We'll be good next year and we'll be great the year after that. Right now it's smoke and mirrors.''

East Lake (4-0) led 17-0 at the half, but it could've been much closer. After fumbling away their first possession, the Eagles needed only one play to score on their second drive. A bad punt put East Lake on the Spongers' 30-yard line. Rupe wasted no time in hitting Miller in the front corner of the end zone for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

"I think that was a big one,'' Miller said. "It set the tone from the beginning.''

Tarpon Springs (1-3) put together a drive late in the first quarter that looked like it ended with a touchdown. But a 41-yard touchdown run by Jerome Fowler was nullified due to an illegal formation. The Spongers still had first and goal on the 5. But Fowler's fourth-and-1 run was stopped on the 2-yard line and East Lake took over.

The Eagles' second touchdown came with three minutes left in the second when Rupe hit tight end Joshua Fletcher on a 13-yard pass. And with eight seconds left in the half, Ian Woodward kicked a 49-yard field goal that made it 17-0.

Any chance Tarpon Springs had of coming back ended on the second-half kickoff. Miller took the kick at the 5-yard line, angled left, then cut back right at midfield before scoring untouched to make it 24-0.

"We talked about striking quickly in the second half, whether it's special teams or offense,'' East Lake coach Bob Hudson said. "That really gave us the momentum.''

Tarpon Springs got nothing going on offense. Its four drives in the second half ended with two punts, a failed fake punt and an interception. East Lake, meanwhile, scored on its next two possessions after the kick return to force the running clock.

David Lucas ended a five-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Xavier Jackson scored from 9 yards out late in the third to make it 38-0. Jackson led the Eagles with 122 yards rushing.

"It was a big game for us,'' Miller said. "Mostly because we've been having some close games this season. I think it's going to help us the rest of the season.''