CLEARWATER — To make the second round of the playoffs for the sixth time in the past eight seasons, Tampa Bay Tech had to get past one of its biggest postseason nemesis.
Countryside had beaten the Titans in the previous two playoff appearances in 2009 and '10.
On Friday, Tampa Bay Tech ended that streak with a 31-21 victory.
The Titans (7-4) extended their win streak to four games, all coming against teams with winning records. They also ended the Cougars' win streak this season at nine.
Now, Tampa Bay Tech gets the rematch it wanted with a game at Plant City in next week's Class 7A region semifinals.
The Titans lost to their district rival 19-3 in the regular season.
"I was proud of the guys the way they continued to fight throughout this game," Tampa Bay Tech coach Jayson Roberts said. "But I wasn't surprised by the outcome because we've doing this against some good teams for the past couple of weeks."
Early on, the Titans seemingly had the game in control.
They forced Countryside to punt on the game's opening possession. Then, TBT scored on its first play from scrimmage on a 54-yard touchdown run from Marchalo Judge.
The Cougars (9-2) responded as Markeas Jerrido scored on a 2-yard run to tie the score.
On Countryside's next possession, quarterback Trent Chmelik hit Chris Barrett on a 12-yard touchdown pass to put the Cougars ahead 14-7.
The Titans seized momentum and control of the game thanks to two crucial plays on special teams. After quarterback Trent Wyatt hit Anthony Payne on a 5-yard touchdown pass, Judge faked the point-after attempt and ran for a two-point conversion to put the Titans ahead 15-14 at the half.
On the opening kickoff of the second half, a long return set up a 39-yard goal from Malik Young to give TBT an 18-14 lead.
The Titans never trailed again, relying on a suffocating defense and passing game that produced a few big plays the rest of the way.
Chmelik threw for 178 yards in the first half but had trouble getting the passing game until late in the fourth quarter.
TBT's Wyatt, meanwhile, threw for two more touchdowns in the second half, both to Florida recruit Daquon Green. The first was a 12-yard score in the third quarter that made it 25-14. The second was a 13-yarder that extended the Titans lead to 31-14 after a failed two-point conversion.
Chmelik ran 20 yards for a touchdown in the final two minutes to round out the scoring.
"Our defense has been pretty tough all year, so I knew we weren't going to give up too many points," Roberts said. "And our offense started to figure things out. We're really starting to come together as a team the past few weeks."
Contact Bob Putnam at bputnam@tampabay.com. Follow @BobbyHomeTeam.