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Preseason football: Sarasota 28, Berkeley Prep 13

 
Published Aug. 19, 2016

SARASOTA — Kicker Jeff Guttentag and a couple of young players shagging his kickoffs were the only Berkeley Prep players on the field for several minutes Thursday night as the halftime clock wound down.

Coach Dominick Ciao had a few extra messages to impart to the rest of his Buccaneers after a first half that saw Sarasota outgain Berkeley Prep 312-95 and score the game's first 28 points.

Though the Buccaneers rebounded in the second half, the Sailors cruised to a 28-13 victory in a kickoff classic at Cleland Stadium at Ihrig Field.

"We made a lot of mistakes," Ciao said of the first half, during which the Sailors scored touchdowns on each of their first four possessions. "They had a lot of big plays. We have to tackle and block better. We didn't execute. We've got a lot of work to do. We played hard the second half, came back. We know we can play better. This was just a game to get better."

Class 7A Sarasota got a big night from sophomore quarterback Bryan Gagg on its way past Class 4A Berkeley Prep. Gagg completed 19 of 31 passes for 307 yards and all four touchdowns. He found junior wideout Deric DuBose seven times for 165 yards and two scores.

Berkeley senior quarterback Davis Koetter, son of Tampa Bay Bucs coach Dirk Koetter, finished the night 10-of-23 for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The two bright spots on offense for the Bucs were sophomore playmakers Joshua Youngblood and Jakob Hines. Youngblood caught four passes on Berkeley Prep's final drive of the first half and gave the Bucs their first score on a 24-yard slant. He also returned a kickoff 54 yards. Hines caught three 15-yard passes, one for the Bucs' other score, which got Berkeley Prep within two touchdowns midway through the third quarter.

Sarasota responded with a nearly eight-minute drive deep into Bucs' territory to stop Berkeley Prep's momentum.

On defense, Sandro Maxwell made two tackles for loss, including a sack, for the Bucs, who open the regular season next week at Clearwater Central Catholic.

The start of Thursday's game was delayed almost 30 minutes due to a strong thunderstorm.