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Football: Robinson 36, Pinellas Park 21

 
Iyan Mitchell (23), of Robinson, runs for a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against Pinellas Park. (Monica Herndon | Times)
Iyan Mitchell (23), of Robinson, runs for a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against Pinellas Park. (Monica Herndon | Times)
Published Aug. 22, 2015

TAMPA — Pinellas Park could do no wrong in the first half, running over and through Robinson in a dominant 24 minutes.

Nothing a little halftime speech by Knights coach Shawn Taylor couldn't fix, though.

"Yelling, yelling, yelling," said Robinson quarterback Malik Tyson. "I've never seen him like that."

Tyson took the words to heart and led the Knights to an overpowering second half and a 36-21 win Friday night at Jack Peters Field.

The Knights, trailing 21-8 at the break, rolled up almost 300 yards of offense in the second half, including two long touchdown passes and one long touchdown run by Tyson.

Tyson found Iyan Mitchell wide open in the flat, and the speedy senior did the rest to complete a 72-yard touchdown. Tyson found Mitchell again for a 46-yard strike over the middle, and then ran a score in from 27 yards to complete the comeback.

Tyson finished 7-for-12 for 203 yards, and Mitchell had five catches for 157 yards and three touchdowns, while adding another 35 yards rushing and an interception.

"Their quarterback just got into his rhythm," Pinellas Park coach Kenny Crawford said. "They did a great job. We got a little tired in the second half and got a little behind the eight ball, and Robinson capitalized on that."

A fresher group of Patriots controlled the action in the first half. Quarterback Nick Hernandez threw a touchdown pass to Zamari Maxwell on the game's opening drive — the ball was tipped by a Robinson defender — and Rodiez Newsome rushed for two touchdowns to make it 21-8.

They held Robinson to 3 yards rushing in the first half.

Maxwell finished with a team-high 73 yards rushing, had two receptions for 55 yards and picked off a pass.