South Sumter High School's Oscar Vera tackles Leesburg High's Malcolm Belton during a spring game at Leesburg on Thursday, May 21, 2009.
published: Friday, May 22, 2009
KIMBERLY SARMIENTO
Daily Commercial Correspondent
The Leesburg Yellow Jackets hosted the South Sumter Raiders for a spring scrimmage game in what turned out to be a disappointing 27-13 loss.
"There were too many mistakes," said Leesburg Coach Charles Nassar. "I know it's a spring game and that's what spring is all about -- cleaning up mistakes. But there were too many."
One of Leesburg's biggest mistakes came on special teams as they muffed a punt which allowed the Raiders to recover in the end zone for a touchdown with eight minutes left in the second quarter.
That touchdown tied the game after Jalen Dozier carried the ball in for a Yellow Jacket touchdown with 4:37 left on the clock in the first. Ben Rizzo's extra point had given Leesburg the early lead.
"We learned some good things on special teams," said Nassar. "That's why we play Coach Sherman in the spring. He is all about doing things on special teams."
The Yellow Jackets also gained experience at moving the football, but found it difficult to push past the Raiders' defense to finish those drives.
"The strength of our team should be our defense," South Sumter coach Inman Sherman said. "We've got a lot of seniors there,"
That defense stopped Leesburg inside the 10-yard line twice in the first half. Then after an exchange of touchdowns, the Raiders' defense won them the game in the second half.
The start of a big third quarter came for the Raiders when Ryan Evans carried the ball in for a touchdown with just over nine minutes left in the third giving them the lead.
But Leesburg answered back when a 35-yard gain by Luther McDowell was aided by a roughing the passer penalty that put the Jackets in position to score on the 15-yard line. The next play Efrain Negron sprinted into the end zone with 8:50 left in the quarter. The Jackets missed the extra point allowing the Raiders to keep a one-point
Then South Sumter captured the momentum when Davey Vera recovered a fumbled exchange for a 45-yard touchdown return with less than five minutes left in the third. The Raider's missed extra point left them with a 20-13 lead.
South Sumter capped off their game-winning quarter when Ian Pappinheim completed a 58-yard pass to E.J. Hall for a touchdown as the buzzer sounded. With the extra point, the Raiders took a 14-point lead.
Despite that lead, it was the solid South Sumter defense that kept the Yellow Jackets from making a comeback
With just over seven minutes left in the fourth, Negron came up just short of the touchdown marker leaving the Jackets at first and goal on the one-yard line. After losing yards on the next play, Leesburg was unable to push in for a score. They turned the ball over on downs on the 4-yard line with 5:50 left on the clock. The score remained unchanged from that point on.
The game shaped both coaches goals for the summer. "We need to tighten up some things and work on ball control," said Nassar.
"Summer is huge," said Sherman. "We have to have a big summer. The mistakes we made are all fixable."
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KIMBERLY SARMIENTO
Daily Commercial Correspondent
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