Prior to Friday night’s home game against nationally ranked Manatee, some of the St. Pete High defensive coaches were saying there was no way the Hurricanes were going to match their 44 points per game scoring average against the stingy Green Devils ‘D’.
Turns out they were right – the Canes exceeded their average by a touchdown.
Ranked number three in the state and 18th in the nation according to MaxPreps, Manatee (8-0) manhandled the overmatched Green Devils, scoring seven touchdowns and gaining nearly 400 yards on the ground in a 51-13 victory.
The win, combined with other district outcomes, gave the Hurricanes the Class 8A-7 title and put them in a great position for another deep postseason run.
“This is what we wanted,” Manatee head coach Joe Kinnan said of being district champs. “We’re 8-0, we’re playing the No. 14 team in the nation next week, and hopefully all our guys get back and get healthy.”
As long as one player in particular stays healthy, Kinnan will be able to rest a little easier heading into the final month of the season.
Senior running back Trevon Walters ran the ball 30 times for 267 yards and three touchdowns and carried the Manatee offense on his back in the second half when the Hurricanes blew open a game that was close at halftime.
This despite Walters coming into the contest nursing an ankle sprain and after he got his bell rung on a hard hit in the second quarter.
“My teammates said that was kind of a cheap shot,” Walters said of the hit to the head by Green Devils linebacker Jake Moore. “It got me mad, but it kind of woke me up, too.
The game began as the defensive battle it was billed to be.
Manatee scored on its opening drive when quarterback Joshua Meyer ran the ball in from a yard out to give the Hurricanes a 7-0 lead.
St. Pete (5-2) countered with a 9-yard touchdown run from Deangelo Reeves (77 yds, TD) after the Green Devils blocked a punt, and then Walters scored the first of his three touchdowns following a blocked punt by the Canes.
But the 16-6 deficit the Devils faced at the break would quickly balloon to an insurmountable margin shortly after the second half started; Walters ripped off a 64-yard run to the St. Pete six-yard line, and two plays later he scored from a yard out to give Manatee a 23-6 advantage.
Walters continued to break off big runs in the second half, when he gained 200 of his yards, and Manatee used a late 70-yard punt return and 30-yard fumble return for touchdowns to eclipse the half century mark for the third time this season.
“My offensive line always say they like to run downfield, so I gave them a chance to run downfield,” Walters said of his impressive second half performance.