Countryside            27

East Lake                  21

SCORE BY QUARTER

The showcase of prolific Pinellas quarterbacks, staged against a backdrop of a rivalry steeped in smack talk, never came to fruition.

On a soggy September night, Countryside-East Lake wasn’t about astounding throws.

It was about throwbacks.

The first was of the old-school sense, a retro Cougars rushing attack that tied the score in the third quarter. The second was a literal throwback screen pass that Cougars sophomore Mike Johnson picked and returned 9 yards for a touchdown.

It provided the decisive cushion in a 27-21 Cougars triumph before roughly 2,500 at East Lake Stadium. Countryside (2-0) has won seven of the past eight in this heated series.

“They were talking a lot of junk about us, Facebook and everything, talking about how they’re going to beat us,” said Johnson, who had interceptions on consecutive fourth-quarter drives.

“So we had to show them who was No. 1 in Pinellas County.”

The Cougars did it mainly with Johnson’s instinctiveness and tailback DiomiRoberts’ legs. The senior finished with 122 yards on 23 carries as Countryside all but abandoned the passing game in the second half.

After East Lake quarterback Pete DiNovo (11-for-22, 188 yards) found ArtavisScott in single coverage over the middle for an 80-yard TD on the second half’s opening play, Roberts carried nine times for 54 yards on the ensuing drive.

His final carry — a 2-yard TD — and Ryan Pandy’s ensuing PAT tied the score at 14-all. The 15-play drive consumed nearly seven minutes.

“That was old-fashioned Countryside football right there,” 315-pound left tackle Jeff Albert said.

“We put it on his back at halftime,” Cougars coach Jared Davis added. “We said we’re going to ride you til you can’t walk, and you saw it, we did.”

The Cougars took a 21-14 lead on Ryan Yates’ 4-yard scoring run on the fourth quarter’s first play. Tyler Serpo set up the score by blocking Sebastian Gonzalez’s punt attempt that began with a low snap. On the next Eagles possession, Johnson stepped in front of DiNovo’s throwback screen attempt, deflected it to himself and raced 9 yards for the TD. The ensuing PAT failed.

“We run it in practice,” Johnson said. “I saw the ball up in the air and I’m like, ‘Yeah, they’re doing the screen,’ and I just came up and picked it off.”

DiNovo and senior counterpart Gray Crow (7-for-22, 54 yards, two INTs) traded picks on the next two possessions — they combined for four — before Eagles senior Tyler Lane capped a six-play drive with a 3-yard TD run.

East Lake senior Khol Lilley recovered the ensuing squib kick, but the Eagles went three plays and out. On third and 9 from Countryside’s 41, DiNovo found Scott behind a defender inside the red zone, but the ball bounced off his fingertips.

Countryside took more than 4 1/2 minutes off the clock on eight runs on its next drive.

“We’re the better football team,” said DiNovo, whose team lost fumbles on its first two possessions. “We made too many mistakes, came into the game too cocky, didn’t prepare the way we should’ve and that’s the outcome we get.”

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Story and Photos by tampabay.com/hometeam

St. Petersburg     7

Countryside        0

Girls:

Countryside        5

St. Petersburg     2

Boys

Singles:

Corty (S) d. Monosky 8-5

Sleszynski (S) d. Berenet 8-2

Girardi (S) d. Machado 8-0

Bulliet (S) d. Jarczynski 8-6

Copelman (S) d. St. John 8-3

Doubles:

Corty and Girardi (S) d. Berenet and Machado 8-2

Sleszynski and Copelman (S) d. Jarczynski and Ogles 8-3

Girls

Singles:

Beng (C) d. Dvorak 8-6

Kitchen (C) d. Garcia 8-1

Dobai (C) d. Gray 8-0

Harris (C) d. Murray 8-4

Hays (S) d. Collis 8-3

Doubles:

Beng and Kitchen (C) d. Dvorak and Schuller 8-1

Gray and Garcia (S) d. Dobai and Harris 8-4

Countryside       6

Clearwater          1

Boys

Countryside       7

Clearwater          0

Individual Scores:

Girls:

Singles

Dean (CL) d. Schrock (CS) 8-0

Kitchen (CS) d. Dekarz (CL) 8-1

Boruk (CS) d. Turcotte (CL) 8-0

Dobai (CS) d. Brinkman (CL) 8-0

Harris (CS) d. Ramic (CL) 8-3

Doubles

Deng/Kitchen (CS) d. Schrock/Dekarz 8-0

Turcotte/Brinkman (CL) d. Trepany/Collis (CS) 8-6;

Boys:

Singles

Monosky (CS) d. Hopp (CL) 8-0

Berendt (CS) d. Ro (CL) 8-1

Machado (CS) d. Terzic (CL) 8-2

Jarczynski (CS) d. Tornatore (CL) 8-1

St. John (CS) d. Maloney (CL) 8-0

Doubles

Monosky/Brendt (CS) d. Hopp/Ro (CL) 8-4

Machado/Jarczynski (CS) d. Terzic/Tornatore (CL) 8-1

Dunedin                4

Countryside          3

GIRLS

Countryside        6

Dunedin               1

BOYS

Singles

Beiler (D) d. Monoskay (CS) 8-4

Berendt (CS) d. Hammond (D) 8-3

Machado (CS) d. Vargas (D) 9-7

Singer (D) d. Jorczyaski (CS) 9-7

St. John (CS) d. French (D) 8-4

Doubles

Beiler-Singer (D) d. Monoskay-Baronet (CS) 8-3

Hammond-Vargas (D) d. Machado-Jorczyaski (CS) 9-7

GIRLS

Singles

Deng (CS) d. Asante (D) 8-2

Kitchen (CS) d. Lopaciuk (D) 8-0

Dobai (CS) d. W. Harrison (D) 8-0

K. Harrison (D) d. Harris (CS) 8-5

Collins (CS) d. Wilson (D) 8-0

Doubles

Deng-Kitchen (CS) d. Asante-Lopaciuk (D) 8-0

Dobai-Harris (CS) d. W. Harrison-Deuilio (D) 8-2

Countryside      6

Lakewood          1

GIRLS:

Countryside      7

Lakewood          0

BOYS:

Singles

Monosky (CS) d. Hoylman (LW) 8-0

Berendt (CS) d. Atkins (LW) 8-0

Machado (CS) d. Haerle (LW) 8-4

Jarczynski (CS) d. Du (LW) 8-6

St. John (CS) d. Dickinson (LW) 8-4

Doubles

Berendt-James (CS) d. Hoylman-Atkins (LW) 8-5

Du-Dickinson (LW) d. Ogles-Walker (CS) 8-2

GIRLS:

Singles

Deng (CS) d. Agrawal (LW) 8-1

Kitchen (CS) d. Danger (LW) 8-0

Dobai (CS) d. Netterfield (LW) 8-2

Harris (CS) d. Monroe (LW) 8-2

Collis (CS) d. Bailey (LW) 8-0

Doubles

Deng-Dobai (CS) d. Agrawal-Danger (LW) 8-1

Kitchen-Trepany (CS) d. Netterfield-Monroe (LW) 8-6

Countryside            3

Singles:

Deng (C) d. Southern 8-3

Kitchen (C) d. Gobes 8-2

Azadian (P) d. Dobai 8-3

Wall (P) d. Harris 8-4

Newsome (P) d. Collis 8-0

Doubles:

Deng and Kitchen (C) d. Southern and Gobes 8-3

Azadian and Newsome (P) d. Dobai and Harris 8-3

Countryside                      1

Singles:

Monosci (C) d. Matz 9-8

Teytelbaum (P) d. Berendt 8-0

Lord (P) d. Machado 8-3

Perenich (P) d. Jarcynski 8-0

Whitaker (P) d. St. John 8-1

Doubles:

Matz and Lord (P) d. Monosci and Berendt 8-2

Teytelbaum and Everett (P) d. Walker and James 8-0

East Lake              1

Singles:

Deng (Cs) d. Ospina 8-1

Kitchen (Cs) d. Moya 8-2

Boruk (Cs) d. Herrock 8-6

Dubai (Cs) d. Dunham 9-8

Grigsby (EL) d. Harris 8-3

Doubles:

Deng and Kitchen (Cs) d. Ospina and Moya 8-3

Boruk and Dubai (Cs) won by default.

Bogie                  1

Singles:

Kitchen (COU) d. Lambert 8-0

Dobai (COU) d. Grant 8-2

Harris (COU) d. Colwell 8-0

Collis (COU) d. Godfrey 8-0

Rios (BC) f.

Doubles:

Kitchen and Collis (COU) d. Grant and Lambert 7-1

Dobai and Harris (COU) d. Colwell and Godfrey 8-0

Bogie                 0

Singles:

Monosky (COU) d. Green 8-0

Machado (COU) d. Hollis 8-2

Benedt (COU)d. Singh 8-0

Jarczynsky (COU) d. U 8-1

St. John (COU) d. Reays 8-0

Doubles:

Monosky and Benedt (COU) d. Hollis and green 8-3

Machado and Walker (COU) d. U and Singh 8-0