Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
	TD	Cou – Gray Crow threw 55 yards to Jordan Rossi for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	Ven – ran 15 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good.
2nd Quarter
	TD	Ven – ran 4 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good.
	TD	Ven – ran 5 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good.
	TD	Cou – Ryan Yates ran 1 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	FG	Cou – Ryan Pandy kicked a 27-yard field goal.
3rd Quarter
	TD	Cou – Diomi Roberts ran 9 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
4th Quarter
	FG	Cou – Ryan Pandy kicked a 20-yard field goal.
	TD	Ven – ran 21 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good.

This was not how it was supposed to end for Countryside.

The Cougars, a perfect 10-0 during the regular season and their sights set on surpassing last year’s region final appearance, had one last chance for a comeback victory over Venice in Friday’s Class 7A regional quarterfinal.

Surely, senior quarterback Gray Crow and the potent offense would put together a winning drive. Instead, with 1:45 left and the ball at its 13, Countryside’s season ended when Crow was sacked three times and his desperation pass on fourth down sailed out of bounds.

Venice 28, Countryside 27.

It was one of those nights for the Cougars. They fumbled twice. Crow was intercepted once, and two first-and-goals ended with field goals.

“We just had to execute better,” Countryside coach Jared Davis said. “One time, it was fumble. Then it was a breakdown in pass protection. It was always something.”

It also didn’t help that Venice quarterback Grant Flessner was nearly unstoppable. Flessner rushed for 131 yards and scored all four of the Indians’ touchdowns. The winner, which came with just more than three minutes remaining, was a 21-yard scramble that ended with a dive to the left pylon. After converging, officials awarded him the touchdown.

Countryside still had three minutes to answer. But on third and 5 from his 38, Crow was called for intentional grounding. By the time the Cougars used all three timeouts and forced a Venice punt, there was 1:45 left. Still time to get the ball in field goal range.

Instead, it was sack, pass interference on Venice, sack, spiked ball, sack and incompletion.

“Pretty much as soon as I got back on my drop, they were on me,” Crow said. “I got hit right when I wanted to throw it.”

The Cougars took a 7-0 lead in the first when Crow scrambled and hit Jordan Rossi for 55 yards. But Venice scored on its first three possessions for a 21-7 lead.

Countryside battled back with a Ryan Yates 1-yard run and a 21-yard field goal by Ryan Pandy. That drive stalled with three straight incompletions.

“You have to be able to finish drives if you’re going to win these games,” Davis said. “We weren’t able to do it.”

The Cougars came out in the second half with an 11-play, 84-yard drive that ended with a 9-yard run by Diomi Roberts. Countryside then took over when Venice failed to recover the kickoff, but Crow threw an interception on the next play.

Venice then fumbled, but Countryside fumbled to give it back. When things settled down, Countryside put together a drive that stalled at the 3 and resulted in Pandy’s 20-yard field goal.

Then came Venice’s 13-play winning drive followed by two failed Countryside drives.

“We just gave up way too many sacks,” Davis said.

“We’ve got to work on that pass protection.”

—————————————-

Story by tampabay.com/hometeam

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
	FG	Cou — PAT was good. Ryan Pandy kicked a 35-yard field goal.
	FG	Cou — PAT was good. Ryan Pandy kicked a 28-yard field goal.
	TD	STP – David Jones ran 81 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Sean Covington.
	TD	Cou – Gray Crow threw 20 yards to Jordan Rossi for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
2nd Quarter
	TD	STP – Maurice Hemingway ran 2 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Sean Covington.
3rd Quarter
	TD	Cou – Diomi Roberts ran 2 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	Cou – Diomi Roberts ran 1 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
4th Quarter
	TD	Cou – Mike Flory ran 4 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	Cou – Michael Tsalickis ran 13 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.

For the second straight regular season, Countryside is perfect.

The Cougars put the finishing touches on a 10-0 year with their 41-14 win over St. Petersburg on Friday night. The victory clinched their second straight Class 7A, District 9 title and ensured a home playoff game in two weeks.

“To leave a mark on this school like we did is really amazing,” said Countryside senior quarterback Gray Crow, who threw for 216 yards and a touchdown. “It’s really hard to describe. People will see what we did for years to come.”

What the Cougars did against St. Petersburg was muddle through a sluggish first half before rolling. Countryside led 20-14 at halftime, and St. Petersburg got the ball to start the second half. After holding the Green Devils (6-3, 3-2) on three downs, it forced a Sean Covington punt from the 20.

Countryside’s Diomi Roberts raced in from the right side and blocked the punt, which was recovered at the St. Petersburg 3. Two plays later, Roberts lunged in from a yard out to increase the lead to 27-14.

“That was big,” Cougars coach Jared Davis said. “It kind of sparked us. We played a little bit better in the second half overall. It was a combination of getting that punt block and playing better.”

The Green Devils tried to mount a drive after the block. David Jones ripped off a 39-yard run on the second play, but Covington missed a 41-yard field goal. Jones, who finished with 116 yards on five carries, scored on an 81-yard run in the first quarter that gave St. Petersburg a 7-6 lead.

Countryside continued to get huge chunks of yards through the air and on the ground. Early in the fourth, Mike Flory scored from 4 yards to make it 34-14. Mike Tsalickis scored the final touchdown on a 13-yard run.

“We sort of wore down a little bit,” St. Petersburg coach Joe Fabrizio said. “They’re a big team, and we’re young. That’s the best team we’ve played this year.”

When time ran out, Countryside celebrated with Gatorade showers, a dance at midfield and pictures in front of the scoreboard. The Cougars have a bye next week, so they will have a chance to rest before the playoff game.

But first, they’ll do a little more celebrating.

“It’s going to take a while for the adrenaline to wear off from this one,” Crow said. “I might get a few hours of sleep. Then we’ve got to get back to work.”

—————————————————————–

Story by tampabay.com/hometeam

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
	TD	PP – Marquis Samuel ran 30 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Zach DiTommaso.
2nd Quarter
	TD	Cside – Ryan Yates ran 1 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	PP – Brandon Hames threw 53 yards to Jeremi Powellfor a touchdown. PAT was good by Zach DiTommaso.
3rd Quarter
	TD	Cside – Diomi Roberts ran 22 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	Cside – Diomi Roberts ran 7 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
4th Quarter
	TD	PP – Marquis Samuel fumble recovery 61 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Zach DiTommaso.
	TD	Cside – Diomi Roberts ran 35 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
	TD	Cou – Diomi Roberts ran 8 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	Cou – Diomi Roberts Punt block return 15 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	Cou – Gray Crow threw 14 yards to A.J. Sattinger for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	Cou – Diomi Roberts ran 5 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
2nd Quarter
	TD	Cou – Tyler Serpo interception return 30 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	Cou – Diomi Roberts ran 10 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	Cou – Gray Crow threw 8 yards to Nico Morgado for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
3rd Quarter
	FG	Cou – Ryan Pandy kicked a 28-yard field goal.
	TD	Cou – Jake Laursen ran None yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.
	TD	WR – Jamel Nunez threw 79 yards to Ryan Shea for a touchdown. Two point conversion run failed.
4th Quarter
	TD	Cou – Bryan Czop Punt block return 7 yards for a touchdown. PAT was good by Ryan Pandy.

Countryside a dominating performance in its homecoming matchup, breaking the school record for most points scored in a game in a 66-6 victory over Wiregrass Ranch.

Four turnovers by the Bulls led to easy scores. The Cougars held the Bulls (0-6) to one first down and 138 total yards.

“We’ve got to play to our expectations, and I felt that we did that,” Cougars coach Jared Davis said. “It’s good to be able to see everybody play and everybody play at a high level.”

Senior Diomi Roberts led the way with three rushing touchdowns. He added a fourth on special teams when he returned a blocked punt 15 yards. Roberts finished with 11 carries for 54 yards.

Gray Crow completed 11 of 17 passes for 108 yards with a touchdown and interception. With the score 49-0 at halftime, Countryside (7-0) had its younger players in for much of the second half.

———————————————–

Story by tampabay.com/hometeam