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Sports

Cowboys Fall 3-2 in Heartbreaking Loss to Durant

Durant was just a little too much for the Cowboys. They had a few more fans, a couple more opportunities and just a little more offense and they felled the streaking Gaither squad in the FHSAA 5A semifinal match.

The two teams are familiar with each other. Gaither dropped Durant 5-0 early in the season.

Durant came back and beat Gaither at the Wharton Invitational in January.

Durant’s Head Coach Jamin Hollingsworth commented on playing a familiar opponent.

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“It has its advantages and disadvantages," he said. "Good thing is there will not be a lot of surprises."

At Friday's state semifinals game at the University of Tampa, Gaither exploded out of the gate. In the first minute, Jordan See played a cross in to Zach Wheeler, and Wheeler put it away, electrifying the crowd.

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With a 1-0 lead, Gaither switched to defense. Jacob Snidle was all over the ball on Gaither’s side. Durant was definitely pushing the action, but Snidle denied everything that came near him.

Thirty-two minutes in, Connor Bass, Durant’s giant headed a ball that sailed just over the crossbar.

“We’re going to put two guys on him on set pieces," said Head Coach Eric Sims os Bass. "We’re going to put Santos and Barret on him and sandwich him."

Justin Santos and Paul Barret did well to limit Bass in the first half. However, the extra focus on Bass left Andres Plata of Durant open for a shot on the right side. He blasted it far post and equalized the score 1-1 in just 28 minutes in.

Gaither answered the bell.

Jordan See outran three Durant defenders for a deep ball down the middle. Only a nifty save by Durant keeper, Rafael Saldanha kept See from scoring.

Durant played very well on both sides. They kept possession with touch passes on Gaither’s side and made key defensive plays when Gaither went on runs.

Halfway through the first period, Gaither finally started to press the action again.

Wheeler and See nearly connected on another goal, but were denied.

Justin Santos did very well manning up with Bass in the first half. Besides getting to most any header that came his way, Bass was relatively silent.

Just before the half, Durant’s Ben Eisenhauer played a free kick from midfield that Jacob Brumbeloe found right in front of the net and put it in to push the score to 1-2 at halftime.

The Cowboy coaching staff was livid at halftime.

“They are dominating. They are winning the first and second ball," said Head Coach Sims. “We’re not mentally switched on. There are goals out there to be had."

The Gaither fan base finally showed up at the start of the second half.

“Let’s go Gaither!” could be heard from the packed stands at Pepin Field. Durant’s fan base had dominated the first half, with choreographed cheers and dominating volume.

The strategy to contain Bass started to crumble as Paul Barret got hurt and could not continue.

Even so, Gaither pressed most of the action in the first few minutes of the second half.

Finally, 20 minutes in, Snidle lined up for a free kick deep in Durant’s side and Charles Delmar came screaming in with a header that tied the game at 2-2.

It was officially game on. Both sides were slugging away at each other. Both keepers were busy saving good shots that could have been goals. Snidle has a great stop on Connor Bass in a one-on-one situation.

With just 10 minutes left, See was fouled just left of the 18-yard box. A free kick followed by a furious Gaither assault that saw multiple touches by both teams inside the 18-yard box, right in front of Durant’s goal.

Finally, Charles Delmar got off a good shot from the right corner, and it careened off the keeper’s foot and skittered past an open goal and out of bounds.

That was Gaither’s high water mark.

With Barret out of the game, Bass finally found some room to operate. With eight minutes left, Bass got the ball just inside Gaither’s 18-yard box. He dribbled to his right and blasted a shot across his body to far post. Despite a diving effort by John Nardozzi, the ball slipped just inside the net, notching the final score at 2-3.

There was one last-second hope for Gaither as Wheeler sprinted to the deep left corner and played a cross in front of goal. See leapt to get his head on it but the ball was three inches over his head and continued out of bounds, ending the last Gaither assault.

The loss had to sting bitterly for the Cowboys, but they have nothing to be ashamed of. Their effort and resilience over the course of the season can't be discounted. Durant will move on to the state championship game on Saturday against St. Thomas Aquinas, who beat Fleming Island earlier in the day 7-6 on penalty kicks. 

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