Gaither Football Falls 17-14 in Heartbreaker

The Gaither High football team got a tremendous effort from its defense and owned most of the second half Friday night, but its efforts came up just short as a last-minute field goal by Tampa Bay Tech iced a 17-14 Cowboys loss that clinched the Clas 7A-District 7 title.

The Titans (6-3, 5-0) came out firing and completed their first pass to junior running back Jamaruz Thompkins for a 33-yard gain across midfield. The Cowboys defense tightened and forced a punt. The Titans defense answered with an interception by senior safety Devaun Stephens that was off the fingertips of Cowboys receiver senior Mitch McNall. Stephens returned the pick all the way to the Cowboys 18-yard line. A screen pass to sophomore running back Deon Thompson from 18 yards out drew first blood.

Gaither (6-3, 4-1) answered on its next possession as junior athlete Shug Oyegunle broke a 56-yarder on a draw up the middle and set up junior running back Vu Le's 18-yard touchdown run. On the Titans' next drive, senior quarterback Aaron Midthus hit senior running back Clunder Lecount in perfect stride on a 3rd-and-18 to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Lecount.

The Cowboys defense bailed out the offense again, stopping a 4th-and-short deep in their own territory after another tipped pass was intercepted by Tech senior safety Major Bloom. They escaped the half down by just seven.

The momentum was already swinging Gaither's way with the defensive stops to end the half. In the third quarter, when junior running back Jamari Cord found running room, it set up Oyegunle to break the biggest play of the game, a 42-yard run for a touchdown to tie the game at 14-14.

The Cowboys defense stepped up and forced four consecutive three-and-outs by the Tech offense, but Gaither just could not get its own offense going. On their fourth drive, the Cowboys got another good run from Le that set up a 40-yard field goal attempt from junior kicker Dalton Gilson. The kick looked bad coming off his foot, but it carried, only to bounce off the crossbar and fall in front of the goal.

The game was still tied at 14, and the feeling was that the next score would win it.

The Titans finally got the ball back with less than five minutes left after being stuffed on their last four possessions.

"I told the offense before that drive, 'It's now or never; don't be the senior class that doesn't get it done,' " said Titans head coach Jayson Roberts.

The Titans converted three third downs but looked stopped after two Cowboy defenders, senior Nick Sampson and junior Ernest Suttles, combined to blow up a screen pass in the backfield to make it 3rd-and-18 from the Gaither 30-yard line.

A quick completion to Lecount gave him time to slip past a Cowboys defender and scamper ahead for the first down. This set up the game-winning field goal for junior kicker Austin Miller, who delivered, right down the middle.

The Cowboys played their guts out on defense but were called upon one too many times.

"Defense played awesome, but they were on the field too long," said Cowboys head coach Jason Stokes. "We need to execute and finish games better."

The defense held Tech to less than 300 yards of offense, forced several three-and-outs, created a couple turnovers and made key plays when they had to.

The Titans did just enough to win the game. Lecount and senior running back Lamarq Caldwell combined for more than 100 yards rushing, and Lecount had 80 receiving yards. Midthus completed less than 50 percent of his passes but hit two near-perfect passes to set up scores for the Titans.

"This is a huge win for the program and the result of playing such a tough schedule," Roberts said. "We learned from those tough games, and brought it with us tonight."