Sports
Hurricanes Edge American Heritage in Kickoff Classic
Manatee High scores the game's final two touchdowns to avoid a loss to the visiting Delray Beach school, which played in three Class 1A state championship games from 2007-2010.
Final score: Manatee 20, Delray Beach American Heritage 14
Recap: Although lightning strikes in the vicinity delayed the kickoff by 51 minutes, visiting American Heritage set the tone early in Wednesday night's Kickoff Classic at Joe Kinnan Field at Hawkins Stadium. After stopping Manatee quarterback Chase Sandberg inches short of a first down on a fourth down sneak, the Stallions put together a four-play, 45-yard touchdown drive on their first offensive series. American Heritage running back Greg Bryant ran 15 yards for the only score of the first half with 8:49 left in the first quarter. Manatee, which had a 28-yard field goal with 1:28 left in the first quarter nullified by an equipment penalty, conceded four sacks to the Stallions over the game's first 24 minutes.
Manatee senior running back Leon Allen put this team within one with a 23-yard touchdown run with 7:28 left in the third quarter, but a mishandled snap on an apparent PAT attempt led to an unsuccessful two-point attempt for the Hurricanes. Less than three minutes after Allen's touchdown, American Heritage junior Marcus Davis and senior Silmore Dallaway hooked up for an 84-yard touchdown pass that gave the Stallions a 14-6 lead. Quarterback Cord Sandberg's legs played an instrumental role in the game's final two scores. Sandberg scored on an option keeper that covered 32 yards early in the fourth, while he threw a backward lateral to Anthony Lauro that resulted in a 10-yard scoring run and delivered a two-point pass to Austin Gordon with 3:07 remaining.
Find out what's happening in Bradentonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Key play: Lauro's 10-yard scoring run off Sandberg's lateral was the game-winning touchdown. An official threw a flag for an illegal forward pass on the play, but it was waved off and the penalty was overturned.
Star of the game: Sandberg, who faced a consistent barrage of pressure and threw an interception midway through the seconds, managed to finish with 217 yards of total offense.
Find out what's happening in Bradentonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Quotable: "Our kids underestimated them. They're a good football team. They wouldn't have come all this way if they weren't a good football team. We just didn't execute very well." — Manatee head coach Joe Kinnan.
Up next: Manatee will open the regular season on Sept. 2 in Olney, Md., against host Good Council.
