CLEARWATER — The buildup promised a showdown between Pinellas County’s two best teams. Clearwater Central Catholic turned it into a rout.
The host Marauders shut out previously unbeaten Clearwater High 44-0 on Oct. 30 in the regular-season finale for both teams, claiming the mythical city championship for the fourth straight year with their most lopsided win in the series.
After three years of CCC dominance, this looked like the matchup that might finally go the distance. Instead, a suffocating defense and an offense that handed the ball to nearly everyone on the sideline settled it early.
It’s hard to say which was more surprising: the Tornadoes’ prolific offense being shut out, or a Clearwater defense that had allowed just 56 points in its first nine games giving up 44 in one night.
There was no question, though, about what set the tone. Clearwater (9-1) managed just three first downs, all in the first half, and went 1 for 13 on third and fourth down. The Tornadoes never crossed midfield; their best field position all night was their own 47-yard line. They finished with 24 yards of total offense.
The Marauders’ top priority was Clearwater sophomore quarterback Jaysean Glenn, who entered the game with 1,749 yards of total offense and 25 touchdowns.
“Going into the week, we were worried about containing the quarterback, not letting him scramble,” CCC defensive lineman Na’im Jefferson said. “We wanted to stop the run as well, so we were focused on squeezing the pocket.”
The plan worked, especially for Jefferson, who muscled his way to 2½ of the Marauders’ three sacks and was a nuisance all night.
“Na’im, he’s just a freak of a player,” CCC coach Chris Harvey said. “I mean, he’s a sophomore and he’s one of the best defensive players we’ve ever had here, and we’ve had some pretty good ones.”
Harvey’s defense also had to account for Clearwater senior receiver J.J. Archer.
“The Archer kid’s a great player, and we looked at ways to cover as much of the field as we could,” Harvey said. “Our defensive mindset this week was to keep things in front of us.”
Archer still reached his personal goal of 1,000 receiving yards — barely. He caught five short passes for 26 yards to finish the regular season with 1,003.
Harvey also praised Matthew Vick (half sack), Daveyon Epps (interception), Larkin Dudley (tackle for loss), Cerrious Wynn, Eric McCallister, Camden Baker and Felix Nelson.
With the defense in control, the CCC offense hardly needed to press. It emptied the playbook anyway, using three quarterbacks in the first quarter, playing at a hurry-up pace and calling on 10 ball carriers.
The Marauders (8-2) rumbled for 322 rushing yards. Quarterback Khayse Barrett and junior Peyton Simms each ran for 67 yards, freshman Kriton Turner added 44 yards and a touchdown, and freshman K.D. Smith had 43 yards and a score. Short-yardage specialist Dicarieze Williams carried five times for 14 yards and three touchdowns.
“We’ve always been a team that likes to run the football, especially with the quarterback,” Harvey said. “Our goal is to try and take some of the load off him, and the only way we can do that is if we can spread the wealth. We can’t expect our quarterback to line up and run the ball 25 times a game and be successful down the road, but with the versatility we have, getting the ball to as many people as we can, we were fairly successful.”
The win puts CCC in strong position for a berth in the first-year Open Division, which features eight of the state’s top-ranked teams. Harvey said that prospect won’t change his preparation.
“If we get into the Open Division, it’s a great challenge for us, it’s a great opportunity for us,” he said. “To be on a path to be the best team in the state of Florida, one of the best teams in America ...
“Or if we don’t make that, we have an opportunity to represent ourselves in (Class) 2A. It’s the best class in high school football in Florida right now. We’ll just have to take it day by day, see where we fall and make the best of it.”
Clearwater, the District 4A-10 champion, will try to regroup when it hosts a Class 4A regional opening-round game Friday, Nov. 6.
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