Countryside Touchdown Club

CLEARWATER - Bloggers in cyberspace can say whatever they want, whether it's bashing the Cougars or threatening to lay down a beating with their stud players, but when it's all said and done, only one thing counts: the performance on the field. On this much anticipated night when the Countryside Cougars and the Dunedin Falcons began play for the first of four district games, it was the garnet and gold in the home opener who began to send the Falcons packing early and often.

The first of twelve combined touchdowns came for the Cougars after a Dunedin punt on the opening drive. Starting close to midfield, a perfect mix of pass and run enabled junior QB Jimbo Chmelik to hit Jalen Goodloe on a beautiful 21 yard strike which game our boys a 7-0 lead early. On the ensuing possession for the Falcons, star running back Adaris Bellamy fumbled and was quickly recovered by the Cougar "D". The home team offense went back to work and after key third down conversions and a lengthy run by Roberts, Richard Shockley capped it off with a bruising touchdown that made it 14-0.

The second quarter had now arrived and both teams decided to light up the scoreboard even further. Countryside continued its assault scoring yet another TD in their third consecutive drive when Terry Johnson mauled his way in for a 3 yard score and a flabbergasting 21-0 advantage. A trio of Dunedin backs paved the way for a quick answer, as quarterback Ryan Singer found the right side open and slid into the end zone for a 28 yard scamper. After a missed extra point, C'Side still held onto a commanding 21-6 edge. The onslaught continued as CHS would yet again find the promised land when Todd Shorter was wide open for a 10 yard bullet from Jimbo to make it 28-6. The Cougars got a bit of a scare as just before halftime, the visitors unfurled back-to-back touchdowns of 14 yards on a catch by Emmitt Emery, and a 1 yard plunge from Bellamy for a close 28-20 ballgame.

Things became very intricate early in the third as the Falcons tallied for the third straight time on a Bellamy 15 yard run. After a failed two-point attempt that would have tied the game, the lead remained with Countryside by a slim margin of 28-26. Momentum certainly seemed to be on the side of Dunedin, but nothing remedies that better than a retaliatory strike. Dawrence Roberts would score the first of his two on a 1 yard run, giving the Cougars a 35-26 lead. Near the end of the third, Terry Johnson found pay dirt from the 2 to increase the advantage by 16. After a special teams recovery gave the Cougars the ball in good field position, Roberts zigzagged his way in for a score from 68 yards out to seal the deal with a single game high of 49 points. Desperately trying to come back, Austin Williams countered with a 65 yard score of his own, but there would be no comeback as the Cougars (3-1) defeat the rival Falcons (3-1) by a final of 49-34.

So the garnet and gold are now atop the Class 5A, District 9 standings and next will host the Tarpon Springs Spongers next Friday, October 3 at 7:30. The following week, the Cougars will be at Palm Harbor University High for another district game. Countryside varsity has never lost to the Hurricanes since that school opened in 1996.

Cotey: Welcome to Jimbo show

CLEARWATER — For the record, for those who wrote off Countryside quarterback Jimbo Chmelik this week (and I'll admit I was one who thought coach John Davis was making a change based on the local intel):

All these things, and even more, were points of debate leading up to Countryside's district opener. Consider the debate settled after the Cougars' surprisingly dominating 49-34 victory over Dunedin.

"That was as good a performance as I've ever seen from any quarterback I've ever had," said Davis, and that is mighty fine praise considering he's had a few good ones.

Jimbo, maligned for a slow start this season and a loss last week to St. Petersburg that seemed to undo the good from the week before in a win over Gibbs, was simply brilliant.

He completed 9-of-12 passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for 53 yards.

Pedestrian, maybe. Until you consider that almost every one of those yards meant something.

He made big play — how about the 19-yard run to the 1 to set up a Cougar score after Dunedin had pulled within 28-26 early in the second half — after big play — how about his 29-yard run on the next series down to the 4, to set up the game clincher?

While the surprisingly flat Falcons fumbled and bumbled their way through the first 15 minutes, Jimbo was slicing them up with his arm and feet.

Apparently, Jimbo loves a challenge. Line him up against three other quality quarterbacks in the spring — taller, bigger, with stronger arms — and watch him chase two off to other schools and keep his starting job.

Threaten to take away that job in the fall after a few weeks, and watch him make Dunedin's defense look like a junior varsity unit and keep his back-up at bay.

On Monday and Tuesday, backup Ryan Dailey took most of the snaps in practice. Word quickly spread that Jimbo was being benched, that Davis had grown weary of his starter.

"There was a lot of drama all week with the quarterback position. Yeah, sure, there were some doubts," Jimbo said. "But if I had been benched, I would have just kept my head down and kept working hard."

Jimbo was still his starter, but Dailey was going to see a good many snaps against Dunedin. Change seemed to be in the air, even if the whiff of it was faint.

But a funny thing happened between Jimbo's first pass and Dailey's first pass — about three quarters worth of flawless play.

And if that wasn't enough, Dunedin started Ryan Singer at quarterback, one of Jimbo's spring competitors who bolted for the Falcons when he didn't win the job down the road.

Davis is the first to admit that Singer is the best college quarterback prospect of all the kids that auditioned in May. And through three weeks, Singer has been better than Jimbo and was supposedly playing on the better team.

So not only did Jimbo have to beat a Dunedin defense that was supposed to be scary fast with wicked hitters, he had to:

Countryside 49, Dunedin 34

CLEARWATER — Dunedin and Countryside offered the equivalent of two cyclists pedaling furiously downhill, two rafts bouncing wildly downstream, two teams that glared into each other's eyes, took 10 paces, whirled — and scored on each other.

In a Class 5A, District 9 game that saw a barrage of big plays and left both defenses wobbly, the Cougars came up with the most in a 49-34 victory Friday. It is the first time the two-time defending champion Falcons have lost a district game in three seasons.

"It was one of those games where you just hold your breath the whole time," Countryside coach John Davis said.

The Cougars (3-1, 1-0) grabbed the momentum early. Quarterback Jimbo Chmelik threw a 10-yard touchdown to Jalen Goodloe, and Richard Shockley and Terry Johnson each scored on short runs to put Countryside up 21-0.

"We got in a big hole right from the start," Dunedin coach Mark Everett said. "We played catchup the rest of the way."

The Falcons (3-1, 0-1) made enough big plays to get back in the game. Ryan Singer scored on a 28-yard run. The Cougars countered on Chmelik's 10-yard touchdown pass to Todd Shorter.

Dunedin responded with two quick scores on a 15-yard pass from Singer to Emmitt Emery and a 3-yard run from Bellamy to cut the deficit to 28-20 at the half.

At the start of the third quarter, the Falcons pinned Countryside at its 2-yard line, forced a punt and scored on a 14-yard run by Bellamy. The two-point conversion failed to make it 28-26.

The Cougars marched 74 yards on a pivotal drive that was capped by Dawrence Roberts' 1-yard TD run.

The Cougars tacked on a 1-yard run by Johnson, and a 66-yard run by Roberts put the game out of reach.