Sailors football rallies to beat Mustangs

Two big plays can make all the difference. 

It was for the Sarasota High football team on Friday night. The Sailors were down 14-6 to Lakewood Ranch High in the third quarter when quarterback Lance Trippel found TJ McKay for an 85-yard touchdown pass, making the score 14-12 after a failed two-point conversion. The teams would then trade field goals before Trippel made another huge pass, this time to Terrell Pack for a 68-yard touchdown. It made the score 21-17, where it remained for the rest of the game. 

Both offenses struggled in the first half. The Mustangs threw three interceptions and mishandled a punt, which the Sailors recovered on the Mustangs eight yard line and converted into a touchdown. They would turn to senior quarterback Jimmy Kelly to stabilize the offense, which he did, leading the team on a touchdown drive before halftime. Kelly would also find senior wideout Emar'je Grace for a touchdown in the third quarter. After that, though, the offense would once again stall. 

Lakewood Ranch Coach Rashad West said the first-half turnovers made things tough, but also blamed himself for not putting his team in a position to win. 

"I have got to be better," West said. 

The Mustangs were the only East County team to play Friday night. 

One Sarasota-area team fared as well as the Sailors: Riverview High (6-1), which defeated Palmetto High (4-3) 16-7 on the road. Junior Rams quarterback Ryan Browne threw for two touchdowns, and the team recorded a safety in the first half. Cardinal Mooney High (1-6) fell 33-0 to Lakeland Christian (5-2) on the road, while Booker High (1-6) lost 30-6 to Gibbs High (3-4) on the road.