The Steinbrenner Warriors (5-1) gave all they had towards stopping the nationally-ranked Manatee Hurricanes (3-2) offensive talent during Friday’s game, but it eventually got the best of them, losing 52-17.
“All the credit in the world goes to that team over there, our kids fought with them and our kids never backed down,” said Steinbrenner head coach Andres Perez.
The Warriors started out the game strong, with a 40 yard pass from sophomore quarterback Colin Wray to junior Brett Bitter on just the second play of the 1st quarter, which set them up for a 35 yard touchdown catch by senior Justin Moffatt.
However, after the first quarter, it was all Manatee, who scored two touchdowns in just two minutes to start the second quarter, which put them up 17-7.
The Warriors didn’t give up though, getting an impressive 28 yard run from senior running back Jayquese Dantley, which set up a touchdown pass from Wray to junior Carson Kaleo. The Hurricanes scored again before the end of the half to make it 24-14 at halftime.
The problems for the Warriors came in the second half of the game, with the Hurricanes scoring four touchdowns in five drives in the third quarter, while the Warriors only got a field goal kicked by junior Noah Ruggles with one minute left in the third to add to their score, making it 52-17 at the end of the third quarter and eventually the game.
“If we could have gotten our kids to play for 48 minutes like they did the first 24, I think it would’ve been a different result,” said Perez after the game.
Although there was disappointment that comes with the first loss after going 5-0, there was optimism in Perez’s voice about the rest of the season that should assure the members of Warrior Nation. Talking about how the team would recover from this game and prepare for next week’s game against Newsome, “We talked, and family over everything, we’re going to find a way to stay together, come back tomorrow and watch our film, and we’re going to grind like we always do,” Perez said.
Andrew Zilbauer // Web Team
