By DAN HOEHNE
daniel.hoehne@newssun.com
AUBURNDALE - The 12-8 score in Sebring's victory at Auburndale Friday night might conjure up images of a tough, defensive battle.
But that would be both inaccurate and dressing it up far too much.
Perhaps it was fitting that the game played on the Bloodhounds home field was on All Hallows Eve, for in many ways it was ghoulish and frightening to watch.
"It sure wasn't pretty," Blue Streak head coach Jared Hamlin said afterward. "It seemed like we'd take three steps forward and then five back, then two forward and three back. Fortunately we finally got to a point of taking 15 steps forward and not going back."
Those 15 steps came with just 5:23 left in the game and Sebring trailing by an 8-6 score.
On fourth and seven, near midfield, quarterback Matt Grubb found his favorite target, Devin Clarke, streaking across the middle.
The catch and run down the right sideline went for a 47-yard score and the scariness of the Bloodhound's house of horrors was all but over.
Auburndale did get the ball back, twice more in fact, and they had shown earlier that they could break one at any time.
But the Blue Streak defense was up to the task, as they have been virtually all season, in closing it out without any more haunting visions.
There had been enough of those throughout.
Things looked much brighter in the early going when, after a three-and-out on Sebring's opening possession, the Bloodhounds quickly gave it back on a first-play fumble that was covered by Michael Hankerson.
Damion Thompson then bull rushed for ten yards, Daniel Burnett pushed through for two and an offsides moved it to the Auburndale 29.
An incompletion was followed by a no gain - a sign of things to come - but Grubb and Clarke hooked up on a screen with Clarke then dancing and sprinting through the spread out Bloodhound defense for a 29-yard score and a 6-0 lead.
Things quickly turned scary when the first of three Auburndale quarterback's on the night, Jamiah Crawford, scored on a 69-yard keeper around the left side - but a holding penalty called it back.
Flashes of their speed were enough to keep the Sebring faithful on edge, but time and again the Blue Streak defense bent but didn't break.
They were helped out, of course, with numerous penalties and turnovers that Auburndale incurred to hold themselves back as much as the Streaks did.
And after the initial score, the Sebring offense, at times, couldn't get out of its own way.
"Poor pass protection, dropped balls, overthrows, missed assignments - it seemed like everyone was a part of it," Hamlin said.
Those started to show up on the next series, as Sebring got it to the five when a 40-yard Burnett run gave them first and goal.
But a holding penalty backed them up to the 15, a QB sack lost another 10 yards and soon enough, that first and goal at the five turned into a missed 38-yard field goal attempt.
An Anthony Powell interception got the ball back early in the second quarter, but Grubb was promptly sacked on a hard enough hit to send him to the sidelines for the rest of that short-lived series.
Back and forth the sloppiness went - three incompletions and a holding penalty on Auburndale's next possession, Grubb under heavy pressure and a holding call on Sebring's next time with the ball.
Another frightening moment then came in the third quarter as Sebring had adjusted and was stuffing the Bloodhound runs around end, suddenly Auburndale did a quarterback draw right up the middle and Crawford went virtually untouched for a 78-yard score.
More sloppiness ensued, but worked in the home team's favor as they tried to kick the extra point.
A bad snap sent the holder running toward right end before a jarring hit knocked the ball loose, only to be scooped up by Ricardo Singh and run in around left end for two points and the 8-6 lead.
But though there was much tumult to follow over the next two quarters, Sebring was able to find a treat among the night full of tricks that tasted all the more sweet.
"This was the kind of game where we had to dig deep," Hamlin said. "It was ugly and things seemed scattered at times. But when they needed to, the team pulled together and got it done."
Clarke ended the night with three catches for 78 yards and the two touchdowns, while Grubb's passing line, though not pretty, comes with some caveats.
While just 7-of-19 passing, there were four drops and a number of pressured throws in the mix.
But he did reach the 100-yard mark and his two key connections with Clarke were enough to secure the win.
Thompson lead the ground game with 74 yards on 18 carries with Burnett gaining 49 on nine carries.
The win puts Sebring at 3-2 in district play, with one more game to figure in the standings.
That game will be at Tenoroc next Friday with the Titans coming off a surprising, 20-17 win over Lake Nona.
"We're just focused on our next game and Tenoroc could be a challenge. I didn't expect them to do what they did tonight," Hamlin said. "We can only take care of our own business and then see how things play out."
Sunday, November 01, 2009 - www.newssun.com/SUN-11-1-SebFB