Clearwater Academy International pulls away from Rams late
SARASOTA — The Clearwater Academy International football team broke open a close game with 32 unanswered points in the second half to pin a 46-7 loss on Riverview High on Thursday night at Cleland Stadium at Ihrig Field on the campus of Sarasota High School.
The Rams (1-4) broke on top with an 11-play 69-yard drive that stretched from the first quarter to the second. The march was capped by a spectacular catch by Charles Lester III, who tipped a pass that was behind him to himself and hauled it in for a 32-yard score with 9 minutes, 51 seconds before halftime.
A huge kickoff return put the Knights in position to strike at the Rams’ 24-yard line. Three plays later quarterback Evans Chuba went over from 2 yards out. Chuba threw a 2-point conversion to Luke Gutek to give CAI (6-0) the lead it would not relinquish.
The Knights took advantage of a fumble on a punt attempt to take over at the Riverview 24 and Chuba and Gutek cashed in on a fourth-and-6 from the 20-yard line.
The Rams still were in the game when an intercepted pass turned into CAI’s third touchdown of the game late in the third quarter.
But a 26-0 run by the Knights in the fourth quarter on three long passes and an interception return turned the game into a rout and started a running clock late in the fourth quarter because of the 35-point mercy rule.
The Rams return to action Friday, Oct. 21 against Venice in a Class 4A-District 14 Suburban game at Sarasota High.
“We’ve got a week to figure it out,” Riverview coach Josh Smithers said.
The Rams must play on the road because the bleachers at the Ram Bowl are deemed unsafe after damage from Hurricane Ian.
Riverview takeaways
• Playing for the first time in 27 days after posting their first win of the season, a 31-28 home victory over Lehigh on Sept. 16, Coach Josh Smithers did not think the layoff affected his team adversely. “I don’t think the layoff hurt us at all,” he said. “It’s just the way we’ve been all year: We play in spurts.”
• Two areas of the game let the Rams down Thursday night: offense and special teams. Riverview finished with 120 rushing yards, counting the 17-yard loss on the fumbled snap on the punt and passed for 49 yards, with 32 coming on Lester III’s scoring catch. The Rams turned the ball over three times on interceptions. “We were moving the ball, and then we turned it over,” Smithers said. “We gave up a long return. We have a touchback and we were offsides.”
• The one area that stood out was the defense. The Rams had three takeaways in the first quarter, including Keoni Finau’s interception on the first play of the game. Kyle Neighbors also recovered two fumbles, but the Rams failed to cash in on any of the three. “If we do, it’s a different game,” Smithers said. “We have to be able to capitalize on those opportunities in the first half. The defense played outstanding tonight. We’ve just got to figure out how to play four quarters of football.”
Dennis Maffezzoli is the deputy sports editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and chief reporter for Sarasota Herald-Tribune and HTpreps covering Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. Support local journalism by subscribing.
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Clearwater Academy International pulls away from Rams late
