Bulldogs visit Poinciana for 4A-7 district contest

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Bulldogs visit Poinciana for 4A-7 district contest

Sports

Wednesday, 20 October 2010 11:05

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
St. Cloud and Poinciana will try to keep faint playoff hopes alive when they meet at Eagle Field today at 7:30 p.m. for a 4A District 7 contest.

The Eagles (0-6) seek their first win of the year, while the Bulldogs (3-4) try to snap out of a stretch that’s seen them lose four of their last five.
Both teams are winless (0-2) in the district, and whatever hopes they hold of earning a regional playoff berth hinge on a win tonight.
“I don’t worry about all the calculations; I just tell the kids we have to win them all,” St. Cloud Coach Bill Buldini said. “That’s all we can control. The rest of it, that’s up to someone else to figure it out.”
St. Cloud spent last week chasing Oviedo Hagerty quarterback Jeff Driskel around Tom Gannarelli Field.
Driskel, who committed to Florida, amassed 418 yards of offense, including 242 yards rushing that was padded by touchdown runs of 90 and 88 yards, as the Huskies won, 36-14.
Buldini, who had compared Driskel to ex-Gator quarterback Tim Tebow before the game, came away impressed.
“He was the difference in the ballgame; he’s a great player,” he said. “We didn’t tackle him and he made plays. We were even in position to make the tackle a couple of times and we didn’t.”
Both quarterback Philip Steinmetz (10 carries, 107 yards) and tailback Irving Huggins (20-103) eclipsed the century mark rushing, and Steinmetz added 238 more through the air as the Bulldogs rolled up 463 yards of offense. But, they came away with only 14 points as Louis Page and Huggins scored on short touchdown runs in the first half.
Brett Biller (nine catches, 85 yards) and Cole Harvey (5-84) were busy in the receiving game.
Poinciana lost at Osceola, 49-8, as Coach Michael Timpson tries to turn around the program in his first year. Timpson understands that at this stage, with his team dressing only 19 players, that talking about a playoff berth is more theoretical than practical. He has more immediate concerns.
“It’s a cliche, but we just have to block better and tackle better,” he said. “The guys we have out there are playing hard.”
Junior quarterback Mike Cirino continues to be a standout for the team. He rushed for 62 yards and completed 5-of-15 passes for 53 yards and scored the Eagles’ TD on a 1-yard run late in third quarter. He passed to Bryan Gonzalez for two points, making it 34-8.
“He’s been doing a good job. All the guys are doing their best. The important thing now is to focus on getting better, and making sure not to go backward,” Timpson said.
Buldini said Poinciana has the ability to put his team out of the playoff chase if the Bulldogs are not prepared.
“You can tell that he (Timpson) played wideout (in the NFL) with their schemes,” Buldini said. “They can do some damage. Twelve (Cirino) can play for anyone, and they have other guys, like No. 25 (Joey Decomo), who are good athletes.
Timpson said the Bulldogs are a formidable foe.
“They’ve got a decent team. They’ve had some losses, for sure, but most of those were close,” he said.
Poinciana has never beaten St. Cloud.
Ken Jackson contributed to this story.