Tiger Sharks End Season on Down Note

A week that started in heartbreak ended in frustration for the Port St. Joe football team.

The Tiger Sharks, eliminated from the Class 2A playoffs in a three-way tiebreaker on Monday, saw their regular season end with a flat performance at Tallahassee Maclay on Thursday night.

The Marauders, a second-year program playing as an independent, broke open a 24-21 game at the half to register a surprising 38-27 victory at Frank Shaw Field.

Port St. Joe coach Vern Barth, to his credit, did not allow his team’s heartache - or two key injuries to his quarterbacks - steal the spotlight from the Marauders.

“It was a tough week, but hat’s off to Maclay,” Barth said. “They came out and played with full intensity and they were ready to go. They made more plays than we did tonight.”

The biggest of those plays came from Maclay receiver/defensive back Seth Roberts, who racked up 292 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns on 11 touches. He also had two interceptions, including one late in the fourth quarter that sealed the Marauders’ second win of the season.

He caught six passes for 194 yards. Included in those totals were a pair of 47-yard touchdown receptions in the first half and a 30-yarder for a score in the second half. On that play, he made one move in the open field and then pulled away from three Tiger Sharks along the sideline to find the end zone.

“He’s a heck of an athlete,” Barth said. “I went over to see him play at Wewahitchka, so I knew how good he was.”

Roberts wasn’t the only big-time athlete on the field. Port St. Joe’s Darrell Smith returned kickoffs of 95 and 96 yards for touchdowns. He also had a spectacular night defensively with no fewer than two sacks and a handful of big stops behind the line of scrimmage.

“Darrell gave it all his heart,” Barth said. “He hates to lose anytime we play, whether it’s a one-quarter shootout or a four-quarter game.”

The Tiger Sharks (7-3 overall) played Thursday night very much like a team that was still in shock over missing the playoffs for the first time in nine years. Port St. Joe lost in a three-way tiebreaker Monday night and will not advance to the Class 2A playoffs.

“I really felt sorry for Port St. Joe,” McCorvey said. “They had a heartbreaker on Monday and it set them up for a night like tonight. But I’m happy for our guys, too.”

Port St. Joe’s troubles were more than emotional.

Junior Calvin Pryor, one of the Big Bend’s best young players, did not play because of what Barth said was a minor medical procedure performed earlier this week. Senior quarterback Trubias Hill injured his ankle in the second quarter and did not return to the game.

That forced talented receiver/wingback Willie Quinn to move to quarterback for the second half where he had a hard time adjusting to the new position. Quinn had caught a 17-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and looked like he was going to be battling Roberts the rest of the game in one-on-one situations before he had to change positions.

“Willie had never taken a snap all year,” Barth said.