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Durant Places 5th In Invitational

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By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: December 31, 2008

PLANT CITY - Playing four soccer games in two days, against top-quality opposition at that, is no easy task. But the Durant High Cougars were up to it.

Durant bounced back in a big way after losing its opener at the prestigious High School Soccer Invitational in North Tampa.

Last week the Cougars won four times in a 26-hour span to come in fifth in the tournament's Elite Bracket.

"It was very, very difficult. The guys are dead," Durant boys soccer coach Jamin Hollingsworth said after the Cougars secured fifth place, beating 4A power Jacksonville Stanton Prep 3-1.

Durant's last two games on Dec. 23 started at 10 a.m. and then, after not much of a break, came a 3 p.m. kickoff. The Cougars first defeated Lake Mary 2-1 in a somewhat sloppy outing that was solved by penalty kicks, then Durant took down Stanton Prep with relative ease.

The Cougars entered the event with an 8-0 record but ran into tourney host Jesuit in the Dec. 20 opener.

Jesuit won 2-1 on a bad-bounce goal.

But two days later, the Cougars had a fantastic set of results, beating Tallahassee Lincoln 2-0 and Mitchell 3-2, the latter victory securing second place in Pool 4.

Only the top two finishers in each four-team pool played on the final day of the tournament.

The four pool winners went on to settle the overall championship while the four second-place teams got to continue playing, with fifth place the top possible outcome.

A total of 32 teams, split into the Elite and Premier brackets, makes up the event, which was held at the Ed Radice Sports Complex near Sickles High. Jesuit fell to last year's 5A state champ Wharton in the Elite semis, then Wharton lost the final to small school power Orangewood Christian.

Berkeley Prep won the Premier Bracket.

"This was the day I was worried about motivation, just because they might be wearing down," Hollingsworth said after his team concluded its stay at the event. "They were definitely motivated on the second day. We pulled it together quite well."

Durant, 12-1, had never been invited to the tournament before but more than earned a return trip. Hollingsworth said he knew his team belonged, ironically, from how it played in the opening defeat.

"Once we scored on Jesuit, I felt, 'Yeah, we can play with these guys,'" he said.

Cecil Clarke, Durant's phenomenal senior forward, had the goal against Jesuit. Clarke also tallied in the last victory. Billy Fanning had a team-best three goals during the event and standout midfielder Leo Mesquita scored twice, once apiece in the Dec. 22 wins against Lincoln and Mitchell.

Defender Freeman Bass, whose younger brother Conner played all five games as goalie, also had a goal during the event as did freshman Jacob Brumbeloe.

The Cougars were able to go 4-1 without one starter, as David Eisenauer had the flu.

Durant is back in tournament action, and the two-a-day routine, Saturday in the Wharton Invitational. The Cougars play 6A power Alonso at 8:30 a.m. and Lennard at 5:30p.m.

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