T R Robinson High School - Excalibur Yearbook (Tampa, FL)

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lead 14-0. Late in the third period, Ray rallied his offense and drove 74 yards to make the score 14-7, but the Raid- ers retaliated with a score of their own. Midway through the last quarter, Ray hit Groves with a 56-yard bomb to pull the Knights to within seven. However, a last-minute drive to victory ended one foot short of the Raider goal, as, after driving 80 yards, the Knights ran out of time and lost for the first time, 20-13. Realizing that they had to win the rest of their games, the Knights ventured down to Sarasota to face the River- view Rams. Denny Groves caught a 15-yard scoring pass early in the game, giving Robinson a lead that stayed at 7-0 until the third period. With the help of several Knight penalties, Riverview managed to put six points on the board, but Ray and company added three TD's of their own. Ray, Long, and Symmonds all tal- lied in the second half to complete a 27-6 rout. An inspired performance by Mike Long and the offense resulted in a 49-7 trouncing of Jefferson. Long ran for 208 yards in 19 carries and scored three times in a game that was never close. Nick Ray scored once himself and hit Sym- monds on a 14-yard TD bullet. Clannie Greene and Denny Groves ran for scores in the second half to ice the im- pressive victory. Leto's Falcons, with their bruising defense, presented a challenge to the Knights. The Falcons drew first blood on a quick first period touchdown. Robinson went ahead 7-6 on a Ray-to-Franklin Williams pass that was set up by Roosevelt Thompson's fum- ble recovery. Another Leto miscue, a mistimed handoff, gave another opportunity to the Robinson offense. They capitalized on it by driving 40 yards to go ahead 14-6. Here, the defenses took over, and the game ended without a change in score. On homecoming evening, Robinson shut out Brandon 20-0, with Gavin Sprietsma scoring on a Knight fumble recovery, and Ray firing two touchdown passes to Greene and Overby. The defense, led by Brian Moore and Otis Rodgers, got its second shut- out of the season. Lakeland Kathleen fell to the Knights on November 3, with Long putting Robinson ahead early with a three-yard burst to paydirt. Kathleen's Dickie Vaughn managed to penetrate the defense for one score, but a Clannie Greene touchdown and two inter- ception returns by Dewey Mit- chell and James O'NoIan, set the final score at 27-7. November 10 brought the big showdown with unde- feated King for the District title. The Knights led 14-7 fol- lowing short touchdown runs by Ray and Long and several golden opportunities. Late in the fourth period, King drove inside the Knight ten yardline. On a fourth and five from the six, King's Jimmy Fisher eluded two Knight tacklers in his own backfield and scram- bled for a first down at the one. Fisher also scored on a sneak on the next play and King decided to go for a tie, a tie that would give them the Conference title. But Walt Walker blockedtheextra point to give the Knights an ap- Captains Larry Symmonds and Otis Rodgers hope to win the coin toss. parent victory with a minute left. But King, fighting to the end, pulled off a successful onsides kick and, in three plays, moved in for a field goal with ten seconds remaining. An enraged Robinson team took out its vengeance on the Hillsborough Terriers in the final game of the season, beatingthem58-14inabrilliant display of offensive power. Mike Long ran for 140 yards and scored three touch- downs, while Clannie Greene gained 136 yards and scored twice. Ray threw three touch- down passes, two of them to Franklin Williams and Larry Symmonds. The over-whelm- ing Knight victory showed that possibly the wrong team went to state. Next year, returning stars such as Ray, Thompson, Swanz, Bowdoin, Terry, Jones, Overby, and Mitchell will provide the nucleus for a good team. As Coach Tom Mahin said, We'll be back. -Russell Manley Football I 235

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Knights finish 8 It has been said that football is a game of seconds and inches. For the 1972 Knights, nothing could be truer. They missed the trip to the state playoffs by just that: seconds and inches - by seconds in the Plant City game, by inches in the King showdown. The Knights finished with a record of 8-2, one game short of the playoffs, but with a bagful of impressive team and individual statistics. The of- fense rolled up an average of 306.8 yards per game, the best in the Western Conference. The defense allowed only 148.8 yards per game, the best in the Western Conference. Quarterback and kicker Nick Ray finished the season with 76 points, the best in the Western Conference. Surpris- ing fullback Michael Long gained over 800 yards rush- ing, also the best in the West- ern Conference. One of the most potent of- fenses in Robinson's history scored 269 points in ten games behind the signal-call- ing of Nick Ray. Ray, a bril- liant junior, passed for 1281 yards on 96 completions. His receiving corps was led by All-State tight end Franklin Williams, who fielded 19 pas- ses for 241 yards, and sure- fingered wing-back Larry Symmonds, who gained 253 yards on 18 receptions. The split end position was occu- pied by Denny Groves and jun- ior Roger Overby who, be- tween them, were responsible for 431 yards on 27 catches. The most dangerous facet of the Robinson offense was the running game. Mike Long, who was one of the area's top 234 ! Football 25 King loss ruins state title hopes linebackers last year, aver- aged 6.3 yards per carry as a fullback. Speedster Clannie Greene gave Robinson a break-away threat, gaining 610 yards in 136 carries. The two also combined for 286 yards in pass receptions. A most important factor in the performance of the Knight attack was the offensive line. For most of the year, Carroll Jones, Tommy Eckerson, Paul Bowdoin, Howard Johnson, and Gavin Sprietsma protec- ted Ray beautifully in addition to opening holes for backs. Defense has always been a Robinson trademark, and the 1972 model was no lemon. Anchoring the line were ends Gary Moates, James O'Nolan, and All-State Otis Rodgers. Tackles David Hill and Head Jones aided them in plugging up the middle of the field and in occasionally mounting a fierce rush. Although hit hard by the in- jury to Bobby Seville, the linebacking corps was the heart of the defense. Hard- hitting Brian Moore and sen- sational junior Dewey Mitch- ell, along with Keith Liv- ingston and Bob Swanz, combined to terrorize op- ponents. Mitchell and Moore each intercepted two passes. The secondary featured cornerbacks Walt Walker and Johnny Williams, who led the team in intercepted passes with five and four, respec- tively. Safety Nat Terry and reserve backs Roosevelt Thompson and Craig Popalis rounded out the defensive team that gave up only 90 points in ten games. This powerful team, after a poor showing in the Football Jamboree, began the 1972 season on September 15, against a favored Plant Panther team. Clannie Greene scored in the first quarter on a 24-yard run, while Long tal- lied once in the second period following a Keith Livingston interception. The running game worked for 240 yards, while the defense, which pres- sured Plant quarterback Bill Kynes into three costly inter- ceptions, made 14-0 stick. Chamberlain's Chiefs trav- eled to Peters Field as the Knights' second foe. Robin- son scored twice in the first period: once following a fumble recovery, once after a Brian Moore interception. Clannie Greene ripped 14 yards for one, while Ray passed 13 yards to Franklin Williams for the second. The Chiefs fought back behind Pat Winters and Brad Gordon, scoring twice in three min- utes. But Ray rallied the of- fense and marched 72 yards for a touchdown, with Ray himself scoring from seven yards out. ln the second half, the Knights took a close game and blew it open with two in- surance touchdowns. Ray hit Denny Groves and Larry Symmonds on 13 and 17 yard scoring passes and the Knights won, 33-14. With the Plant City game, which was delayed a night because of turmoil at Plant City, came disaster. Seconds into the game, Raider Mike Edwards picked off a Ray pass and ran 35 yards to score. Long was dumped for a safety and Plant City scored again in the second period to

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An 8-2 record is something to be proud of, and it was a team effort that achieved it. Coach Mahin t ,. wV4:'v A .I X X N Y . r 1' Roosevelt Thompson watches the ln the Football Jamboree, the Knight defense stops a Panther runner. Knight defense hold its opponent. K f fb ,f M f WM MWWWW ww A f W ry Qtr f ' ' ' Q 1 I f , ' .rf ' Quarterback Nicky Flay plunges over a Chamberlain defender to score in 72-yard drive during second quarter. 2361 Football x , Q 'T