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

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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

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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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