Edgewater football stunned by Tampa Bay Tech, 28-17, in Florida 5A semifinal

Titans get two touchdown passes, one TD run from quarterback Trevon Moore

Michael Dempsey ran for a touchdown to help Tampa Bay Tech beat Edgewater, 28-17, in a Class 5A regional semifinal game on Friday night. / Michael Dempsey X.com

Edgewater High’s hopes for a state semifinal berth were dashed yet again, this time by a Gulf Coast school.

Tampa Bay Tech got two touchdown passes and a TD run from quarterback Trevon Moore and a strong defensive effort to stun host and No. 2 seed Edgewater, 28-17, in a Class 5A, Region 2 semifinal game on Friday night in Orlando. Tampa Bay Tech came into the game as the No. 3 seed. 

"It was a great team win," said Tampa Bay Tech running back Michael Dempsey. "I'm very excited for week 3 of the playoffs."

The Eagles (10-2) got themselves into a 13-0 hole in the first quarter and trailed 21-3 at halftime and never could recover. Tampa Bay Tech (9-2) led by 18 points twice in the game before Edgewater’s Tyson Carter caught a TD pass with 2 minutes, 8 seconds left to cut the Eagles’ deficit to 11 points, 28-17.

But that would be all Edgewater could muster. Tampa Bay Tech advanced to take on No. 1 seed and defending state champion Lakeland in the regional finals next Friday. Lakeland beat Tampa Gaither in the other regional semifinal.

Edgewater will have to wait another year to take a crack at a deep postseason run. The Eagles had advanced to the regional finals five of the past six seasons.

This latest playoff game featured a spectacular performance by Moore, who threw a 51-yard TD pass to Dallas Wilson with 9:34 left in the first quarter and a 25-yard scoring toss to Santonyo Isaac with 2:21 remaining in the opening period.

The Titans’ second score was set up by a Edgewater fumble.

Edgewater finally broke up the shutout with 11:49 left in the second quarter when Kinley Kirven kicked a 30-yard fied goal. But Tampa Bay Tech snatched the momentum back when Dempsey ran 5 yards for a TD with 2:46 left in the second quarter, and Moore ran in the two-point conversion for a 21-3 lead.

After a scoreless third quarter, Edgewater tried to make a game of it when Josh Perry bulled in from 1 yard out, leaving the Eagles down 21-10 with 9:57 left.

But Tampa Bay Tech answered again when Moore scored on a 1-yard keeper with a little more than 4 minutes left.

Edgewater quarterback Carter Emanuel then threw a TD pass to Tyson Carter to round out the scoring. The Eagles’ ensuing onside kick failed and the Titans ran out the clock.

"I feel like we were unstoppable on all levels of the ball," Dempsey said. "It was a great team win and I'm proud of how we played."