Bartow Rides Defense, Leverett's Arm Past Mulberry

Sat. September 01, 2012 at 12:34 a.m. | By Polk Preps Staff

By DEL MILLIGAN

THE LEDGER

BARTOW | Bartow's defense stood tall when it needed to and corralled Mulberry's lightning-quick quarterback, Jarius Garner, enough to keep him out of the end zone as Bartow won its season-opener, 16-10, in prep football at Bartow Memorial Stadium on Friday night.

"Our motto is finish strong, and that's what we did,'' Bartow coach Brett Biggs said.

Bartow quarterback Dimitri Leverett passed for 170 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He hit Roy'Qies Graham for a 20-yard score and Jeramy Williams for a 31-yard touchdown to give Bartow a 13-7 lead early in the second period.

Garner, a senior with extreme acceleration, was the Mulberry offense. After hitting Rashad Parrish for a 48-yard touchdown pass on the Panthers' first play, he turned to his feet. Garner would drop back to pass, plant his back foot, and immediately take off. He gained 83 yards on 19 carries with five runs 18-30 yards, but had 46 yards in sacks and losses.

"He's a Division 1 athlete,'' Biggs said.



Mulberry      7    0    0   3 — 10

Bartow        0   13   3   0 — 16

First Quarter

M - Parrish 48 pass from Garner, Gillen kick (9:49)

Second Quarter

B - Graham 20 pass from Leverett, kick blocked (11:53)

B - J. Williams 31 pass from Leverett, Montes kick (9:10)

Third Quarter

B - Montes 21 FG (7:01)

Fourth Quarter

M - Gillen 23 FG (9:43)

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