After big win, Titans return to work

Posted Sep 5, 2009 by Bill Ward

Updated Sep 5, 2009 at 05:26 PM

Photo: TBT linebacker Sam Jones—yes, linebacker Sam Jones—returns a Plant kickoff down the sideline during the Titans’ incredible fourth-quarter comeback. Photo by Bill Ward.

After their team’s electric 32-30 come-from-behind victory over host Plant on Friday night, Tampa Bay Tech coaches went back to work at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning. As players filtered in to the field house later that morning, head coach C.C. Culpepper said they were still in a state of amazement about the win over the Panthers, who held a 24-8 lead entering the fourth quarter.

“We were down that many points and I never felt like we were out of it but I kept asking myself ‘How are we going to get back in this?’ ” Culpepper said. “I just can’t say enough about the kids and my staff. They never put their heads down, pointed fingers at anyone or lost their composure. They just fought back, fought back and pulled it out.”

The Titans got huge efforts from any number of players, including sophomore Crouner LaCount, who scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, receiver C.J. Jackson, who was four-for-four on 2-point conversions, linebacker Sam Jones, who recovered a fumble and ran back 20 yards for a score and also returned a kickoff to the four-yard line, and junior quarterback Johnathan Williams, who guided the offense under tremendous pressure by the Plant defense.

And then there was the Titans’ main man, senior fullback Maurice Hagens, who not only scored a fourth-quarter TD of his own but also produced a first down on a fourth-and-one they needed to run out the clock.

“Maurice put our team on his back and carried us,” Culpepper said. “He’s going to the University of Miami and he played like a Hurricane and got us the big yards when we needed them.”

Culpepper said he gave his team five minutes after the game to soak in the victory – one he said was a “program changer.” On the itinerary he had written for Friday’s game, he had typed “10:30 p.m.: Celebrate win; 10:35 p.m.:—Get ready for Riverview.”

And that’s just what the Titans were doing Saturday morning.

“That was a program-changer and definitely something we will build on. And it’s something these kids and coaches will never forget,” Culpepper said. “But it’s time to move on and get ready for our next opponent.”

To see an extensive photo gallery of that amazing game, follow this link: http://www2.tbo.com/photoalbum/2009/sep/05/tbt-vs-plant-week-1/