Mourning at TBT

Posted Sep 18, 2009 by Bill Ward

Updated Sep 18, 2009 at 12:57 PM

Following a 9-6 loss to Armwood on Thursday night, Tampa Bay Tech coach C.C. Culpepper says he and his players are grieving.

The Titans went toe-to-toe with the two-time state champion Hawks until the final horn. And had they gotten a better spot on their final play of the game—a long hookup between quarterback Johnathan Williams and receiver C.J. Jackson on fourth-and-37—the Titans just might have pulled out a win at Lyle Flagg Field. It’s a place Armwood has been unbeaten the past seven years.

Instead, TBT left Seffner gutted from the contest. And they’re still hurting today.

“You would have thought that someone had died if you had come to the school today, “Culpepper said. “The student body, the staff and the team were all mourning. There’s a love here and on this campus, attitudes toward the football team have changed.”

Culpepper said he made the decision not to allow his players to perform the customary postgame handshake with the Hawks because he believed they needed to calm down after the controversial spot they received on the fourth-down play. Culpepper shook hands with Armwood coach Sean Callahan and a few Hawks players, then quickly gathered his team on the sidelines.

“I take full responsibility for how we responded,” Culpepper said about not allowing his athletes to do handshakes after the game. “As a head coach, I know my team the best and I’m not going to put any of my kids in the position where they have the opportunity to make mistake. So I went out and shook their hands.

“Two years ago, I didn’t shake hands and I’m haunted by that to this day. But I’ve learned from that and that’s why I made them wait and I shook hands.”

Despite the close contest with Armwood, Culpepper said he believes most people still don’t respect his program. He sites articles in the media that criticize him for not having a better kicking game, particularly the Titans’ lack of a full-time placekicker.

“I don’t care if we run the table from this point on and make it to Orlando and play [Fort Lauderdale] St. Thomas Aquinas in the championship game,” Culpepper said. “This school, this program seems like it will never get the respect it deserves.”

To see an extensive photo gallery from the game, follow this link: http://www2.tbo.com/photoalbum/2009/sep/18/tampa-bay-tech-vs-armwood-game-of-the-week/

Photo: Tampa Bay Tech coach C.C. Culpepper, left, shakes hands with Armwood coach Sean Callahan following the Titans 9-6 loss to the Hawks on Thursday. Photo by Bill Ward.