LAKE CITY-Danny Green probably did everything in his power Friday afternoon to make sure his Columbia High football team played Nease then. After all, the last thing the Columbia head coach wanted to do was give banged up Nease quarterback Ted Stachitas and several other defensive starters, more time to heal from injuries.

Despite his effort, mother nature soaked Tiger Stadium Friday making it unplayable, forcing both teams to face off Monday night. With Stachitas back, along with a rested defense, Nease (No. 4 ranked team in Class 4A), rained on the Tigers, ranked No. 9, senior night easily with a 28-0 win in Lake City.

The win not only clinched the third consecutive District 5-4A title for the Panthers, but also extended its three game winning streak (outscoring them 104-24) over the Tigers including its second consecutive shutout. Nease extended its consecutive district games won to 12 in a row, dating back to a Oct.1, 2004 loss to St. Augustine.

"This is big they (Columbia) had won six in a row and scored 63 last week" Nease head coach Craig Howard said, "Our defense is our strength and defensive coordinator Danny Cowgill did a tremendous job tonight, he's been burning the midnight oil trying to stop Tiger (Powell). They are an excellent team who we might see again in the playoffs, Lake City has always been a tough place to play, after all they are the winnigiest program in the state."

Columbia entered the game with a ground game with 1901 yards, averaging 337.7 yards of offense a game, led by sophomore tailback Tiger Powell (1,029 yards on 101 carries, 13 touchdowns). Nease stacked the line of scrimmage holding Powell to a season low 23 yards on 11 carries while holding the Tiger offense to a season low as well of 82 yards.

"What a great team they have with several super sophomores, their going to get better and they will be a force to reckon with again," Howard said.

With a healthy Stachitas back, the Panthers offense clicked again not wasting any time scoring on its first play from scrimmage.

After holding Columbia to a three and out, Stachitas caught the Tiger defense by surprise with a play action pass and found a streaking Patrick Barker for a 60 yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage for the Panthers for a 7-0 lead two minutes in.

Defensive end John Gallagher, lineman Frank Souza, linebacker Riley Haynes and linebacker Brian Cosgrove were constantly in the backfield harrasing Tiger quarterback Jeremiah Hook, tailback Damarquis Williams, back Quartrez Pate and Powell.

"John and Brian know the schemes really well and they both executed tonight," Cowgill said, John is a big guy who runs really well even for his size, we expect him to be one of major Division I-A guys next year."

By late first quarter, the sky opened up and the teams played under a monsoon of rain causing wet conditions and several fumbles.

During Columbia's second possession, Hook lost the handle on the snap and in turn lost the ball on a fourth and 1 play from midfield.

Two plays later, Stachitas again caught the Tigers off guard as tailback Andrew Barnes took a handoff from Stachitas, who then handed it to Parker coming around the end, Parker took the reverse 38 yards for a score and a 14-0 lead early in the second.

Craig Howard surprised Green with a onside kick recovering it at midfield but the Tigers defense held sacking Stachitas back-to-back plays to force a rare punt.

Another three and out by Columbia, led to another punt for punter Joe Bradshaw, only this time a low snap sent Bradshaw scrambling for the ball and the first down. Bradshaw was harrased by a host of Panthers and retaliated by slinging the ball back at them causing a delay of game penalty putting Nease at the 28.

Behind the play of Barnes, Nease went down the field with ease as Barnes slashed through the Tigers defense on the ground while also coming out of the backfield to catch screen passes.

On third down, Stachitas rolled right and found Tim Hourihan wide open for a 7 yard score in the left corner of the endzone for a 21-0 lead with 2:36 left in the half.

From its own 20, Columbia began its best drive of the night and its lone potential scoring drive as thanks to three offsides calls against the Panthers, the Tigers drove the length of the field easily to midfield.

Hook ran 19 yards on a busted play for Columbia's biggest gain of the night putting the Tigers at the 30 however Hook's pass in the endzone on the final play of the first half was knocked down from cornerback Graham Bates.

"We did a great job pressuring their quarterback and Powell, that drive before the half was critical for us as they could have easily cut it to 21-7 with momentum," Howard said.

Both teams began the third quarter making key adjustments as both teams forced punts on both of their drives.

Hook was sacked by Gallagher (3 sacks) for a loss, Gallagher jarred the ball loose and recovered the fumble at midfield.

Stachitas found Miles Wright wide open for a 45-yard completion down to the 5 one play later on the final play of the third quarter. Three plays later, Stachitas, 11 of 13 for 153 yards and two touchdowns, rumbled in from 2 yards out to give Nease a 28-0 lead with 10:54 remaining in the game.

With the game out of reach, Howard sent Stachitas to the bench with 9:11 left in the fourth and brought Hunter Bates under center to run the super offense to run out the clock on back-to-back drives.

Faced with fourth and six with less than a minute left, Bates stunned Columbia rolling out right and throwing to a wide open Brett Russi for a 24 yard gain and first down at the 7; however instead of scoring, Bates was directed to take a knee to end the game.

No rest for Nease though as with the short week Nease (7-1, 2-0) will host Bartram Trail Friday, while Columbia (6-2, 1-1) takes the week off.