Canes defense with eight QB sacks, 31 hurries

Both Mcdowell and Johnson should be happy. The trust of the latter in his teammates has been rewarded, while the pride and happiness of the former should be off the charts. Cane defenders have eight quarterback sacks, but more importantly, 31 QB hurries. Knowing they won’t have to remain in coverage longer than a few seconds, Manatee’s defensive backs have been freed to play aggressively, and the result has been seven interceptions and 24 passes defensed. And everyone on the Manatee defense tackles, as evidenced by 31 players accounting for 317 total tackles.

“The kids understand that if a guy (is out of position), then he’ll fix it,” Baity said. “They really like the fact that they’re trusted to do the right thing. It’s 100 percent complementary football. They’ve done a really, really good job with that.”

There is one disconnect with the unit, and Baity couldn’t care less about it. While Manatee is allowing 16 points a game, several of its opponents filled up the stat sheets with yards. Port Charlotte had 203 yards passing and another 229 rushing in its 31-24 loss. Braden River threw for 190 yards and ran for 107 in a 28-20 loss. Then there were the Charlotte Tarpons, who finished their 46-7 loss to Manatee with 18 yards passing and minus-45 rushing.

“Yards is one thing,” Baity said. “We don’t care. If you get 400 yards total offense, but you only score six points, your 400 yards didn’t beat us. At the end of the day, I don’t stress over the yards. I stress over the points, and I think the kids have bought into it.”

Baity hopes that stress is kept to a minimum on Friday night.

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