Jan 12, 2000 - 01:57 PM

Cowboys take it to Bulls, 4-1
ERIK ERLENDSSON Tribune correspondent

CARROLLWOOD - Gaither prevented Bloomingdale coach Dave Tennian from notching his 200th career victory, but as it turns out Tennian may have been denied the milestone before the Cowboys beat Bloomingdale 4-1.

Bloomingdale's victory over Durant on Friday night, Tennian's 199th victory, has come under question for the possible use of an ineligible player. The player in question, Brandon Hancock, was academically ineligible for the previous semester, which ended on Dec. 23, but some confusion over the change led the school to believe Hancock could play.

Under last school year's guidelines, Hancock would have been eligible seven calendar days from the end of the semester but the rules changed this year. If a player earns academic eligibility after previously being ineligible, the athlete is not allowed to participate until the grades are turned into the downtown office, which was Monday.

Tennian said Bloomingdale received a call from Durant on Monday and must wait to hear from the state on whether the Bulls will have to forfeit the game.

Tuesday's loss would drop the Bulls to 1-2-1 in the district.

Gaither improved to 2-2 in the district and 9-3-1 overall. Led by a pair of goals from Dane Fernandez and a Norris Hartzog goal in the final minutes of the half the Cowboys were able to bounce back from a 1-0 deficit to take a 2-1 lead at halftime.

``We took them out of their game. Our guys really played well,'' Gaither coach Adrian Bush said. ``We needed a performance like this [after losing 4-0 to River Ridge last week].''

Tennian said he was not surprised by his team's performance after watching them go through pregame warmups.

``Plain and simple, we got out [butts] kicked and I knew it was going to happen before the game even started,'' he said.

©2000 Tampa Tribune