Football Preview 08 25 16

AUGUST 25, 2015

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

MEN AT ARMS

Who will be taking snaps this season? We take a look at the most important position in the area’s most popular sport.

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INSIDE:

YOUR TEAM PREVIEWS Seabreeze: New beginnings 4B Mainland: Are we there yet? 5B Father Lopez: A new era 6B Flagler Palm Coast: All grown up 7B Matanzas: Unfinished business 8B

Flagler Palm Coast’s Darrell Thomas

Mainland’s Denzel Houston

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2016

The year of the

QUARTERBACK These quarterbacks will determine how far their teams will go this season.

DENZEL HOUSTON (MAINLAND): Houston begins his third

and final season, reloaded with enough offensive weapons to easily exceed 100 total touchdowns in his high school career (he currently has 80).

Houston showed no signs of slowing down during the Bucs’ scrimmage practices with Matanzas and Spruce Creek. He played his normal game, finding open receivers and scrambling for touchdowns.

While his junior season was not as impressive as his sophomore year, Houston will need an even better senior campaign, if he wants to reach his desired destination: a December trip to the Citrus Bowl.

“We just have to play together as a team and finish this year,” he said.

Photos by Jeff Dawsey

only win on the field last season, in his first start, but he hopes to lead the Sandcrabs to many more wins this year.

“We want to show teams that we’re a different from last year,” Glaze said. “We want to have that big name Seabreeze used to have, where our town will come out to every home game. I want to bring Seabreeze football back, but I can’t do this alone. I won’t be able to make anything happen without the other 10 guys.”

JEFF DAWSEY SPORTS EDITOR

BREVIN GLAZE (SEABREEZE):

Fully recovered from his past injuries, a confident Glaze goes into his junior season optimistic he can lead Seabreeze back to its winning ways.

Glaze saw a lot of playing time last season as the backup quarterback, and he gained a lot of insight about the how the position is played. He led the team to its

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DARRELL THOMAS (FLAGLER PALM COAST): Thomas has been

groomed for the last four years.

He’s watched every FPC game over that span, due to his older brother Dalton starting at quarterback. Throughout those years, Dalton has mentored him and shared with him the ins and outs of Flagler Palm Coast football.

“He’s taught me how to read the defense, give the guys confidence and how to be a better quarterback all-around,” Thomas said.

“I told him to know it might

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2016

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get hard and very frustrating at times,” the older Thomas said, “but all he could do is work hard and stay focused.”

Coach Tommy Moody has already deemed him the man for the job, and he hopes Darrell Thomas will lead the Bulldogs to the postseason.

“He started some games at safety last year,” Moody said.

“And Darrell even has a different element from his brother, when it comes to running; he’s one of the track guys.”

MACKENZY WAGNER (MATANZAS): At the start of last season,

Mackenzy Wagner’s performance against Flagler Palm Coast earned him the starting job over Ryan Perry. He led the Pirates to their most successful season in program history.

Going into this season, knowing he’s the starter, Wagner spoke about elevating his play, so that his teammates would follow. While he and the Pirates achieved a lot last year, they won’t be satisfied until they play in mid-November.

“It takes courage to start something but commitment to finish,” he said. “Last year we showed our courage and started something unbelievable. Now this year is when we all have to show our commitment. We have the team and the heart to go as far as we want, but it’s based on our commitment.”

JOSH SPENCER (LOPEZ): Spencer continues to get better every year. Throwing multiple touchdowns while running for others has become custom for the senior.

Nevertheless, he and the Green Wave have struggled put together a winning season, but Spencer hopes to change that this year.

“This season is going to be tough but a lot more exciting,” he said. “Like all teams, the goal is to go to the playoffs and hopefully win a state title. But our main key right now is change the culture of Lopez football and teach the younger guys how to play tough.”

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2016

Seabreeze: New beginnings, Part 2 Can Seabreeze recover from last year’s season?

JEFF DAWSEY SPORTS EDITOR

Last year, the Sandcrabs opened the season with a new coach and a new quarterback – the leader on the field and the leader off the field. This season, they will do the same.

Junior Brevin Glaze, who played some quarterback behind Anthony Butler, will be starting, and Troy Coke and Skip Saunier have changed positions from head coach to assistant.

Seabreeze endured one of the worst seasons in its history, going 2-8 (including one win after the fact, when a University player was

MY TAKE: Had all of the potential players returned this season to play for the Sandcrabs, things would be different. But, Seabreeze has lost too many key contributors to transfer. In our interview, Coke said they

ruled ineligible) last year, behind mostly underclassmen. Coke believes this has fueled his bunch to return with a vengeance.

“We got a lot of guys who weren’t happy with the way the season went last year, and they’re motivated to have a good season this year,” he said. “Our juniors have played together for a lot of years, went undefeated their JV year and won a lot at the Pop Warner level, but we had to throw a lot of them in the fire last year as sophomores, and it didn’t go well. But now they’re determined to make amends.”

SCHEDULE would be able to compete with every team on their schedule, and he also said every team could also potentially beat them. I believe the latter will hold to be true.

2015 record: 2-8; 2016 projected record: 1-9

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09/02 DeLand Home 7 p.m.

09/09 Open 09/16 Matanzas Home 7.p.m.

09/23 Palatka Away 7 p.m.

09/30 Pine Ridge Away 7 p.m.

10/07 Atlantic Away 7 p.m.

10/14 New Smyrna Home 7 p.m.

10/21 Deltona Home 7 p.m.

10/28 Mainland Away 7 p.m.

11/04 Flagler PC Away 7 p.m.

11/11 First round of playoffs

Photo by Jeff Dawsey

Brody Loynd takes in a pass from quarterback Brevin Glaze.

Team quote: “When you play the teams we play, there’s a big difference between a sophomore and a junior.”

TROY COKE, head coach

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2016

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Mainland: ‘Are we there yet?’

Will this be the year for Mainland to win the state title?

JEFF DAWSEY SPORTS EDITOR

After losing key players to Division I colleges this past season, the Buccaneers have restocked with transfers and underclassmen to make another push for the Class 6A state title.

Every year Mainland plays Miami Central the toughest in playoff competition, but it does the Bucs no good to be the second best team in the class, if they’re stuck on the same side of the bracket.

In the past two years, Mainland held 14-3 advantages early in the game against Central, only to see those leads dwindle in the second half.

Although head coach Scott Wilson is confident his teams never rebuild but always reload, even he will have to admit that this bunch may be his best chance in a few years to take down their playoff foe.

Photo by Jeff Dawsey

Ronnie Stokes wrestles a sure catch from the receiver’s hands during a scrimmage game.

“We control our destiny.”

CYRUS FAGAN

MY TAKE: Nothing about sports frustrates me more than a Dallas Cowboys prediction to win the Super Bowl; it’s become a tradition.

For this reason, I cannot choose Mainland to win the state title. Miami Central has won five titles in six years, and they’ve gone through Mainland most of those years to win them.

I understand Houston has gained more experi-

ence, and Cyrus Fagan is nationally ranked as a top defensive back in the nation, but the Rockets always seem to find a way to get past the Bucs. It is highly possible the two will meet again, and I believe Mainland will surrender an undefeated record to Central and be eliminated from the playoffs.

2015 record: 11-2 2016 projected record: 13-1

SCHEDULE 08/26 DeLand Away 09/02 Bartram Trail Away 09/09 Flagler PC Home 09/16 Pine Ridge Away 09/23 Dr. Phillips Home 09/30 Deltona Home 10/07 Cocoa Away 10/14 Matanzas Away 10/21 New Smyrna Away 10/28 Seabreeze Home 11/04 Open 11/11 First round of playoffs

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2016

Father Lopez: A new era

“We want to make the playoffs. Last year, Lopez didn’t have a game within 30 points in the district. I think we’ll be able to close that gap a little this year.”

Closing the gap on the road to the playoffs.

JEFF DAWSEY

MATT KNAUSS, head coach

SPORTS EDITOR

Coach Matt Knauss looks to turn Father Lopez’s district fortunes around this season.

Father Lopez Catholic hasn’t won more than five games since 2005. For most of the past decade, they’ve either hovered around 5-5 or almost gone winless.

Last season, four-year head coach Jason Dunlap stepped down toward the end of the season, and Matt Knauss now leads the Green Wave as the new football coach.

Knauss won a state title last season with Bishop Moore as an assistant, and he hopes he can bring a winning atmosphere to Father Lopez.

“We want to make the playoffs,” Knauss said. “Last year, Lopez didn’t have a game within 30 points in the district. I think we’ll be able to close that gap a little this year.”

Knauss walks with confidence behind an offensive line averaging 255 pounds and a quarterback and receiver (Josh Spencer and Ryan Atkins) who have developed touchdown chemistry over the last three years.

SCHEDULE

Photo by Jeff Dawsey

Ryan Atkins extends to bring in a catch during practice.

“It’s going to make it a lot easier for them that defenses will have to worry more about the running offense,” he said, “and that should open some things up for them.” The Green Wave will be running a hybrid Wing-T formation this season.

08/26 09/02 09/09 09/16 09/23 09/30 10/07 10/14 10/21 10/28 11/04 11/11

Melbourne Central Home Warner Christian Away Atlantic Away Open John Carroll Home Trinity Prep Away Interlachen Home Trinity Catholic Home Cocoa Beach Away First Academy Away Victory Christian Home First round of playoffs

MY TAKE: If the Green Wave has gotten any better on defense, they’ll win more than four games this season. After the classic, I’m not too confident that is the case. Their offense seems to pile up points – except for in district play. Overall, I think

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Spencer and Atkins will have their best season together this year, but I don’t think either side of the ball will take the team to another level.

2015 record: 4-6 2016 projected record: 5-5

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Flagler Palm Coast: They’ve all grown up Seventeen starters return for the Bulldogs.

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2016

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CAREER IN A

YEAR!

JEFF DAWSEY SPORTS EDITOR

Head coach Tommy Moody always says Flagler County is going to play tough football, no matter what. His Bulldogs — comprising mostly sophomores — proved that last season, when they closely competed with each of their 10 opponents last season.

In four of their six losses, FPC lost by seven points or less.

Returning 17 starters, Moody believes the Bulldogs will compete and win, but he also knows no game will be given to them.

“I think we’re more advanced than we were last year at this time,” Moody said. “We have to put it together because the competition is going to stay tough.”

MY TAKE: FPC still has star running back Que’Shaun Byrd, who alone can alter a game. The Bulldogs return nearly all of their 2015 starters and are fortunate to get a close version of the quarterback they’ve started in the last four years (see Page 3B), which will allow for continuity. FPC, starting a bunch of underclassmen, could’ve easily gone 7-4 last season, so expecting them to reach seven wins might not be asking much of them.

On the other hand, they have another tough schedule.

2015 record: 4-6 2016 projected record: 7-4

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SCHEDULE Matanzas Away Clay Away Mainland Away Open New Smyrna Home Sandalwood Home Palatka Home Spruce Creek Home Deland Away Mandarin Away Seabreeze Home First round of playoffs

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08/26 09/02 09/09 09/16 09/23 09/30 10/07 10/14 10/21 10/28 11/04 11/11

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

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PalmCoastObserver.com

THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2016

Matanzas: Unfinished business

Expectations are higher than ever this year for the Pirates.

“We have talent, but we are replacing 15 touchdowns and a bunch of yards, so we need to get some confidence early in our kids.”

SCHEDULE

ROBERT RIPLEY, head coach

08/26 FPC Home 09/02 Atlantic Home 09/09 Mt. Dora Home 09/16 Seabreeze Away 09/23 Nease Away 09/30 New Smyrna Away 10/07 Open 10/14 Mainland Home 10/20 Pine Ridge Away 10/28 Deltona Home 11/04 Menendez Home 11/11 First round of playoffs

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Matanzas offensive linemen push the dummy sled around with coach Blake Hillman on it.

JEFF DAWSEY SPORTS EDITOR

Photo by Jeff Dawsey

Camden Givens twists his body to come up with a catch at Matanzas practice.

How do you follow up your best season in school history? This is the question Matanzas will answer over the next several weeks The Pirates have gone from the automatic win to the circled date on opponents’ calendars. Coach Robert Ripley knew he had a great team last year, and believes his guys will respond make a run for the school’s first playoff berth.

“I like our group,” he said. “I think we will have our hands full to start. ... We have talent, but we are replacing 15 touchdowns and a bunch of yards, so we need to get some confidence early in our kids and have our seniors step up and make plays.”

Matanzas lost leaders in Andre Bodison and Daniel Dillard. While the Pirates are not looking to replace them, they have discovered other offensive playmakers who will score and help them win.

MY TAKE: The Pirates accomplished everything they could except that first playoff berth after they lost to the Deltona Wolves in week No. 9. Ripley asked his guys, “Can we go 9-1, or ever 10-

0?” With Mainland in the district, no playoff spots are guaranteed. Come this November, I believe the Pirates will have won enough district games to make more school history.

2015 record: 8-2 2016 projected record: 8-3

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