THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022
PlantCityObserver.com2A FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 CONTENTS 4 SchoolHighDurant Cougars 6 Plant City SchoolHigh Raiders 8 SchoolCrestStrawberryHigh Chargers 10 Major Matchups 11 Major Matchups 12 PreviewsPreseason 13 Youth PreviewFootball 14 2021 in Photos 15 Historic Photos OPEN ENROLLMENT 2023-2024 COMING SOON INDEPENDENCE ACADEMY | GRADES K – 8 IACADEMIES.COM/ADMISSIONS 312902 East US Highway 92, Dover | 813-473-8600 Dedicated Student Devices with Microsoft Office 365 Suite State-of-the-art Instructional Technology Parent Academies to keep you informed Clubs & Activities • Edventure, Before/After School Program
We’re all ready for some football, right? With school starting back up and pre season games coming at the end of this week, the 2022 season for Plant City area football is right around the corner. There should be a lot of exciting things to talk about when looking at the teams that Durant, Plant City and Strawberry Crest will roll out this year. Plant City’s young team will be looking to surprise a lot of people with new head coach Michael Clayton at the helm, Durant will be looking to improve on a strong first year under head coach Claybo Varnum as he heads into year two and Strawberry Crest is in search for more success after posting their best single-season win total since 2013 under head coach Phillip Prior lastWithyear.that said, welcome to the 2022 Football Preview! Inside we’ve got an indepth look at all three local high school teams as they get geared up for the season. This edition will also include a youth foot ball preview, a look ahead at this week’s preseason games, what major matchups you should be looking out for this sea son and a chance to look back at the 2022 season and historic football memories through photos. If this year is anywhere near as fun as last year was, and I have a feeling it will be, I’m as excited as you for kickoff. Follow along right here in The Observer and on social media all season long, start ing with this week’s preseason games.
WELCOME TO THE 2022 FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Get ready for the season with help from the Plant City Observer.
Taylor Jenkins is the Sports Writer at the Plant City Observer. Email: plantcityobserver.com.tjenkins@ WRITER
TAYLOR JENKINS SPORTS
PlantCityObserver.com FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 3A Make the journey count. TraxCU.com Whether you're just starting your journey or happily headed to retirement, Trax Credit Union is with you side-by-side, all the way to your financial destination. Checking | Savings | Home Loans | Auto Loans | Retirement
He’s the guy that galvanizes that group. He’s a front locker guy, he’s vocal, he’s a presence and he’s the guy that when all of those babies are swimming, A.J.’s the one that can tighten them up, say let’s go and they listen. So having him as the anchor really helps.”
A FEW BIG CHANGES
4 A FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 PlantCityObserver.com
And at quarterback Marcus Miguele transformed the team’s offense in 2021, now heading to Mount Union as a wide receiver. “You don’t realize the impact of losing an offensive line and a quarterback like we did until it’s in front of you,” Varnum said “Even in the spring you can’t quantify what the fall looks like but I think we’ve done a good job. We’ve got three guys competing at quarterback as sophomores and they’re all doing a pretty good job, but there’s some youth there. Four new guys on the offensive line so there’s some youth there. Skill-wise, we look pretty tough but again, there’s some youth in some positions where we didn’t think we’d have it so offensively we’re a little young.”
I wanted to build guys where you come in as a freshman and leave here as a senior. And if you come in later, fine, but you end here as a senior. I want a culture with guys that want to be here for the right reasons. And we’ve had some bumps in the road this offseason, we’ve had some guys that aren’t with us anymore, but the guys that are here and the guys that are working have bought into what we want. They’re speaking the same language, there’s con sistency across the board, there’s positivity across the board and it’s cool to see my vision for it hap pening. It’s way less me being on top of them and more just them adapting to it, it’s theirs now. And before too long it won’t even be my vision, it’ll be theirs and they can take it and run with it.” This fall the Cougars will be looking to build on the success of last season, with a roster that will keep many of their impact play ers in place from the year before, despite some glaring differences on offense. Up front, Durant had a huge offensive line comprised of mostly seniors, a position group that will look very differ ent this year. But all-in-all, the Cougars have done a serviceable job of replacing that production as best they can with some play ers moving up to the varsity level and some backups that will now assume starting roles. “Our offensive line coaches kind of have to be a little more on guard because we had a crew last year where, on top of being huge, they were all smart,” Var num said. “They were all highacademic guys and two of them are playing collegiately. So it’s tough but all three of the guys that are in now started on JV last year and our JV runs the same offense that our varsity runs so they can step in and they know most of the stuff. Tanner Peirce was the backup center and good night, he’s standing 6-foot-3, 240, he’s a horse. And obviously A.J. Hancock. Having A.J., and him sticking it out with us for his fourth and final year, was huge.
TAYLOR JENKINS SPORTS WRITER
With a huge percentage of Durant’s offensive production leaving in the form of Miguele, the opening under center has created a three-way competition between a trio of sophomore quarterbacks in former junior varsity quarter back Hunter Smith and transfers Mike Ryan (Newsome) and Xavier Irazarry“They’re(Armwood.)threereally good kids,” Varnum said. “They have a great time, they’re friends, they’ve done a really good job. And Mike has kind of shown the most so far, we’ve seen the most out of him, but those other two guys are playing hard and when there’s three sophomores you’re all bat tling for a job and it’s hard knocks because there’s some youth there and there’s some growing pains but they’ve done well. I’m excited as the season goes to see how they push each other and whether it becomes a three-way battle down the stretch or does one guy take it andRyanrun.”started in the spring game for Durant and it wouldn’t be a
2021 marked Durant’s first sea son under new head coach Claybo Varnum following 18 years with Mike Gottman at the helm. With a young defense and a reshaped offense, Varnum led the Cougars to an 8-2 regular season record, the team’s highest single-season win total since 2016, and a playoff appearance.“Inthesummer there wasn’t as many nerves, there wasn’t as many things that I was geeked up about,” Varnum said about heading into his second year as head coach. “If anything, I just feel more comfortable with this group. There are little habits that I’m noticing where last year I had to instill them early and work on them but now these guys are already doing them without me having to say anything. So our culture is being set and these guys are falling in line, they’re buying in. We lost one starter but outside of that, they all stuck around and that’s what I wanted to build here.
DURANTCOUGARS
FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 5APlantCityObserver.com ROSTER (from MaxPreps.com) 3 Jayden Forte DB Jr. 4 Elian Gonzales LB/WR Sr. 6 Jayden Cornelius WR/DB So. 7 Michael Ryan QB So. 8 Xavier Peavy DB/WR Sr. 9 Ajani Peavy WR So. 10 Hunter Smith QB So. 11 Ty Merkle DL Sr. 12 Calub Connell RB Sr. 14 AJ Elliot K Sr. 15 Treon Williams-Scott WR Fr. 20 Brant Bovee LB Jr. 21 Xavier Irizarry QB So. 22 Corbin Keiser DB So. 24 Landon Snapp LB Fr. 25 Rashad Joyner DB So. 26 Alex Daley RB Jr. 27 Luther Scarlett WR/LB Jr. 28 Tyler Wiggins DB Sr. 32 Kendrick Jean RB Jr. 36 Jacob Reed LB Sr. 40 Jerome Parham DL Jr. 44 Hale Sollmann DL So. 45 Justin Zinke LB So. 48 Anthony Giovenco DL Sr. 49 Connor Perkkio LS Sr. 50 Caden Miller OL Sr. 51 Steven Williams LB Jr. 52 Gage Aroz DL Sr. 55 Greg Smith DL Sr. 56 Tanner Peirce OL Sr. 57 Ajai Brown OL Sr. 58 Luke Machristie OL Jr. 62 Austin English OL Jr. 63 Blake Chancey OL Jr. 74 AJ Hancock OL Jr. 78 Alexander Smith OL Jr. 88 Jaden Padgett WR Fr. 99 Aidan Piatt DL So. surprise to see him take the reins for Durant, at least to start the sea son.In the backfield, senior Calub Connell and junior Alex Daley will be the primary duo for Durant once again. Formerly a junior varsity quarterback and the second-string signal-caller behind Miguele last season, Connell stepped into the starting running back spot after a preseason injury to projected starter Alex Daley forced him out of Durant’s lineup to start the year. Connell took the job and ran with it — no pun intended — leading the team with 747 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns on 123 carries last year, but Daley was a significant factor in his return as well, ending the season with 595 yards and four touchdowns of his own on 71 Defensivelycarries.the Cougars will look very similar, losing a couple of crucial pieces but gaining size and experience across the board. Their two largest losses come in the form of middle linebacker Austin Bovee and defensive lineman Leo Taba kovic. The duo finished second and third on the team in total tack les last year, with Tabakovic pac ing the team with 11.5 sacks and 18 tackles for loss. Seniors Greg Smith and Gage Aroz will maintain their pres ence along with defensive line, with senior Ty Merkle stepping in following a phenomenal off season, according to Varnum. To fill Bovee’s role, Hale Sollman will move back inside from outside linebacker and Luther Scarlett will move from safety to linebacker to step into his spot. Durant’s young secondary will be identical, led by senior Xavier Peavy, sophomore Jayden Corne lius and junior Jayden Forte. “We’re excited about our defen sive side especially and early in camp the defense has looked good,” Varnum said. “They’ve kind of outshined the offense so I’m excited to see the offense out here the past couple of days play ing a little better and getting after it but it’s just going to take time, it’s going to take reps.” Note:SCHEDULE All games are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Games are broadcast live online at NFHSNetwork. com. 8/26: @ Chamberlain 9/2: Middleton 9/9: Bloomingdale 9/16: @ Plant City* 9/23: Lennard 9/30: @ Sumner 10/7: @ Sickles 10/14: Newsome* 10/21: @ Gaither 10/28: Riverview * Denotes a rivalry game THE Location:DETAILS 4748 Cougar Path, Plant City Established: 1995 Head Coach: Claybo Var num (second season) 2020 Record: 8-3 (2-2 district)
PLANT RAIDERSCITY ERA IN
6A FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 PlantCityObserver.com
PLANT CITY TAYLOR JENKINS SPORTS WRITER
To say that there is a whirl wind of change swirling around the Plant City Raiders’ football program in 2022, that would be an understatement. On the field itself, Plant City was part of the first wave of schools in Hills borough County to have an allnew field turf playing surface installed within their football stadium — joining Bloomingdale, Chamberlain, Freedom, Gaither, Middleton and Plant in a project that will eventually provide turf to all 28 public high schools in the county over the next few years — to go along with their new video scoreboard that all high schools in the county received. But the most notable change to Plant City’s program will certain ly come in the form of their new coaching staff, led by head coach Michael Clayton, offensive coor dinator Kenny Kelly and defen sive coordinator Terrance Hicks. With a wealth of experience in their back pocket, this season is sure to kick off an exciting new era for the Raiders. After a national championship at LSU — setting a school record at the time with 21 career receiving touchdowns and still sitting second all-time in career receptions — Clayton was selected 15th overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2004 NFL Draft, spending a total of eight seasons in the league and winning a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2012. Kelly is a familiar name to many long-time Plant City natives, born in Plant City as his father Floyd Kelly served as the Raiders’ head football coach from 1986 to 1993. Going on to leave his own legacy on Hillsborough County, Kenny Kelly was one of the most prolific high school athletes in the nation. A four-sport athlete at Tampa Catholic, he would go on to win state championships in basketball, baseball and track while setting state records on the football field for passing yards and passing touchdowns. At the University of Miami, he would throw for 20 touchdowns and over 2,300 yards before an 11-year professional baseball career with Tampa Bay, Seattle, Cincinnati, Washington and the New York Mets. On the football field, Kelly most recently served as an offen sive quality control analyst for Florida International University. Hicks has recently served as the defensive coordinator for both Alonso High School and Wharton HighLeadingSchool.the junior varsity team is another Plant City native in John Broome, a graduate of Plant City High School and long-time staple at the youth football level with the Plant City Dolphins. In the final year under former head coach James Booth, the Raiders finished with a 6-5 record and saw a number of impact players on both sides of the ball depart, either through graduation or transfer in the case of starting quarterback Clint Danzey — play ing his senior season at Stranahan High School in Ft. Lauderdale. Among those departures, several continuing on to play at the col lege level, the Raiders’ lost their leading passer, their two leading rushers, their four leading receiv ers, their interception leader, two of their top three tacklers and two of their top three sack leaders. But youth isn’t something that Clay ton fears, it’s something that he embraces. He takes pride in the leaders that are still with the pro gram and takes pride in his first freshman class. “We’ve got a lot of freshman who are going to play, we’ve got a lot of guys that are going to start as freshman,” Clayton said. “That was one of my things going into LSU and starting, that was one of my things going into high school, I was a starter in eighth grade and started as a freshman so that real ly set the tone for my high school career to dominate. I look for guys who can play. They may not be all the way ready for varsity but they can play and they can help us. We’re going to develop those guys and get them as many reps as possible to plant the seed for the future. Those guys are going to be the future of Plant City. We want everybody to know that if you’re young and you’re talented, you’re going to play here at Plant City and those guys have done a tremendous job of taking on the task and filling the requirements of what’s needed.” On the veteran end, Plant City will be led by key contributors like Cole Highsmith, a defensive anchor at the linebacker/safety position that finished the 2021 season with 92 total tackles and seven sacks — both good for the second-best marks on the team. Javan Futch, a wrecking ball in the trenches that will play on both sides of the ball. Chase Dexter is a name that Clayton pointed to as one of the smartest players on the defensive side, teaming up with with Eden Williams as experi enced defensive backs that will be tasked with filling some big shoes that graduated from the unit last year and leading the defensive backfield.Atquarterback, Plant City add ed a huge name in Dereon Cole man over the summer. A Plant City native, Coleman was named an Under Armour Next AllAmerican in 2021, also on the ros ter for Under Armour Next’s 8th Grade Game. Each year for the 8th Grade Game, 75 of the best eighth grade football players from across the nation converge in Orlando to train and compete during AllAmerica Game Week, with Cole man featured among that selec tive group. As an eighth-grade
A NEW
FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 7APlantCityObserver.com
ROSTER *Roster not available at the time of print student, Coleman was the starting quarterback for Fort Meade High School’s varsity football team last fall, leading the Miners to a 5-5 record while completing 59.5 per cent of his passes for 1,180 yards and 12 touchdowns. “I mean we’re being led by a freshman quarterback that start ed in the eighth grade last year so there are some things where we need to grow, like any kid in the ninth grade, you’ve got to mature in certain spots,” Clayton said. “Not every ninth grader is built to have the team on their shoulders but Dereon Coleman has proven himself to be worthy of that task. We believe in him, we know that he can do the job, we know that he can play football and leading this team you have to have some kind of experience to lead it in the right way. So yeah, there will be some growing pains with him but it’s our job to mature him and grow him up in ways where he may not be there yet. But he’s done a great job mov ing forward, he’s done everything that we’ve asked of him and then some and we just continue to work with him every day because we know that he’s the future of Plant City and he’ll have a great opportu nity to play at the next level.” And while talented, it can’t be overstated that Coleman is still just a freshman. With that, Plant City will look for their offense to flow through the run game, led by Futch and center Naseem Broom on the offensive line, spearheaded by a running back duo of Jaden McCants and Dominic Jones to keep the offense on schedule, set up short distances on late downs and open up the pass game. “Jaden McCants and Dominic Jones, two running backs and it’ll all flow through them,” Clayton said. “We’ve got two physical run ning backs with speed that can catch the ball out of the backfield as well. If we can run the football with our big offensive linemen pushing the line of scrimmage, we’re going to be able to open up the pass game and do what we need to do. We’ve got some receiv ers out there who can be electric at times. Jaylen Smith, he hasn’t been touched in any of our scrimmages. We scrimmaged against Lakeland, we did a 7-on-7 at USF and he’s just a dominant player. I look forward to see what he can do when we get the pass game going.” And while the team as a whole is young, Clayton noted that there was a tremendous turnout as the team worked all summer to make up for lost time in the spring and emphasized that he has the expec tation of winning, and winning now. His goal is a district champi onship, in the hopes of eventually building Plant City into a champi onship program and a program that sets the standard for the area. “It’s with great pride that we car ry the city on our chest, we carry the colors on our back,” Clayton said. “By saying that, there are a lot of great schools in the area and a lot of schools that represent well and have represented well in the past, but we here at Plant City with this coaching staff that I’ve been for tunate enough to bring in, we want to be the powerhouse. We want to let everyone know that Plant City is the place to be, the place to play, and we want to give them the environment on Friday night like no other. With a new football field, a new scoreboard, the great fans and the historic fans that come out, when the city shows up on Fri day nights, we’re going to be able to put some great and memorable plays out there where our fans will experience some great moments
Note:SCHEDULE
All games are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Games are broadcast live online at NFHSNetwork.com. 8/26: @ Newsome 9/2: Wharton 9/9: Steinbrenner 9/16: Durant* 9/23: @ Hillsborough 9/30: Alonso 10/14: @ Plant 10/21: @ Armwood 10/28: @ Strawberry Crest 11/4: Jefferson * Denotes a rivalry game THE Location:DETAILS 1 Raider Place, Plant City Established: 1914 Head Coach: Michael Clayton (fist season) 2021 Record: 6-5 (2-2 district)2020 Record: 5-5 (1-0 district) this year. I like to say, win, lose, or draw, we’re coming. We’re coming 100 miles per hour and I’m excited about that.”
KEEP ON CLIMBING
After three combined wins in his first two seasons as head coach, Phillip Prior was still try ing to instill a new culture within the Strawberry Crest football program heading into last season. Hired just weeks before the 2019 season and then met with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the 2021 season was his first chance to enter the year on the heels of complete spring and summer workouts.Withthe benefit of a full offsea son, the on-field results began to shift last fall as the Chargers were able to come away with four regu lation wins and a fifth coming by way of a forfeit from Armwood. A 26-12 victory over Leto in their final game of the year marked the end of a 5-5 season and Crest’s best regular season record since going 7-5 in 2013, just the third season that the Chargers have finished .500 or better in school history. With the foundation laid, Prior and the rest of Crest’s players and staff are ready to continue build ing on their upward swing from last“We’reseason.very excited about this season,” Prior said. “We’ve got a lot of experience and we’ve got a lot of guys returning. We experi enced some success last year, we got four wins and a forfeit for five total, but this is the year where we believe that we can win every game on the schedule. We believe that’s a reality and that we have a chance to win the district and that hasn’t been the case in the past. So we believe it but now we have to put it into action.”
STRAWBERRY CHARGERSCREST
A very young team last sea son, Crest will be bringing back nearly their entire starting lineup on both sides of the ball, with another year of size and experi ence under their belt. Offensively it all starts up front with the offensive line, a unit that looks completely transformed heading into the 2022 season. “Last year we averaged about 200 pounds on our offensive line and this year we’re at about 250. We’ve had a lot of guys that really progressed in the weight room, we lost a couple guys and one came back from injury, so we feel really good about those guys. We’re still going to commit to running the football and we’re going to be better in our passing game this year but we’ll go as far as those guys take.”
Another key addition to the offense will be a full year with senior quarterback Jordan Lewis under center at the quarterback position. A starter on the Char gers’ basketball team, Lewis joined the football program dur ing the middle of the 2021 season and ended the year as the team’s leading passer despite playing in just five games. Despite lim ited football experience at the high school level, Lewis should make an immediate impact on the Chargers’ passing game as he adds not just size and athleticism to the position, but consistency. “He didn’t really have a whole lot of experience with foot ball, he’d just played some little league ball, but he came out here and made a lot of progress last year and we kind of struggled a bit in our passing game last year so I really believe that he’s going to help improve that area of our team,” Prior said. “He throws a very good ball to our guys that love catching it, he throws a very catchable ball, and the thing is that he’s an athlete too. When things break down he’ll be able to escape the pocket, scramble and make things happen with his legs and we’ll run the ball with him too. He can do a lot of different things.”Lastyear Crest ran an extreme ly variable offense, with a num ber of players moving in and out of the quarterback position in an attempt to manufacture touches to some of their best athletes. Even with the addition of Lewis, that’s something that will likely continue for the Chargers offense as they continuously look at new ways to attack opposing defenses. “We’ve got a lot of guys on the team that are worthy of touching the ball,” Prior said. “Coby Burger did some really good things for us last year and we’ve got other guys too. Quincy Hart, whenever he touched the ball he scored touch downs, he had explosive plays for us, he did a lot of good things in the spring game. So we’ve got other guys that we want to show case and that we want to get the ball to. So we’ll still be pretty multiple, still do a lot of things offensively, but at the same time we want to expand on our pass ing game. We’ll really talk a lot about how to get touches to cer tainButguys.”even with what would appear to be an improved passing game, the Charger’s offense will still flow through their run game. Burger led the team in rushing yards last season with 358 yards and six rushing touchdowns on 82 carries, largely from the quar terback position, but senior Ryan Weems may very well handle his fair share of work out of the back field, followed by junior Devin Blunt. In 2021, Weems totaled 354 rushing yards and four rush ing touchdowns while Blunt
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8A FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 PlantCityObserver.com
FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 9APlantCityObserver.com ROSTER 1 Jordan Lewis QB Sr. 2 Devin Blunt RB/DB Jr. 3 Ryan Weems RB/DB Sr. 4 Marcus SpringfieldWR/DB Sr. 5 Jaden Baker WR/DB Sr. 6 Quincy Hart WR/DB Sr. 7 Coby Burger WR/DB Sr. 8 Stevie Parkmond WR/DB Jr. 9 Brady Schmidt TE Sr. 10 Brice Schmidt LB So 11 KJ Canady WR/DB Sr. 13 Gage Reibsome RB/DB So. 14 Thimothee Woods WR/DB So. 15 Abe Craig LB Jr. 17 Dillon Warren K So. 18 Trey Revoy K So. 20 Quintin Walker DL/FB Jr. 22 Aiden Brown LB So. 24 Josh Mukendi DL Sr. 25 Troy Eskew TE/DL So. 30 Steel Craig LB Sr. 32 Radek Shah FB Sr. 34 Deegan Fearnow LB Sr. 42 Dominic Bledsoe LB Sr. 45 Grayson Haynes FB Sr. 50 Ethan Dentmon DL Sr. 51 Gabe Almeida DL Jr. 52 Didier Godonou Dossou DL Jr. 53 Jace Eldridge DL So. 54 Tyler Oblow OL Jr. 55 Dylan Weaver OL Sr. 56 Ben Bradford OL Jr. 57 Daniel Cruz LB Sr. 59 Jared Jirau DL Sr. 65 Victor Hernandez DL Jr. 66 Austin Gardner OL So. 69 Cody Craft OL Jr. 70 Samuel Shiver OL Sr. 74 CJ Vaughn OL Jr. 75 Daniel O’Connor OL Jr. finished third on the team with 231 rushing yards and one score. At receiver, Hart is a player that has really excited the coaching staff due to his explosive plays last season and his perfor mance in their spring game. With 153 receiving yards and two touchdowns on just five receptions in 2021, good for 30.6 yards per reception, Hart led the team in receiv ing yards and will surely get his fair share of touches this year. Along with Hart, Burg er and Marcus Springfield will be threats on the outside asDefensively,well.
Note:SCHEDULE All games are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Games are broadcast live online NFHSNetwork.com.at 8/26: @ King 9/2: Spoto 9/9: Robinson 9/16: @ Leto 9/23: @ Zephyrhills Christian Academy 9/30: @ Plant 10/7: Middleton 10/14: @ Alonso 10/21: Riverview 10/28: Plant City THE Location:DETAILS 4691 Gallagher Road, Dover Established: 2009 Head Coach: Phillip Prior (fourth season) 2020 record: 5-5 (1-2 district)
Crest has consistency up front with four juniors all returning along the defensive line, but the strength may very well lie in their experienced sec ondary made up of seniors Weems, Hart and Spring field.“We have three seniors in that group but all four of them, Devin Blunt being the other guy, this will be the third year of all four of those guys starting together and that’s really special,” Prior said. “And we’ve got a cou ple of other guys that we’ll rotate in there but that’s going to be the strength of our defense so we’ll put a lot of pressure on those guys and we’re going to really rely upon those guys to do their thing, and they have been. These guys have been start ers for four years, Marcus Springfield started the very first game he ever played here as a freshman and here he is. We’ve got a lot of expe rience back there and they’ll make a big difference for us.”
Durant and Plant City will round out their fist month of the season with the Redman Cup, the annual rivalry matchup between the two local Plant City area teams. Last fall, in Durant’s fist year under head coach Claybo Varnum and Plant City’s final eason under former head coach James Booth, Durant took their fist Redman Cup victory since 2017 with a 29-6 win over the Raiders. Both teams will look a little different and certainly a little younger than last year’s matchup, but with the season in full swing and three regular season games under their belt, the excitement for this year’s installment will be as big as ever.
SEPT. 16: DURANT @ PLANT CITY (REDMAN CUP)
In late September the Chargers will get another tough test as they head to Zephyrhills to face the Zephyrhills Christian Academy Warriors. While in the FHSAA’s 2A division last season, ZCA finished the 021 season with a 9-3 record and a trip to the second round of the 2A State Tournament.
SEPT. 2: STRAWBERRY CREST VS. SPOTO Strawberry Crest hosted Spoto in Week 3 last year, with the Chargers getting their fist win of the season in a 7-0 victory over the Spartans. In a defensive battle, both offenses were kept off the bard as Crest took the lead with a special teams touchdown late in the fist half and held on for the narrow win. With a more experienced roster for the Chargers, Spoto could again prove themselves as another early-season measuring stick.
2022
Here we look ahead to some of the biggest games of the 2022 season for Durant, Plant City and Strawberry Crest
SEPT. STRAWBERRY23: CREST @ CHRISTIANZEPHYRHILLSACADEMY
AUG, 27: PLANT CITY @ NEWSOME In Plant City’s fist regular season game under new head coach Michael Clayton, the Raiders will head to Lithia and face Newsome in a tough opening contest. Newsome finished the 021 season with a 9-3 record, going undefeated in district play including a convincing win over Plant City late in the season en route to a district championship.
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SEPT. 9: DURANT VS. BLOOMINGDALE In Week 3, Durant will play host to Bloomingdale, a traditionally strong program that finished 5-6 in 021 — going 3-0 in divisional play — after a 12-2 record and a state semifinal apparance the year before. After games against Chamberlain and Middleton to open the year, Bloomingdale will likely be the Cougars’ toughest test through the fist three weeks.
MATCHUPSMAJOR
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OCT. 7: STRAWBERRY CREST MIDDLETONVS.
OCT. 28: PLANT CITY @ CRESTSTRAWBERRY
NOV. 4: PLANT CITY VS. JEFFERSON In 2021, Jefferson finished the eason at 3-7 and ended their year below .500 for the fist time since goin 5-7 in 2015. In this season final, Plant City will be looking to end the year on a positive note as playoff hopefuls while Jefferson looks to finish strong on what they hope to be a bounceback season.
OCT. 14: DURANT VS. NEWSOME (ALAFIA RIVER RIVALRY) As you look out over the trees that lay beyond Durant’s stadium on a Friday night, you can see the lights shining from Newsome’s football field if thy’re hosting a home game of their own. In a rivalry that is separated just a few short miles, you would be hard-pressed to find a ame in this area that brings more energy than the annual Alafia Rier Rivalry. Durant put up a tough fight aainst Newsome last year, ultimately falling 17-7 to the eventual district champs, but this year the Cougars will be eager to settle the score.
SEPT. 30: DURANT @ SUMNER In this late-September matchup, Durant will open up district play against the Sumner Stingrays. Opening their doors in 2020, Sumner has put together a strong start to their football program with a combined record of 16-4 over their fist two seasons, including a 9-3 finish in 021. Durant began their season against Sumner last fall, coming away with a 22-6 win to kick off the ear.
OCT. 21: PLANT CITY @ ARMWOOD Plant City will head to Armwood in October to take on a perennial powerhouse in the Armwood Hawks. While Armwood hasn’t been the same unbeatable force that they were in the past, they rattled off seven wins last season – ultimately finising with a 4-6 record after three wins were forfeited due to an ineligible player – and may be one of the Raiders’ toughest tests this year.
In a trip that will only take a short ride up Alexander St. and a left turn on Baker St., Plant City will head to Strawberry Crest for another local rivalry matchup between the Chargers and Raiders. While their football programs have looked starkly different in recent years, this late-season matchup may prove interesting as Plant City looks to surprise a few people with their young roster and Strawberry Crest looks to build on the foundation that was laid in 2021.
Middleton finished the 021 season with a 3-7 record, putting up wins against King, Blake and Robinson. This is a game where the Chargers will hope to come away with a statement victory as it lies between two tough matchups in Plant and Alonso.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR Quarterback Battle: It’s likely that all three sophomore quarterbacks, Mike Ryan, Hunter Smith and Xavier Irazarry will all get snaps under center. While Ryan seems to be leading the pack, the battle isn’t over yet.
PLAYERS TO WATCH QB Dereon Coleman RB Jaden Mccants WR Jaylen Smith DT Javan Futch S Chase Dexter STRAWBERRY CREST @ GEORGE JENKINS After putting together a 5-5 campaign in 2021, Strawberry Crest’s best singleseason record since 2013, the Chargers are looking to build on that momentum and have an even better 2022. In similar fashion, George Jenkins is looking for a resurgence themselves after a 3-7 record last year, their second consecutive threewin season following three consecutive seasons of winning football.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR Pass Game: With limited high school football experience, senior Jordan Lewis took over as quarterback midway through the 2021 season and ended up leading the team in passing yards. With a bigger and more experienced offensive line in front of him, along with a full offseason of preparation, Crest hopes that Lewis will play a crucial role in improving that part of their offnse. Secondary: While the Crest coaching staff is hapy with their defensive front, their secondary will really be a bright spot on their defense. With four players all entering their third straight season starting alongside each other in the defensive secondary, they will likely play a big role in the Chargers’ defensive success this year. TO WATCH QB Jordan Lewis RB/DB Ryan Weems WR/DB Quincy Hart WR/DB Coby Burger WR/DB Marcus Springfiel
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Secondary: Between Romello Jones, Jae Sawyer and Jermarian Jackson, the Raiders’ secondary was another position group that was filled with futue collegiate talent in 2021, now graduated. With Chase Dexter and Eden Williams leading the way, Plant City’s defensive backs will have some big shoes to fill this ear.
Durant, Plant City and Strawberry Crest will all get their seasons rolling, unofficiall, this Friday as they get geared up for preseason action. With all three teams rolling out new starting quarterbacks — or at least relatively new in the case of Crest’s Jordan Lewis — there will be a lot to learn from this week’s contests. Below is a preview for each team’s game, along with the players and storylines to watch for.
PLANT CITY @ LAKE GIBSON Plant City has a tough schedule through out the year as Michael Clayton steps in as the program’s newest head coach, and that rings true for their preseason matchup as well as the Raiders head to Lakeland to take on a Lake Gibson Braves team that finished the eason with an 8-4 record in 2021. Plant City has a young team but the expectations are high and Friday’s game will be their fist big test.
PLAYERS TO WATCH QB Mike Ryan RB Alex Daley DB Jayden Cornelius DB Jayden Forte DL Ty Merkle
PLAYERS
DURANT VS. FREEDOM
Offensive Line: Outside of quarterback, this will be the biggest change to Durant’s roster. They lost a lot of size and experience up front, so this new-look unit may still be trying to find themelves as the season draws closer.
PRESEASON PREVIEW TAYLOR JENKINS SPORTS WRITER LetTACKLEUsAccountingNeeds!ALLYour 701 E. Baker Street, Plant City, FL 33563 (813) 752-4991 • Fax (813) 754-3073 Email: epm@cpa1922.com | www.cpa1922.com EDWARDS PLATT MEYER, PA Established 1922 Certified Public Accountants EPM 283068
This Friday Durant will play host to the Freedom Patriots, a team that finished with a meager 1-9 record in 2021. Heading into head coach Claybo Varnum’s second season as head coach, the Cougars have a three-headed quarterback battle that may still be working itself out behind a young offensive line.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR Run Game: Both of the Raiders’ top running backs from last season, Reggie Bush Jr. and Romello Jones, are headed to Alderson Broaddus and Navy this fall, respectively, to continue their football career at the collegiate level. Stepping right into their place is the duo of Jaden Mccants and Dominic Jones. Plant City’s offense wants to build itself around a strong running attack, so the performance of these two backs will be a crucial fist step.
The Dolphins are going strong with 270 kids participating, enough to easily fill all fie football teams and even add an additional sixth cheerleading squad for the upcoming season. The organization will take part in a jamboree in Fishhawk this Saturday, Aug. 20 before hosting the Fishhawk Spartans for their home opening weekend the following week on Aug. 27. After sending all fie of their football teams to the Mid Florida Football and Cheerleading Conference playoffs for the fist time in 2019, the Plant City Colts temporarily shut down their program in 2020 due to COVID-19. The Colts rebounded in 2021 with a resurgence, returning to nearly full participation and once again finding success.Lastseason the Colts sent three teams to the Super Bowl, with their Pee Wee and J.V. teams coming away victorious and their six-and-under flag ootball team falling just short of a championship of their own.In2022 however, the Colts will be shutting down again for unrelated reasons and hope to once again bounce back stronger in Alternatively,2023.
PlantCityObserver.com FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 13A
YOUTH FOOTBALL PREVIEW TAYLOR JENKINS SPORTS WRITER
Last year the Plant City Dolphins made their move away from the Tri County Youth Football & Cheerleading Conference to Pop Warner in search of a higher level of competition, making their mark immediately. In the FYD/Tampa Bay Conference, the Dolphins were able to secure conference championship appearances for all four of their teams, coming from the 8U, 10U, 12U and 14U divisions. And while all four made conference championship appearances, the 8U, 12 U and 14U teams were crowned champions and advanced to the regional tournament.Itwasaneasy move to Pop Warner according to new organization president Van Paulk, and he’s excited for their second year in the organization to get rolling. “It was a smooth transition,” Paulk said. “Pop Warner is pretty structured, a very structured organization. With FYD we represent our community, we represent the Dolphins but we also represent Pop Warner. It was a lot smoother then we thought it would be and we’re running pretty smooth right into it again this year.”
A coaches and parent association was formed — led by Stallworth’s brother Clifford — and signed a three-year agreement with the Eagles. “What you have here is two halves of an organization,” Stallworth said. “You have one organization that has the facility but not the children, then you have another organization that has the children but no facilities… So right now we’ve locked into a three-year agreement with Bealsville to use their facilities and their name and we’ll provide the children and the coaches and we’re kind of seeing how that’ll work instead of starting a new organization from scratch.”TheEagles will have all fie of their youth football teams active this fall, playing out of the “House of Pain” at the Bealsville Sports Complex and competing in the TriCounty Youth Football and Cheer Conference.
a large percentage of parents and players from the Colts organization have made a move to revive the Bealsville Eagles’ program that hasn’t been active since shutting down due to COVID, according to former Colts coach Bryant“We’veStallworth.retained about 90 percent of our kids and parents,” Stallworth said. “If anything, our word of the year is perseverance. It’s been a lot but in the same token, we’ve been blessed. A lot of local businesses have donated to us and we’ve been able to do some tremendous things as far as fundraising despite being behind the eight ball.”
Paulk took over as president of the Dolphins’ organization this year, following his long-time friend Eric Lawson. “Me and Eric Lawson, the old president, we used to play youth football together,” Paulk said. “So being at the Dolphins is just a family thing, being there for the kids. And what the Dolphins do for the kids in this community is just very inspiring and I want to give back to the kids, the same thing that was given to me when I was a youth. It all makes the organization stronger because we are a family and that’s what makes the Dolphins who we are, we’re just a big family out there. Everything we do is for the kids.”
PlantCityObserver.com14A FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 BEST OF THE BEST: 2021 TAYLOR JENKINS SPORTS WRITER
PlantCityObserver.com FOOTBALL PREVIEW | THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022 15A HISTORIC FOOTBALL PHOTOS Photos courtesy of the Plant City Photo Archives and History Center
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