2020 Football Preview by Plant City Observer

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PLANT CITY OBSERVER

THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018

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THURSDAY, SPETEMBER 10, 2020

CONTENTS

4 6 8 Durant High School Cougars

10 11 12

Fall season Q&A

2019 All-Area team

Plant City High School Raiders

13 14 15

Strawberry Crest High School Chargers

2019 Photos

Historic photos

2019 youth championships

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WELCOME TO THE 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Get ready for the season with help from the Plant City Observer. JUSTIN KLINE SPORTS/ASSOCIATE EDITOR

We’re all ready for some football, right? It’s the strangest year any of us have ever lived in. We’ve had to change the way we do just about everything and now nothing makes sense anymore. One thing we can all agree on, whether you’ll admit it openly or keep it locked away in your thoughts, is that we’re all looking for something to be normal again. At the very least, we want something close enough to normal that we can excuse all the other stuff that’s become routine now, like wearing masks out in public or staying far away from other people. A pleasant distraction would go a long way. There are and were conflicting opinions on whether it was a good idea to bring high school sports back right now, but we’ve got them back and it’s one more thing we have to help us forget about the weight of the world for a few hours at a time. Most of us just have to watch from home now (but more on that later). It’s going to be the weirdest football season ever, but we’re going to cover it all the same. With that said, welcome to the 2020 Football Preview! We’ve got an

in-depth look at Durant, Plant City and Strawberry Crest’s teams, featuring recaps of the 2019 season and things learned from it, outlooks for 2020 and players you need to watch. You’ll find our annual 2019 “fantasy team” with last year’s top players, some of the best photos we took last season and a blast from the past courtesy of our local Photo Archives, a shout-out to our youth football champions of 2019 and, most importantly, a big ol’ explanation of how fan attendance, playoffs, schedules and more are going to work this year with COVID-19 in mind. Hopefully it’ll answer any questions you may have. You can also check out today’s main paper for a preview of Plant City’s season and home opener against Riverview tomorrow night and keep an eye out after the game for recap. We’re excited for the start of the season and to bring you coverage as always, even if some things are different now with pandemic rules in play. Here’s hoping we can all stay safe and healthy, and enjoy as much football and other sports as possible!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

DURANT

COUGARS FINISHING THE JOB

The Cougars are evolving their offense and also hoping lessons learned from 2019’s closer losses will translate to more wins on the 2020 schedule.

JUSTIN KLINE SPORTS/ASSOCIATE EDITOR

There may not be a football coach alive who hasn’t taken Bill Belichick’s popular “Do Your Job” mantra and run with it. Everyone at Durant knows that’s what they’re expected to do day in and day out. The most important part of doing your job is finishing it, though. The 2019 Cougars were a tougher out for opponents than their four-win record suggests, but some of their six losses are still on the minds of everyone returning in 2020 from head coach Mike Gottman on down.

“We’ve just got to finish,” Gottman said. “We’ve got to finish strong. We’ve had opportunities and, for whatever reason, we didn’t put the nail in the coffin and get the job done. We’ve got to have more of that mentality to finish teams when we have an opportunity.” The last thing anyone in blue, gold and the occasional green wants to do is suffer another gut-wrenching loss like last year’s Riverview game, a 13-12 loss Gottman said he’ll “take to my grave.” Durant started that game strong and took a 12-0 lead into the second half, but after the Cougars couldn’t score from less than a yard away and a missed call allowed the Sharks to score on a 99-yard lateral, a switch flipped. “We’ve got fourth and goal from the six-inch line against Riverview and we don’t stuff it in,” Gottman said. “We’re up 12-0, we punch that in and we go up three scores. Situations like that, we’ve got to do better at finishing people off.”

Finishing the job has been a huge focal point of Durant’s offseason both pre and post-COVID. It’s been hard for the Cougars (and everyone else in the county) to get back up to speed with all of the interruptions brought on by both the pandemic and the latesummer weather. “It’s been difficult with the storms, with the COVID protocol, the heat index and the wet ball… it’s been jockeying for practice time,” Gottman said. “It’s been hard to get better when there’s always interruptions in your practice. That’s been difficult. But I feel like we’re making strides forward. We’ve just got to have more opportunities to keep improving. Not having spring football, not having summer really hurts you. It puts us behind where we’re normally at.” But Gottman said the team’s overall attitude and effort have been “great” from the start of the offseason to now, and that there’s plenty for fans of the team to be excited about.

Durant is still going to have multiple looks on defense, Gottman said, and the team will return some experience in key areas. At inside linebacker, the Cougars look solid with both the return of top ‘backer and defensive leader Joshua Cannon and Jacob Reed “playing his butt off” to earn a starting job. Jaiden Gappy, who was effective at outside linebacker last year, moved to strong safety and will play next to Collin Cole, who saw plenty of snaps at running back last year and has done an “outstanding job” learning his new position. Defensive backs Ashton Kirkland and Lenny Woods are also back in the defensive secondary. The team is also excited to see what senior Wyatt Lawson, who has 10 NCAA Division 1 offers, can bring to both the defensive and offensive lines. Last year, the Cougars changed up their offense to better suit second-year starter Sean Williams’ strengths at quarterback. They went all-in on the flexbone, or triple option, offense and had

15 players run the ball 349 times, picking up a total of 2,031 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns. Despite the high volume of both runners and carries, Durant only lost one fumble all year. “It was what we needed to do,” Gottman said. “He (Williams) was on the shorter side and he had a hard time throwing from the pocket, so we had to spread him out and do things… he was a good option quarterback. It played into what we needed to do.” But now that Williams has graduated, the keys have been handed over to junior Marcus Miguele and Durant sees potential now and in the future. “He’s athletic,” Gottman said. “He can extend plays. He’s got a good arm, he’s elusive and can run. I’m excited to see what he can do. Down the stretch last year, we kind of knew that he was our future so we dabbled with him to get him some film and see what he was like.” That means Durant’s offensive playbook is going to be much

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more balanced than in 2019, when their quarterbacks combined for 56 pass attempts on the season. Gottman wants Miguele to be a dual-threat option for the offense and believes the quarterback has the tools to become a legitimate weapon for the team. “He’s got a long ways to go — everybody’s got a long ways to go — but he gives us that opportunity to do some things instead of just running the ball every play,” Gottman said. But the Cougars have long been known for their commitment to establishing the run, so don’t expect them to run an air raid offense anytime soon. “We’re still running option but we’ll be under center, off the ball — we’re gonna be able to interchange that,” Gottman said. “It’s still option concepts.” Eli Reed and L.J. Gappy, the team’s two most productive running backs in 2019, both get one more year with the team. The only problem right now is that L.J. Gappy, who suffered a knee injury in last year’s Redman Cup game, still hasn’t been cleared to play. Luckily for the team, Reed is no slouch: he led the team in carries, touchdowns and rushing yards (though he tied with L.J. Gappy for the latter two, each with six scores and 556 yards) last year. He and Miguele should lead Durant’s rushing attack with help from Lawson and a big offensive line. Durant has approached the upcoming season with the right mindset thus far, Gottman said. Missing out on their spring game and other activities only made the players hungrier to get back on the practice field and in the film and weight rooms. When the team resumed lifting weights in

June and got back into conditioning under Hillsborough County’s three-phase plan, Gottman said, they came with everything a coach could ask for. “Effort, attendance and attitude were outstanding,” Gottman said. “They may have missed it, couldn’t wait to get back, so I’ve got no qualms about summer and our conditioning program.” Many of the positional battles resolved themselves quickly, though Gottman said last week there were a few the team was still working on. He said the defensive line was what the coaches were looking at the most closely as of last week and putting a “solid” line together by the season’s start was a priority. This is the area that took perhaps the biggest hit in the offseason: defensive end Bradley Guasto, who last year recorded 73 tackles, a blocked field goal, a recovered fumble and a teamhigh 5.5 sacks, graduated and left big shoes to fill on the edge. Lawson’s presence on the defensive line should help the rest of its members stuff the run and generate pressure, though. If the Cougars can get better about finishing what they start, the number in the “wins” column very well could improve from last year.

ROSTER SCHEDULE Note: All games scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Games are broadcast live online at NFHSNetwork. com. 9/11: @ Newsome 9/17: @ Bloomingdale 9/25: vs. East Bay 10/2: @ Kathleen 10/16: @ Lakeland 10/23: vs. Strawberry Crest 10/30: vs. Plant City 11/6: @ Wharton

THE DETAILS Location: 4748 Cougar Path, Plant City Established: 1995 Head Coach: Mike Gottman (18th season with team) Offense: Multiple Defense: 4-3 2019 record: 4-6 (2-3 district)

(from MaxPreps.com) 1 Marcus Miguele QB Jr. 2 Aashton Kirkland DB Sr. 3 L.J. Gappy RB, SS Sr. 4 Elian Gonzalez RB, FS So. 5 Jeremiah Gines RB, FS So. 6 Nathaniel Richardson RB, OLB 7 Quentin Johnson RB, FS 8 Jeremiah Puerto Sr. 9 Tyler Bokor WR, TE Sr. 10 Andre Givens RB, FB Jr. 11 Jaiden Gappy SS, FS, RB Jr. 12 Calub Connell QB So. 14 Zaevion Jordan RB, SS So. 15 Jaylin Torres Fr. 17 Antwain Shaw CB Jr. 20 Eli Reed FB, RB Sr. 21 Matthew Reynolds CB, WR Jr. 22 Alex Daley RB Fr. 23 Alejandro Santiago QB So. 24 Sean Lugo Sr. 25 Bryson Pearce 26 Tyler Wiggins 26 Brian Stockton Sr. 27 Lenny Woods CB, SS Jr. 28 Collin Cole RB, WR Sr. 32 Leo Tabakovic FB So. 33 Jerome Parham So.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

35 Jordan Fernandes LB Jr. 36 Jacob Reed MLB, FB So. 40 Joshua Cannon LB Sr. 42 Austin Lewis DL, TE So. 44 Mekhi Batista DE Jr. 45 Ajai Brown So. 48 Simeon Echevarria LB Jr. 49 Nathan Brennan TE, DE Sr. 50 Greg Smith 51 A.J. Hancock Fr. 52 Gianmarco Diez Santos MLB Sr. 53 Andrew Baker DT Sr. 55 Wyatt Lawson G, DT Sr. 56 Hunter Dross DL Sr. 57 Michael Lopez 58 Andrew Valentine Jr. 59 Austin Bovee OL Jr. 62 Dylan Penman So. 68 Logan Mayo OL Jr. 71 Hagan Sharp OL Sr. 72 Nash Sollmann T So. 77 Cade McClellan 78 Tyler Newell Jr. 88 Matt Wynn SS Jr. 89 Xavier Hernandez LS Sr.

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

PLANT CITY

RAIDERS THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT The Raiders lost a lot of key starters to graduation and are working with a much younger, less experienced roster than usual, but the team is excited about its potential this year and beyond. JUSTIN KLINE SPORTS/ASSOCIATE EDITOR

The Plant City Raiders haven’t started a season like this in quite some time. No, that’s not a COVID-19 reference. Nobody’s started a season like this, well, ever. The other unusual thing about 2020 for Plant City is that it’s going into the season lacking more than usual in two areas: age and experience. The Raiders lost 19 seniors to graduation, and many of them filled extremely important roles on the team: starting quarterback Makenzie Kennedy,

workhorse back Zamir’ Knighten, top linebackers Tanner Gibbs and Keyshawn Green, defensive line stalwarts Emmanuel Baez and Jeren Bendorf, top defensive backs Antron Robinson and Latarus Wanser, kicker/punter Chris Rodriguez and more. In other words, there’s been so much for the current roster to learn in so little time, thanks to an offseason largely stolen by the pandemic. “A lot of our kids are new,” head coach James Booth said. “We don’t have a lot of returning starters. We have kids that have some experience, but not having a spring was really detrimental to a lot of them. Especially in our quarterback position group — we’ve got a sophomore and two new kids. So we’re pretty young and inexperienced with what we want to do. But we got better from day one… so that’s what we’re looking for every day.” After the 2019 team started the season with a bang, taking down an eventual 11-win Jesuit team on the road, Plant City’s grinder of a

schedule lived up to its billing and the team finished with a 5-5 overall record (3-2 district). The team did have a chance at finishing 7-3 overall, as it only lost to 12-win Gaither by five points (28-23) and took a nine-win Bloomingdale team into overtime, only losing 37-34 when Chris Rodriguez’s last-ditch short field goal attempt was blocked by the Bulls. PCHS also had a shot at the playoffs after winning its final three games (including the Redman Cup), but St. Cloud edged out the Raiders for that final playoff spot by a razor-thin 0.005 RPI. Then the Raiders, like everyone else, lost their spring game and practices. All they could do was lift weights, do cardio and work on some position drills in Hillsborough County’s three-phase summer system that predated the Aug. 24 return to full-on practices. “We got back here mid-June and we were able to go through the phases and do whatever we could do,” Booth said. “Conditioning, lifting, position work…

we tried to stay as sharp as we could and get as much in as we could. We finally were able to use a ball on campus, which helped out, but you’re looking at maybe three weeks of using a ball before camp actually starts. We’re learning. There’s a big learning curve going on right now and hopefully we get to see some of our kids rise to the top.” But now that everybody’s back in action, there’s optimism at 1 Raider Place. Big things are expected of the players that are returning, regardless of how much prior game experience they have. The biggest advantage Plant City has in its group of returning players is the one and only Mario Williams, who became the No. 1-ranked wideout in the country according to ESPN and committed to play for the Oklahoma Sooners next year. Getting the ball to Williams has been a staple of the Plant City offense since his sophomore season and will continue to be a staple in 2020. The senior is an expert at creating something out

of nothing, turning short passes into long runs and blowing up coverages with either his speed or his footwork. Plant City isn’t changing up its offensive scheme for 2020 but, since Kennedy graduated and the team doesn’t have a similar running threat at quarterback anymore, expect a lot of throws to go Williams’ way. The reliable Reagan Ealy is returning to line up across from Williams and Booth also expects transfer Aramoni Rhone, a threestar recruiting prospect, to be an important receiving option. Booth said Williams will also see some action in the team’s wildcat formation this year. If you’re unfamiliar with the wildcat, it’s a trick formation with two important parts. First, it puts a running back or wide receiver under center instead of the quarterback and moves another skill position player into a wide receiver spot. The quarterback can still line up as a wide receiver and can be used as a decoy. Second, it shifts offensive linemen around to create an unbalanced line that

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may have three linemen on one side of the center and one lineman and a tight end (who is also an eligible receiver) on the other side. It relies heavily on misdirections to throw defenses off and create unorthodox running lanes for the running back or wideout under center to take advantage of, unless they’re asked to throw the ball. For younger or newer football fans, this was the formation for the iconic “Philly Special” play the Philadelphia Eagles used to beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. For older football fans, you’ll remember this is the formation the Arkansas Razorbacks used when Darren McFadden and Felix Jones spent the 2007 college football season carving up defenses and inspiring basically everyone in the nation to try it for themselves. The wildcat isn’t as popular as it was 10 years ago, especially in the NFL, but it can still work when used in moderation with great athletes — much like Plant City’s Williams and Romello Jones. Jones will take over for Knighten as the team’s feature back and Booth said he brings an element of speed to the table that wasn’t there last season. “We’re really excited about Romello Jones. He’s got big play ability, that home run threat.” The Raiders are starting senior Nicholas Felice, who transferred to Plant City before COVID-19 hit, at quarterback in Week 1. Felice previously played for Newsome and helped the Wolves get to the playoffs last year. This is a drastic change of scenery for Felice, as Newsome runs a wing offense that doesn’t call many passing plays, but Booth said he has done “really well” learning the PCHS offense.

There’s been a challenge in learning a new defensive scheme with updated terminology with far less time than usual, but it appears the Raiders have risen to it. Plant City’s defense underwent some changes in coaching, personnel and scheme in the offseason. The Raiders are moving from a 3-4 base to a 4-2-5 and plan to take advantage of a more athletic group in the back seven. Rhet Conyers and Todd Miller will hold down the fort in the interior linebacker spots and Austin Albright, also a member of the school’s track and field team, brings big-time speed and athleticism to the nickel spot. Junior Ian Jolly, whom Booth called “a huge surprise for us,” has impressed his coaches and guaranteed himself a spot at cornerback. Sophomore safety Cole Highsmith also made waves in the PCHS camp despite his youth. Booth expects him to be a steady contributor now and develop into a high-caliber player by the end of his time in high school. In a year that’s brought so much change to so many people, the one thing Booth and Plant City are determined to do is to maintain as much normalcy as possible and see where that takes them. “The goals are the same,” Booth said. “We don’t have a district championship, but we do have district games. We want to win all of our games, obviously, but we still want to win against all of our district teams. And then everybody’s in the playoffs, so we want to make the biggest, deepest run that we can. Everybody has that mindset — in the whole state, really — but we’re trying to take it one day at a time.”

SCHEDULE

Note: All games scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Games are broadcast live online at NFHSNetwork. com. 9/11: vs. Riverview 9/18: @ Lakeland 10/2: vs. Bloomingdale 10/9: @ Tampa Bay Tech 10/16: vs. Strawberry Crest 10/23: @ Kathleen 10/30: @ Durant 11/6: vs. Gaither

THE DETAILS Location: 1 Raider Place, Plant City Established: 1914 Head Coach: James Booth (fourth season with team) Offense: Spread Defense: 4-2-5 2019 record: 5-5 (3-2 district)

ROSTER

(from MaxPreps.com) 2 Mario Williams (C) SB, WR Sr. 3 Reagan Ealy WR Sr. 4 D.J. Littles CB, FS Sr. 5 Reginald Bush CB, RB Jr. 6 Romello Jones RB Jr. 7 Sincere Williams WR Jr. 8 Aramoni Rhone WR, FS Sr. 9 Todd Miller SS Sr. 10 Nicholas Felice QB Sr. 11 Ian Jolly CB, FS Jr. 13 Brent Coton WR Sr. 14 Jae Sawyer WR Jr. 15 Clinton Danzey QB So. 16 Carson Mohler QB Jr. 20 Jermarian Jackson CB Jr. 21 Austin Albright SS Sr. 22 Isaiah West CB, FS Sr. 24 Jose Rodriguez WR, RB, CB Sr. 25 Dawson Traffanstedt CB, SS Sr. 28 Cole Highsmith SS, FS So. 29 Oscar Ordonez QB Jr. 30 Eden Williams CB So. 32 Jalen Foster CB, FS So. 34 Jaden McCants RB Fr. 36 Patrick Connelly Jr. CB Sr. 37 Thaddeus Powell CB Sr.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

38 Tebow Navarrete K So. 40 Austin Smith DE, FB, MLB Sr. 42 Jackson Knotts LS, FS Sr. 44 Javoni Mitchell OLB Sr. 45 Trenton Smith CB Sr. 46 Austin Fulghum RB Sr. 48 Brayton Varney LB Jr. 50 Matthew Bollinger MLB Fr. 53 Kaden Mizell DE, G Jr. 55 Rhet Conyers ILB Jr. 56 Jimmie Pettis DT, FB Sr. 57 Kareem Wimes DE, ILB Jr. 58 Trevar Bradshaw G So. 60 Kayden Palmer G Jr. 64 Nelson Cortes G So. 68 William Belen G Fr. 69 Josiah Lancaster OT Jr. 70 Dartavious Robinson C Jr. 75 Andrew Walden OT, DT Sr. 78 Jovani Torres T Jr. 81 Tahauji Miller WR So. 83 Damian Ibarra CB, WR So. 90 Kaylee Hahn K Sr. 99 Donte Woodard DE Jr.

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

STRAWBERRY CREST

CHARGERS

CONTROLLING WHAT THEY CAN To overcome adversity, the Chargers have learned to control the things they can control and focus on themselves. They finished 2019 on a high note and even COVID-19 couldn’t kill that vibe this year. JUSTIN KLINE SPORTS/ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Last year was quite a challenge for head coach Phillip Prior and the Strawberry Crest Chargers. Prior was hired late in the summer and joined the team just three weeks before its first regular season game. He had, from a football perspective, virtually no time before then to get to know who and what he had to work with in Dover. Though that first game was a success — a 20-6 win at Leto — Crest soon found itself struggling and lost eight in a row.

But there was a clear turning point in the season where the Chargers finally were able to overcome adversity. Against Brandon in the finale, Crest found itself on the wrong end of an 8-0 score in the second half and battled back. They tied the game at 8-8 in the third quarter, went down 14-8 shortly afterward and took the lead for good early in the fourth quarter with two rushing touchdowns by quarterback Caleb Goodson. “One of the most proud moments I had last year was, we had a stretch of games where we were getting beat pretty good and we weren’t competing,” Prior said. “But our kids kept showing up for practice every Monday trying to get better. And we had the Brandon game at the end of the season where it was like, that was kind of a breath of fresh air and a fulfillment of all that work. Our kids, even though we were facing an incredible amount of adversity, they kept coming back.” The 21-14 win was great for the program in the moment and also

kickstarted something more positive for the offseason. The coaching staff saw some changes and there are now several on campus, unlike last year when Prior started at Crest as the only coach in the program who was also on campus. The players made “huge gains” in the weight room and didn’t stop working until they absolutely had to: in other words, when COVID-19 hit. Prior finally got the time to evaluate the program that he didn’t have last year and could now introduce concepts suitable for these particular Chargers. “I think one of the biggest things, I came in three weeks before we started the season last year and didn’t know the talents of kids, the types of kids we had in the school,” Prior said.”Now we have an opportunity to run an offense that really suits our kids and gives us the best chance to be successful. Same thing on defense. We have an opportunity to evaluate our kids in our program.”

When Hillsborough County programs got the go-ahead to start conditioning and using their weight rooms again in June, Prior and the Crest staff opted to spend more time on the field for a little while and built a foundation to help make the transition to fullon practices starting Aug. 24 a little smoother. “When we really hit on our first day of practice, we had a lot of things already in place,” Prior said. “A lot of our structures for our practices, our drills — we had a lot of that stuff sort of in place. So we really hit the ground running.” Because Crest will field such a young team in 2020, that’s a good thing. The Chargers don’t have strength in numbers at the moment, so there will be many sophomores in starting roles and many freshmen waiting in the wings for their numbers to be called during the season. This is especially true of the offense. Goodson, Kadin Durgan and Bryant Lazare, to name a few of the

2019 team’s top playmakers, are gone. The only quarterback listed on the roster is sophomore Austin Osborne. Many of those freshmen and sophomores on the team are listed on the roster as playing on both sides of the ball, which plays into Prior’s gameplan. “We want to balance our offense out, but at the same time we want balance in our offense to be about touches and how we can have multiple guys getting the football in their hands and doing it in a lot of different ways. That’s a goal of ours this year. I think you become more difficult to defend when you can do things like that in your offense… one week you might look at the stat sheet and see one guy stick out. The next week, you might see another guy stick out. Then the next week, it might all look the same.” Prior believes strongly in establishing the run, so expect a lot of guys to get a lot of touches. Jake Craig, the team’s middle linebacker and a three-year starter, will get plenty of snaps at running back, too.

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not to let lessons learned from that win against Brandon slip out of their hands. They came back from the big COVID shutdown even hungrier than before, especially those who were unable to get as much work in for the three-month “extended spring break,” as Prior called it, as they would have liked. The attitude in Dover is that now is the time for the Chargers to prove themselves. They want to show people they are not, in fact, a pushover or a doormat or anything like that. They want other teams and fans to know not to underestimate them or write them off as an easy game on the schedule. They want all that right now. “We’re gonna be young, but we want to compete this year,” Prior said. “We want to compete now. We want to prove ourselves to people. And a lot of those scores a lot of people saw last year, we want to make those look different this year... the number one thing in our program is that we want to compete. We had games last year we weren’t competitive in. We want to compete in every single game in our schedule this year. That’s our number one goal.”

ROSTER

SCHEDULE

(from MaxPreps.com)

Note: All games scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Games are broadcast live online at NFHSNetwork. com. 9/11: @ King 9/18: @ Kathleen 9/25: vs. Sumner 10/2: vs. Lakeland 10/16: @ Plant City 10/23: @ Durant 10/30: vs. Bloomingdale 11/6: vs. Freedom

THE DETAILS Location: 4691 Gallagher Road, Dover Established: 2009 Head Coach: Phillip Prior (second season with team) Offense: Multiple Defense: Multiple 2019 record: 2-8 (0-5 district)

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

1 David Erskine DB, RB Jr. 2 Devin Blunt DB, RB Fr. 3 Ryan Weems DB, RB So. 4 Marcus Springfield DB, RB So. 5 Jesse Waldrop (C) WR, LB Sr. 6 Biruk Fliegelman RB, DB Sr. 7 Billy Overstreet LB Fr. 9 Connor Dias (C) DB, WR Sr. 10 Brock Craig MLB, RB Jr. 11 Zach Curtin WR, DB Jr. 14 Jaden Baker WR, DB So. 15 Abe Craig LB, WR Fr. 18 Corbin Newman WR, RB, DB So. 19 Austin Osborne QB So. 20 Quintin Walker DL Fr. 21 Cody Anderson DL Fr. 22 Miles Jones DB, RB Jr. 24 Andrew Raab LB, RB Fr. 25 Carson Brown MLB Jr. 30 Steel Craig DL So. 36 Jake Craig (C) LB, RB Sr. 40 Armando Garcia K, P Sr. 44 Eli Kroslak LB Fr. 45 Cole Highsmith CB, WR Fr. 52 Cody Craft OL Fr.

53 Alexander Strickland DE, OLB Fr. 54 Tucker Cooper OL So. 55 Dylan Weaver DL So. 56 Ben Bradford OL Fr. 58 Jonathan Clemann OL Jr. 64 Radek Shah OL So. 65 Ben Hill DL Sr. 69 David Miller OL Fr. 70 Sam Shiver OL So. 72 Tyler Oblow OL Fr. 74 Elijah Johnson OL Jr. 75 Cayden Knipp OL, DL Sr. 77 Sebastian Fernandes DL Sr. 78 Jackson Bradford OL Sr. 80 Declan Herrington WR, DB So. 88 Anthony Artalona DL Fr. 99 Rodney Addison DL Fr.

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Crest will rely heavily on its seniors this year and that will be a little more visible on defense. Craig, defensive tackle Sebastian Fernandes and safety Connor Dias will be asked to fortify the unit and be good examples for the underclassmen to learn from. Of the sophomores and juniors who saw some playing time after getting called up from junior varsity last year, Prior said, more have experience on the defensive side of the ball. As excited as the team’s seniors are about starting the season and playing well, they’re also equally excited about the team’s future and the players who will start after they’re gone. There are five tenets of Strawberry Crest football as Prior is building the program: playing great defense, winning on special teams, committing to the run, controlling what can be controlled and, most importantly, competing in every snap in every game. If the Chargers can do all of that, Prior said, things can finally turn around in the “wins” column. “I think the biggest thing for us and what we want to do is to worry about us,” Prior said. “Right now, all we talk about is King. That’s our first game. We want to take that one week at a time. We want to worry about ourselves. We control whether we turn over the ball. We control our assignments and things like that. Most of the time in the game of football, those are the things that beat you. We want to control the things that we can control as much as possible and focus on ourselves first and foremost.” The players came back in the offseason hungry, ready to try

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH COVID-19 AND THIS SEASON? Have a question about how the 2020 football season (and, to an extent, other fall sports’ 2020 seasons) will work with a pandemic in play? You may find your answer here in this Q&A-style cheat sheet.

JUSTIN KLINE SPORTS/ASSOCIATE EDITOR

ather than write at length about the decisions made, what went into them and how we even got here in the first place, we wanted to make this a little easier on everyone. So, we’re using this little section of the 2020 Football Preview to answer questions you may have about how things are going to work and what you can do as a fan to enjoy the high school sports experience in what’s likely a completely different way than you’re used to. Q: Can you make a long story into a short one and remind me how we got here? A: I can try. Our area teams couldn’t play their spring games because of COVID, so the most anybody could do was go outside for conditioning workouts, lift weights and get in some positional drills for a while — in several phases enacted over time — without pads or full use of the ball. That put pretty much everybody light years behind their usual schedule. The FHSAA board started having serious discussions in July about when and how to restart the season so everyone could practice again, but those meetings were largely abysmal for those of us watching from home and no official guidance or direction came from them until mid-August. So, we restarted practice on Aug. 24, Hillsborough County opted to restart regular-season competition this week and now we’re picking up the football regular season in what was originally supposed to be Week 3. Q: If we’ve already missed so much time, how is this season even going to work? A: We’re literally just going to jump right in and finish out the remainder of the schedules. Some counties started playing last week, some will start this week and others will start afterward. There will be some wiggle room for teams to add a game in the week after their scheduled Week 11 contest, but others will get a play-in game for the state series. All games our teams missed are just canceled, but they can be made up later if both parties want to do that. Q: What happens if an athlete or coach tests positive for COVID? A: They and anyone on the team who was recently in close contact with them has to quarantine for 10 to 14 days. That can be as small as a position group or as big as an entire roster. And that player is not coming back to play, or that coach is not coming back to coach, until cleared by a physician. Remember what I said earlier about teams having freedom to make up canceled dates? Hillsborough High School and Jefferson High School just had to do that: they both had a player test positive and rescheduled their Sept. 11 season-opening game to Nov. 6 because of it. Their scheduled Sept. 11 opponents, Gaither and Chamberlain, will play each other tomorrow night. Q: Do you think (insert team here) will make the playoffs this year? A: Yes, because everyone who opts in for the State Series by Sept. 18 is guaranteed a playoff spot. Q: Wait, what? It’s that simple? A: Yes, and it gets even weirder than that. There are no districts this year, so the only trophies anyone will win before getting to regionals or states are rivalry trophies. And out here, unless something new slipped under my radar, that’s just the Redman Cup. The new RPI system that debuted last year (and cost Plant City a playoff spot by a microscopic percentage point) is going bye-bye in favor of a blind draw for seeding. The FHSAA will do all that on Oct. 26. Q: If there are no more districts, how are they gonna group schools together for the state series? A: After that Sept. 18 opt-in deadline, the FHSAA will redraw all classes besides 1A Rural, which does not affect us at all. Our teams will likely be in the 5A-8A range, and the FHSAA said that means “if there are more than 16 teams in your region, Nov. 13, 2020 will be a play-in State Series game. Example: Seed 16 will play seed 17. If there is no play-in game, you may play another opponent that week. Home team will be determined by coin flip.” So, assuming our teams all stay in that class group, we have regional quarterfinal games on Nov. 20, regional semis on Nov. 27, regional finals Dec. 4, state semis from Dec. 10-12 and state championships from Dec. 17-19. Q: Can’t wait to go watch my team! Well… I can still go to games, right? A: It’s complicated.

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Q: Isn’t everything? A: So you can go watch a game in-person, but that’s assuming certain conditions are met. If you’re an administrator, you’re good to go. For the rest of you, there’s a catch. Every athlete, band member and cheerleader participating in an event is allowed to invite up to four fans to buy a ticket online by no later than the Wednesday before that specific game. If you’re a card-carrying booster, you don’t need to buy the ticket — you just need

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File photo

Though football fans can still attend games, it won’t look anything like it did in the past thanks to the county’s pandemic-prompted procedures.

the invitation. Those fans will sit together in their own assigned “pods” in the bleachers. If you’re a fan of the away team, you can only get such a privilege from the athletes because your band and cheerleaders won’t perform at the game. You show digital proof of ticket purchase at the gate, go through security measures and you’re in. Hopefully you brought your face mask, because Hillsborough County Public Schools requires you to wear it while on school property. You’ll know where to sit because everything will be marked and spaced apart. Here’s the example provided by HCPS, which is supposed to be a mock-up of Plant City High School’s field:

Q: How am I supposed to get excited about the season if I can’t go watch any games? A: Actually, you can still watch the games. All you need is an Internet connection and an NFHS Network membership. NFHS will broadcast all games (and we’re not just talking about football here) live on its website, NFHSNetwork.com, and you can pay either $9.99 monthly or $69 annually to watch whatever you want. You can watch high school sports from all over Florida and the rest of the country that way, too. Q: Cool, cool. So, how do you think (insert team here) will do this year? A: I know I normally write a column with my predictions for each upcoming season, but our teams lost so much time and restarted practice so soon before the start of the regular season that it’s really hard to say without having a preseason, any spring games and other important offseason activities. I’m gonna borrow something all of the coaches have told me: we’re gonna get through this season “one day at a time” and see where the road takes us. I do have one wish: because media have been assigned to stand in a specific area near the end zone and I can’t roam around the sidelines snapping photos like normal, I really, really need our teams to score touchdowns in whichever end zone we’re next to. My camera lens can only zoom so far out. Anyone who wants to solve that problem and donate $16,299.99 plus tax to the Observer to get us an 800mm Nikon telephoto lens from Best Buy’s website can get in touch with Managing Editor Sarah Holt at sholt@ plantcityobserver.com.

Justin Kline is the Sports Editor at the Plant City Times & Observer. Email: jkline@ plantcityobserver. com.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

BEST OF THE BEST: 2019 Sports Editor Justin Kline builds a “fantasy team” with 2019’s top players.

OFFENSE QB: Makenzie Kennedy, Plant City Makenzie Kennedy’s lone season as the Raiders’ starting quarterback saw the senior complete 52 percent of his pass attempts for 1,549 yards and 16 touchdowns against 13 interceptions. But Kennedy brought a new wrinkle to the Plant City offense: though predecessor Braxton Plunk was known to use his legs to extend some plays, Kennedy thrived on the run and contributed 420 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. RB1: Zamir’ Knighten, Plant City Zamir’ Knighten was once again the most productive running back in the Plant City area, having finished his final high school season with 816 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 102 carries for the Raiders. He also carved up Jesuit’s defense to the tune of 143 yards and a touchdown in the season opener, including an 81-yard run that sent Raider Nation into a frenzy. RB2: L.J. Gappy, Durant L.J. Gappy and Eli Reed had very similar season outputs — both finished with 556 yards and six touchdowns — so to pick one for the RB2 spot is like splitting hairs. And what separates Gappy here in the backfield is his efficiency: he racked up that many yards on fewer touches (76 versus 99) and had two more 100-yard outings (three versus one). WR1: Mario Williams, Plant City The No. 1 wide receiver in America saw his stats dip a bit in 2019 as the Raiders underwent a quarterback change, but he was still the engine that made Plant City go. He started the season with 169 yards and three touchdowns against Jesuit and also shined in Plant City’s thriller against Bloomingdale, when he turned three catches into 151 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. WR2: Reagan Ealy, Plant City If Mario Williams wasn’t open when the ball needed to leave Makenzie Kennedy’s hand, Reagan Ealy was. The Raiders’ WR2 caught 32 passes for 431 yards and four touchdowns, proving himself to be a reliable safety valve in his junior season. The Williams-Ealy one-two punch was the most effective in the Plant City area in 2019.

FLEX: Eli Reed, Durant I couldn’t have L.J. Gappy in this list and ignore a fine season from Eli Reed, Durant’s fullback. You could switch their positions in this list and it wouldn’t bother me at all. Reed gets a nod here not only for his success running the ball, but also for his flex value as a receiver. In fact, Reed was the Cougars’ leading receiver in the flexbone-heavy offense, bringing in seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. OL: Durant For me, this was another toss-up. I can see the case you could make for either Durant or Plant City here and I’ll respect your opinion either way. I’m picking the Cougars’ o-line here for now, though. Durant had a ton of players run the ball in 2019 — 15 of them, to be exact — and its commitment to the flexbone led to the Cougars almost exclusively calling running plays. So I compared both schools’ top five rushing leaders in total carries and yards and found that while Plant City did average one more full yard per carry, the Cougars turned 80 more runs into 243 more yards on the season. Durant also finished with 22 rushing touchdowns to Plant City’s 21. K: Chris Rodriguez, Plant City Chris Rodriguez finishes for the second year in a row as the area’s most successful kicker. Rodriguez connected on six of his eight field goal attempts and 38 of 40 PAT attempts, which created 56 points for the season — good for second-most among all Raiders. And to be perfectly fair to Rodriguez, you can’t count the two unsuccessful field goal attempts as misses because both were blocked by the Armwood and Bloomingdale defenses, respectively. DEFENSE DB1: Antron Robinson, Plant City For the last two seasons, Plant City could always count on Antron Robinson’s consistency in the secondary. Robinson served as a team captain in his senior season and didn’t disappoint: he finished 2019 with a team and career-high) 79 total tackles (8.8 per game), led all Raiders with five passes defensed and tied for a team-high two forced fumbles. DB2: Latarus Wanser, Plant City Latarus Wanser got one year with the Raiders and made it

count. The Hillsborough transfer finished 2019 with 56 total tackles, tied for the team lead with two forced fumbles, blocked a field goal in Plant City’s 42-6 win over East Bay and snagged two interceptions, one of which he returned 35 yards for a touchdown in a 49-13 win over Kathleen. DB3: Lenny Woods, Durant Lenny Woods’ junior season at Durant was a good one and he proved to be a reliable presence for the Cougars. He led the team with five passes defensed and also chipped in with 33 total tackles, an interception against Riverview, a forced fumble against Lakeland and a blocked field goal in the win over Kathleen. LB1: Tanner Gibbs, Plant City Plant City’s tradition of good linebacker play continued in 2019 and Tanner Gibbs is proof of that. Gibbs’ 69 total tackles didn’t lead the team in 2019, but the senior practically lived in the offensive backfield and racked up 13.5 tackles for loss (3.5 sacks) on the season. He also forced two fumbles and scooped up one loose ball last season. LB2: Joshua Cannon, Durant Durant turned to Joshua Cannon to be a positive force in the locker room and on the field in 2019, and the thenjunior delivered. Cannon led all Cougars with 75 total tackles (and assisted on a team-high 39 tackles) and recovered a fumble against Blake in a 27-6 win. LB3: Keyshawn Green, Plant City Keyshawn Green split time at linebacker and defensive end for the Raiders in 2019 and made his presence felt. Green finished 2019 with 49 tackles (11 for loss) and 4.5 sacks, defensed three passes, scooped up two fumbles and forced one, picked off a pass against Kathleen and blocked a punt against Bloomingdale. DL: Plant City The Raiders’ defensive line had little problem generating pressure and getting to the quarterback last season, helping the team finish with 21 sacks (2.1 per game). The star of the show was Emmanuel Baez, who had an excellent senior year. Baez led all Raiders with 79 total tackles, 7.5 sacks for a loss of 66 yards, three forced fumbles, two passes defensed and one blocked field goal against Lakeland.

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2019 IN PICTURES

he 2019 Plant City-area

football season was a fun ride and the Plant City Observer had a front-row seat. As always, we’ve rounded up some of the staff’s favorite photos from last season to share before the new season officially kicks off. Check out more photos on plantcityobserver.com and keep an eye out for this week’s pictures from the 2020 season opener at Plant City High School.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

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HISTORIC FOTTBALL PHOTOS

Photos courtesy of the Plant City Photo Archives and History Center

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

A LOOK BACK AT 2019’S YOUTH FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PUSHES

Area teams found some success on the gridiron, made their leagues’ playoffs and won titles. JUSTIN KLINE SPORTS/ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Plant City-area youth football teams gave fans a glimpse at the high school stars of tomorrow and also shined bright with some championship hardware. In the MidFlorida Football and Cheerleading Conference, the Plant City Colts’ Mitey Mite and Pee Wee teams followed up on strong regular season campaigns with a pair of district championship wins on Oct. 26. The Mitey Mites beat the Childs Park Rattlers 12-6 thanks to tough second-half defense and Dalton Chatman’s heroics at the goal line, and the Pee Wees beat the Zephyrhills Bulldogs by a score of 14-7 on the strength of two touchdowns (one on offense, one on defense) from Ta’vare Miller. Though both Colts teams didn’t get any further in their conference playoffs, it was still a season to be proud of. In the Tri-County Youth Football and Cheerleading Conference, all five Plant City Dolphins teams and the Turkey Creek Trojans’ Pee Wee team made it to the 2019 playoffs. The Dolphins eliminated the Trojans in the first round and, after

the Pinecrest Pilots shut out the varsity Dolphins in the first round, four PCD teams kept going all the way to the Superbowl. The Mighty Mites wrecked the New Tampa Wildcats, 53-12, when King Howard scored seven of the team’s eight total touchdowns and Michael Davis scored the other one with a 38-yard dash. The Pee Wees beat the Southwest Junior Saints, 19-14, in the Pee Wee championship on the strength of three rushing touchdowns by Dylan Brewington and a clutch shoestring tackle by Howard’s brother Kanyne that saved the day as time expired. The Midgets entered a battle of unbeaten teams and came out ahead with a 14-0 win over the Lakeland Eagles. Nothing happened in the first half, but the Dolphins made some adjustments and came out swinging on

both sides in the second. Rodney Coleman blew up the Eagles’ offensive line and the running back tandem of Kameron Battle and Reagan Korlacki scored both touchdowns on the ground. The Junior Varsity team, however, took a 43-0 loss to Pinecrest. Shortly after the TCYFCC championships, the Dolphins hosted their inaugural Strawberry Jam Turkey Bowl and all four PCD teams that competed (6U, 8U, 10U-D1 and 12U-D1) won their brackets. The year closed out with the return of the annual United Youth Football League national championships. The Dolphins won championships in the 10U All-American D2 and 15U All-Star brackets.

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

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