Ruskin, FL – If you ever find yourself about 30 minutes South of Downtown Tampa around the City of Ruskin, you might feel like you’re in another county and/or country compared to what you’ve just left behind which is best described as crowded, noisy and full of clogged roadways. Even though you may appear to be in the middle of the country and it would be completely appropriate to find a cattle ranch somewhere nearby, you may be surprised what kind of “Longhorns” may actually appear.
I’m talking about the Lennard High School Longhorns under the direction of Head Coach George Edington. Started as a means to relieve the overcrowding issues at East Bay High School, the ‘Horns have seen a yearly progress since their inception in 2006. Last year, Lennard was 5-5 although Edington feels like that could’ve looked drastically different if not for a few breaks; “We were about two and a half/three minutes from going 7-3.” A Special Teams breakdown against Middleton certainly in one of those left them feeling like one that got away, but Edington doesn’t dwell on the potential fore what could have been now. “It is what it is, you’re 5-5 and that what it says.”
The Longhorns have some obstacles in front of them however which makes their steady improvement such a promising thing. Ruskin is a community heavily populated and influenced by the Hispanic Community which in theory might not bode well for a sport such as football. However, it doesn’t stop Edington from seeing things moving in the right direction.
“Nothing’s been easy, but the numbers are increasing. It seems like every year we’ve been able to replace the guys we’ve lost.” One of those guys that certainly contributes to the program and is well on his way to representing Lennard at the next level is Junior David Sanders. The 6’1″ 220lb OLB averaged over 11 tackles per game last season and earns some pretty high praise both on and off the field from his coach. “I feel like he’s the best LB in the county,” said Edington. “He reads the play so quick he doesn’t even need to be fast.” This could also be due to the fact Sanders carries a 5.1 GPA and will certainly lead to his name being on the lists of schools such as the Ivy League.
Lennard also finds themselves within the biggest district (8-5A) in the city this Fall, something that Edington says is not necessarily a good thing, but one he’ll accept. He did point out that the challenge is unique. “Depending on your schedule, you could end up being out of the title run before the midpoint of the season.”
As far as this season looks going into Spring, The ‘Horns lose over 90% of their rushing offense statistically from last season, but it’s not going to stop them from what they’ve been doing nor dampen the confidence level of Eddington and his Staff. “We should be a little bit better than we were last year.” With questions at Offensive Line and Defensive End, Edington was confident that one area that would improve is at passing. “We should be much improved at throwing the ball this year.” The Longhorns run a Wing-T, but do get into a Spread Formation. Edington says they have separate packages for each.
Lennard will face rival East Bay in their season opener on September 2nd as well as face Berkeley Prep in their only other non-district matchup.