The skill guys have all the fun and get all the glory. That’s okay; let them have it. The big fellas in the trenches already know those skill guys can’t-do-squat without their help, so they just sit back and laugh amongst themselves knowing the “real” battles occur once the ball is snapped and not on the edge or in the backfield. The battles for yardage and ultimately determining the outcome of games begins and ends with the big-boys at the line of scrimmage. Sunday afternoon at BCP’s “Bull in the Ring” at Larry SandersPark was proof-positive that the guys that play on the line are cut from a much different cloth, and that whenever you need a teammate to back you up in a “tight spot”, don’t call the QB or the wide receiver; call one of your “hogs” (not dogs) that come with bad intentions.
The competition was as hot as the 100+-degree temperatures on the field, especially during individuals. Throughout the day players could be heard shouting and needing to be separated as claims of holding and other nefarious deeds were shouted at the offender. Coaches would acknowledge “yay” or “nay” to their claims and the beat would go on. In some cases, even when the call would be obvious to Ray Charles, coaches would walk away expressing their desires to take clones of certain players citing, “you can teach technique, but you can’t teach that ‘dawg’ I just saw.”
The day ended with East Lake #1 team taking home the team championship for the third consecutive year riding the strength of a first place sled push performance; pushing 50 yards in just 13 seconds. The #1 squad featuring Julian Santos (East Lake entered 8 teams in the competition) also took third in their individual and finished fourth in the obstacles to give them an overall score that just edged out Plant’s “Gold” team which was led by Felipe Fernandez. The Panthers won the “Tug o’ War” competition and finished fourth in their sled push.
Finishing third was a first-timer to the event, Palm Harbor University’s (Blue) squad. The Hurricanes actually led the individual points component of the event throughout the day and were led by Anthony Didden’s 166 points-earned for his team. Didden’s 17.1 seconds on the big-ball course that required hand-eye plus footwork was one of the highest scores in that rotation for the day. Rounding out the top five were Countryside and Boone out of Orlando. The Cougars’ Andrew Brown earned his squad 145 points for the first-year entrants to the Bull in the Ring and the Cougars were the winners of the team relay. Boone’s Colby Ritten (6-foot-2, 225-pounds) flipped the tire 23 times, scored a phenomenal time in the torpedo walk and big ball course en route to earning 170 points for the Braves.
Other highlights of the day include a 13th-place finish by Zephyrhills Christian Academy. The Warriors are entering their first year of 11-man football and were paced by Darrell Cook’s 174 points. Gaither’s A. Cruz-Gomez earned 147 points for the Cowboys (Silver) team that finished in seventh place. Kathleen’s Justin Andrews had the highest point total in the entire ‘A’ rotation with 172 points, while Durant’s Garrett Wait took honors for top points in the ‘B’ rotation with 184 points that featured the sled reel-in, the prowler, and the 9-cone.
Wharton’s Godey Coleus was a beast on the dumbbell press, putting up 41 reps with 65-pounds in each hand. In addition to helping his Wildcats reach the finals of the Tug o’ War event, Coleus (an Executives invitee) racked up 169 points individually for his team. Weeki Wachee’s Thomas Tolbert, a strong performer at Ignite and E7 helped the Hornets reach 11th-place overall, posting a 6.24-second torpedo walk; which was good enough for third-best time in his entire rotation. Gainesville’s Dylan Kanya was second best overall in the sled reel-in at 7.5 seconds as the Hurricanes finished in 19th-place overall. Sunlake’s Bryce James Cooley, a 6-foot-5, 250-pounder put up 171 points overall during individuals and had the eight-best time in the big ball course.
Freedom’s Xavier Hardy put in some quality work earning the top time in the prowler course at 22.59 seconds. Pinellas Park’s Billy Daughtry posted 138 points in his rotation to help the Patriots with an impressive 9.7-seconds on the sled reel-in. Finally, it was Plant CIty’s Josh Crowell, one of three football-playing Crowell’s to come from that program over the past few years posted a very solid 20 reps on the dumbbell press and a 21.43 cone course for the Raiders.
Be sure to check out for more as we continue to breakdown performances from the Bull in the Ring and E7 on the podcast this Tuesday. We will also be announcing the next round of invites for Executives.