Teams:
Jefferson
Jesuit
Middleton
Robinson
Spoto
Trick or Treat…
It all boils down to Halloween Weekend. Although many games in this district should provide great contests during the season, the final weekend of district play should be for all of the postseason marbles. That Friday sees Jefferson travel down to Port Tampa to play Robinson and Spoto will make the trek from Progress Village over to Tampa off Himes to face Jesuit. Those pairings have provided great theatre in the past, so with the potential weight of the postseason looming in the balance these games should straight-up give us fireworks to head into the holiday weekend.
It’s all about the QB’s…
Jesuit will look to solidify the spot following the departures of Trent Wessel and Wes Eveld and Middleton will look to get their ship righted following an 0-10 season with either Michael Edoga or Taaj Pringle. The other teams, especially Jefferson and Robinson seem to have that position all figured out and will lean on their playmakers at those spots to get the job done. Of course we are talking about Robinson’s Malik Tyson and Jefferson’s Cade Weldon. Spoto has the services of ATH Terrance Williams who can play one of three different spots on offense for the Spartans.
And the RB’s…
The irony may end up that even with the special players at QB, that it’s the running backs (or the ground games themselves) that feature as the potential reasons for wins and losses. Jesuit has the district’s best running back and one of the best players in the area in Malik Davis who as a sophomore in 2014 rushed for 1,728 yards and 18 touchdowns for the Tigers. Robinson’s Anfernee Alston, who is also a member of the Class of 2017 was a workhorse for the Knights rushing 137 times last season for 830 yards and nine touchdowns. Cade Weldon got it done with his feet as well as his arm last season rushing for 366 yards and four touchdowns and will pair with Mondreas Lofton who carried the ball 37 times for 227 yards. Spoto must replace Todd Simms’ 1,192 yards from last season, but as mentioned they have the services of Terrance Williams who can make plays with his feet.