HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY PINELLAS COUNTY THE BOX

Hillsborough versus Pinellas

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Hillsborough County has come a long way in regards to football. The number of state champions, title game appearances and D1 players speaks volumes. But how does Pinellas stack up to Hillsborough for the 2011 season by position?

Offense

Quarterback

Greg Windham and Bennie Coney, highlight the quarterbacks in Hillsborough county and behind them are some highly anticipated prospects.  But, the proven ability of Gray Crow, Pete Dinovo, Louie Pappas, Billy Pavlock and Juwan Brown push Pinellas past Hillsborough in this race.

 

Running Back

Pinellas County returns three 1K rushers this season and 5 others who rushed for 700 yards or more.  Hillsborough County returns four players who rushed for over 1K in 2010, but then there is a huge drop off.  The next top yard gainer did not reach 500 yards.

 

Receiver

Hillsborough County owns this position partly because of the number of teams in the county that run the spread offense and partly because of the talent at the position.  Travis Johnson, Chris Murray, Austin Aikens, and Lamarlin Wiggins work the top of the ranks in Hillsborough.

 

Tight End

Tight Ends call Pinellas “home”.  Hillsborough County is predominantly a spread offense county, while Pinellas has not lost the value of a true tight end.  Chris Skukalek, Stphen Buric, Sean Culkin and Tyree Graves are all D1 prospects and dominate at their position.

 

Offensive Line

Bring on the beef.  Armwood, Tampa Catholic and Jesuit have the most bulk, with Steinbrenner and TBT not far behind.  But East Lake, Countyside, Lakewood and Clearwater Central Catholic have size of their own.  As a unit, this group is pretty even.

 

Defense

Defensive Line

Sorry Pinellas, this one was easy.  I have not seen a Pinellas school with 3-4 monsters upfront on a singal team like Armwood, TBT, Plant, HIllsborough or Jesuit.

 

Line Backers

Each county has some individually good backers, but as a unit, Hillsborough County makes a statement.  Largo and Countryside have a good bunch, but not at the level of Armwood, Plant, TC and even Gaither.

 

Secondary

Off talent alone, Pinellas and Hillsborough could be dead even.  But as a complete unit, It is hard to argue with the teams in Hillsborough.  The number of D1 prospects doesn’t hurt either.  Pinellas Park, Tarpon Springs and East Lake have good secondaries, but the list is a little longer in Hillsborough.