The Miners finished 7-3 last season and missed the playoffs following a tiebreaker versus Tampa Catholic. This season, a new classification, district and turning of the page on the calendar gives Fort Meade plenty of reasons to feel good about things. Here are a few questions that come to mind as their game with DeSoto County tomorrow evening nears.
Will the new move help?
The Miners along with Frostproof are down into the rural 1A classification and probably where they’ve belonged all this time regardless of the travel demands and costs associated with it. They will have some serious mileage on the tires accrued with road games at Crescent City and Pahokee. With the talent on their roster however, stepping into the ring with schools in their own weight class should prove to be what the doctor ordered. Just remember to rotate the tires and check the fluids on those buses.
Can we count on the King…and his cast?
The answer should be resounding “yes” in regards to the 5-foot-10, 183-pound running back that hails from the Class of 2016. The Miners can also look to QB Jesse Henson returning for added consistency at the most important position on the field. Several players line-up on both sides of the ball so really the better question is perhaps centered around injuries and the prevention of them. Which, may also prompt a question regarding the next set of lottery numbers if you can predict the future like that.
What can we expect vs. DeSoto County?
The Bulldogs will make the near-40 mile trip north up US-17 returning a pretty good core of players that helped them go 7-3 last season. There isn’t a whole lot of pomp-and-circumstance that surrounds Fort Meade. The Miners will try to work the ball with some efficiency and pair it with some suffocating defense. Fort Meade started the 2014 season 4-0 before having to face some speed bumps against Berkeley Prep and Lakeland Christian in district play. This season it’s Pahokee and Frostproof that perhaps pose the biggest threats. For now, they face a stiff test tomorrow evening when DeSoto faces them on the field.