It’s our weekly trip to the barber shop to get that fresh fade or shape-up. There’s already enough story-lines to keep us talking well into the month of October, yet we aren’t even out of August. More points tallied on scoreboards than on the Dow Jones–rushing yardage accrued at a greater rate than the United States’ westward expansion and this is just week one? Yeah, we’ll have some of that. Make sure you take a little off the top and trim the eyebrows. Otherwise you might get ’em singed if you get to close to the fireworks that went off last Friday. Here now, are the best cuts from week one.
If you’re going to do it, then do it big PHU…
East Lake’s 25-game regular season winning streak snapped by Palm Harbor University on a 99-yard drive. That’s the definition of making them earn–and then said team earning “it”. Palm Harbor was 1-9 last season and 24-29 over the last five seasons while East Lake is 54-11 in that same time span.
Devan Barrett’s 250 yards on 11 carries and 3 touchdowns vs. Indian Rocks Christian…
Along with Austin Sessums’ model of efficiency 7-of-10 for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns performance…that’s 58% of Barrett’s total rushing yardage in one game and nearly 50% of his total touchdowns on the ground from last year in his first game of this season. BCP’s number-one for the Class of 2017 is certainly cementing his status in that top spot.
Glass Wilson V’s 293 total yards and 3 touchdown performance…
Against Weeki Wachee along with Weeki’s Alec Cromie and his 5 touchdowns from the QB position as Ridgewood defeated Weeki Wachee 35-34. Shawn O’Gorman wanted a piece of that action getting on the receiving end of 5 passes for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns. That rushing output (255 yards) is precisely 38% of Wilson V’s total yardage on the ground from last season accrued in just one game by the way.
Fivay’s Cyler Doran (346 yards, 4TD’s) and Dylan Hartley (9rec-215yds) in their win…
Plus Hernando’s rushing performance (364 yards) in a game that had 81 points (41-40 in OT) and over 800 yards of total offense…not much you can add to a game that could simply be dubbed as a Friday-Night-Fiesta of Scoring. The two defensive staffs may not be excited about the fireworks, but we certainly won’t be losing sleep over an instant classic.
150:
The total number of points in those two games alone between Weeki, Ridgewood, Hernando and Fivay. Ridgewood and Fivay are making this a week one habit it appears as the two teams played to an 87-point total that ended in a Ridgewood victory 47-40. Last season, Hernando and Ridgewood averaged just 15 points per game while the Hornets managed 12 a game and Fivay put up an average of 21-points per contest. All four are hoping regardless of wins and losses this offensive output remains “on fleek” for sure.
What’s better than 100? The answer: 200…
Lennard’s Jahyrn Bailey and Zephyrhills’ Antoine Simms want a piece of that 200-club. According to the Tampa Bay Times, 19 running backs compiled 100+ games and four of them went for over 200-yards the first weekend of action. Along with Barrett and Wilson, the ‘Horns and ‘Dogs had running backs do some big things as well. Bailey has the opportunity to put up similar numbers this week versus King while Simms will have his hands full against a stingy Sunlake Defense, but it won’t stop the ‘Dogs from giving him the rock and from Simms doing his best to reach that mark again.
This isn’t Arena ball, y’all…
Cambridge Christian’s 77 points versus Landmark Christian…the Lancers averaged 45 points a game in 2014 and apparently think hanging a 70-burger on an opponent is part of the status quo. While some teams won’t score a total of 77 points until weeks six or seven, Cambridge lit up the scoreboard against Landmark. Last September, the Lancers defeated 1A Hawthorne 76-6 in week three.
Lake Region’s OT win versus Haines City…
No witty headline here–just a solid, gutty performance that deserves some pub. The Thunder had been struck by Haines City the past two seasons by a combined score of 60-7. Region is 13-games under .500 the past three seasons (8-21) and were in need of a new head coach just weeks ago. The series is now tied at 3-3 over the last six years.
These ‘Cats right here…
Wharton’s Shannon King and Miles Williams combined for 299 yards in their victory over King plus Tre Dukes goes for 140 yards on just five receptions. What’s a running back have to do to get an EXTRA YARD these days? The Wildcats are building momentum on offense and are ready to pounce on some unsuspecting teams. A big game vs. Robinson awaits the Wildcats week two.
Welcome to the City of River Ridge…
2,700 – River Ridge vs. Mitchell announced attendance. Pasco and Zephyrhills may play in front of thousands and it may be the preeminent rivalry game in the county, but a couple of teams on the west side of Pasco that are less than 8 miles apart have a heated rivalry of their own. Mitchell was actually built to alleviate River Ridge and some of Mitchell’s staff are RRHS Grads. The Royal Knights have several coaches in the area that are alumni at head coaching positions as a matter of fact. To those in attendance on Friday Night up at River Ridge, leaving the parking lot might have felt like leaving the BCS title game in rush hour traffic combined. Putting that attendance in perspective, the Royal Knights’ stadium and its patrons would have made them a larger city than Carabelle, Port Richey, Williston, Homosassa, Apalachicola and Lake Placid on Friday evening.