Yet another week is in the books and yet another trip to the barber shop for a quick shape-up is needed. Some teams are in need of getting an entirely new style, while others are walking out of the shop looking like a million bucks. Here’s some of the best cuts from the weekend that was…
If you’re D. Smith and you’re in Hernando County–you’re the D-MANNNN…
Nature Coast and Brooksville-Central meet this week in their district opener, and boy-oh-boy de have a couple of studs waiting to go at it for the Sharks and the Bears. We talked about Pasco County having a bevy of rushers that will sit atop the statistical categories in the rushing department, but Hernando’s got some gems of their own. NCT’s DeShawn Smith rushed for 283 yards on 18 carries in their win over Springstead last week to give the young man 674 yards on 53 carries and TWELVE touchdowns through the first three games. That’s good for an average of 224 yards per game and four touchdowns. Brooksville-Central’s De’Vonta Smith went berserk versus Fivay in the Bears victory rushing for 346 yards on jut 15 carries to give the junior running back a total of 619 yards on 56 carries and six touchdowns. He’s averaging 206 yards per game. You probably want to go check this game out if you’re in the North Suncoast region this Friday. Just sayin’
You know who is also THEE man?
Earl Garcia. That’s who. The head man at Hillsborough won his 200th game as the Head Coach of the Terriers this past friday versus Gaither in a shutout 17-0. Congratulations to Coach Garcia and thank you for everything you’ve done for this football community through the years, coach.
The Walking Wounded…
The injuries just keep piling up. This is not exactly considered “the best” from the week, but important nonetheless die to the high-profile nature of the names and the positions. Robinson’s Malik Tyson was injured versus Plant suffering an ankle injury, Northeast’s Jalynn Williams was held out of their game versus Gibbs due to an ankle injury, Wiregrass Ranch’s Chris Faddoul picked up a leg injury in their game versus Sunlake, Ridgewood’s Glass Wilson V separated his shoulder in their game versus Mitchell. This is also in addition to Jesuit’s Malik Davis tweaking his knee last week. All of them expect to return–although the extent of Tyson and Faddoul’s injuries are yet unknown.
This is what should be expected…
When you have exceptional talent–you’re never too far out of the game. When you’ve got exceptional talent that’s young and just needs to sort out the issues on the field–you can expect a roller coaster ride. East Lake’s going to be just fine. Although they gave up 575 total yards of offense to Lake Brantley in their loss last Friday, rest assured LBHS is going to do that to nearly ALL of their opponents this season win or lose. The Eagles’ biggest challenge is to never stay down on the mat and to posses amnesia when things go south. They got a very good look at the things that St. Petersburg will try to do them this week since Brantley does some very similar things to the Green Devils on offense–so expect to get a true test of where the Eagles and their youth movement stand this week in their district opener that will be televised.
Go buy a lottery ticket with these numbers…
Largo’s John Clark and King’s Otis Williams almost gave us something that only numbers-geeks would love. The two–on opposite sides of the bridges–rushed for nearly identical yardage on identical carries. Clark finished the game against Tarpon Springs with 115 yards on 17 carries while Williams finished with 116 yards on 17 carries.
The weekly strive for five…
Every week there seems to be someone personally recording as many touchdowns as some teams will struggle to record in multiple games. This week, it’s Mitchell Larry DallaBetta. The junior QB lit the Ridgewood Defense and the scoreboard for five scores in the Mustangs rout. DallaBetta threw for four TD’s while rushing for one last Friday.
Your weekly DJ Johnson update…
This kid seems to be turning into a one-man offensive machine for the Gladiators. Johnson poured in five touchdowns in Gibbs’ victory last week, and this week all he did was tally 67 yards more than Wharton and TBT combined for total yardage in their game. Johnson threw for 279 yards and rushed for 103 and totaled four TD’s in Gibbs’ 30-3 defeat of Northeast. Johnson now has 1,116 total yards and 11 touchdowns on the season averaging 372 yards per game by himself on offense.
Dooorant is doing good things…
The Cougars are 3-0 with a ton of underclassmen on their roster so the future appears to be shining bright. The last time Durant started the season 3-0 was in 2012 when they didn’t lose a game until the second round of the playoffs to Newsome 21-14. QB Carlton Potter was a model of efficiency against their rivals this past Friday going 9-of-12, for 114 yards and a touchdown. The Cougars will face East Bay in a huge district opener this weekend for both squads.
Beastmode…
Sickles’ Cameron Miler must’ve looked like a Gryphon in the human form the way he was flying to the ball against Jefferson last week. The Gryphons got their first win over the Dragons in program history and thanks to this young man’s effort on defense Sickles has pitched two shutouts through their first two games. Miller was credited for 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, two QB pressures and a bevy of tackles. Miller now has 7.5 sacks on the season and will probably have more sacks than a double-digit number of teams by the end of the season at the pace he’s on.
Hook ‘Em…
Lennard’s Jahyrn Bailey is doing his best to keep up with the Smith’s in Hernando, Antwoine Sims at Zephyrhils and anybody else that’s gaining more yards on the ground than the Louisiana Purchase each week. Bailey carried the weight of his squad last week versus King to help the ‘Horns get to 2-0 with 213 yards on 34 carries. That gives the running back 432 yards on 53 carries through two games–good for an average of 216 yards per game.
Viking conquest…
Lakeland Christian’s apparently not missing a beat. Transfer QB Tyler Wilkerson has come over from Auburndale and led the Vikings to a 3-0 record on the season and completing 66-percent of his passes in doing so. He’s found his favorite weapon in RB Marlow–who’s caught 15 passes for 361 yards and five touchdowns thus far.
The Red Devils have got folks on red alert…
Kathleen’s Jules St. Ge tore up George Jenkins on Friday Night in a high-scoring affair. Much wasn’t made of the Red Devils throughout the summer and the preseason, but they’ve got everyone’s attention now. Resounding wins over Lake Gibson, Haines City and Jenkins have given the public a chance to see that K-Leen means business. St. Ge put up 349 yards of total offense and four touchdowns against the Eagles last week and with the high-flying Hawks of Viera from the Space Coast Region coming to town this week–there could be an opportunity for the Devils and St. Ge to serve yet another notice in advance of the brutal district schedule that’s approaching.
Defense–that’s all we’ve got–just god old-fashioned defense…
Lake Region came into last Friday with a 2-0 record and were ready to make some noise against Bartow–but it was the Yellow Jackets that stung early-and-often. Bartow’s Defense held Region to just 19 total yards of offense, holding Region to just 40 plays and with 16 of those plays going for negative yardage. The Jackets are quietly becoming yet another contestant in that District 7A-7 that contains Bartow, Lakeland, Winter Haven and Kathleen and with defensive performances like that–could end up ruining the postseason hopes of some giants.
