LITHIA – The coverage from BCP’s 9-Route Invitational presented by BHSN continues as we highlight some of the moments from the weekend that burned an image in our minds. The Clearwater Tornadoes continued their insane summer of success in the 7-on circuit and brought home the second title for Pinellas County in the tourney’s sixth year of existence. The sixteen teams that attended the event brought their A-list squads in large part, and many of those players on those squads brought their A+ games to match the sweltering July heat.
PUT UP YOUR DUKES…
Wharton’s Trey Dukes did some things this past weekend to say the least. The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder was snatching passes over double and triple-teams with ease and may have caused us to re-re-evaluate where this young man belongs among the area’s best receivers. The University of Central Florida commit hauled-in a last-seond Hail Mary to defeat Northeast in the opening round of 16 in the afternoon sparking a classic dog-pile celebration. The Wildcats return 14 starters and with a Martin-Dukes combo on offense and a Godey Coleus-Richard Drummond combo on the defensive line, Wharton’s a team we could be talking about exponentially more than we have this summer, come this fall.
ABOUT THAT LAST PLAY…
The ending of the Wharton vs. Northeast game in the opening round of elimination was perhaps the best one of the entire weekend. Wharton’s Trey Dukes hauled-in the Bryce Martin pass in the back corner of the end zone beating three defenders to its highest point and bringing it to the ground before the countless arms of defenders could knock it out of his hands. The celebration resembled that of a MLB no-hitter or World Series post-final out, but that was because it was a collective sigh of relief coupled with the instantaneous response to Northeast’ score just before that which should have seen the Vikings advance. It should be noted that endings like that, when its 2:00pm and the Heat Index is 110+ and with a judgement call needing to be made can end in complete disaster with complaints and even bruhaha’s. Not the case here, as the Vikings took the heartbreaker in stride and with class after seeing their extremely strong showing on the day come to an abrupt end.
NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN AIN’T TRYING TO LISTEN TO YOUR, “BUT YOU’RE A SMALL SCHOOL” NONSENSE…
We thought they would compete, and compete they did. Oh, what could have been if pool play goes a little but different. Northside went 1-3 during the round-robin portion, but their three losses came by a total of 7 points. There was a 33-32 loss to Largo that came down to ONE play, then there was a hard-fought 19-14 loss to Plant, and then a 13-12 loss to East Bay before beating the finalists Lake Gibson 14-6 in the final game. Their day came to an end with a 24-13 loss to the Indians in a rematch from game #3, but keep your eyes wide open for the Mustangs this fall. We’ve mentioned players like Darius Williams and Josh Snead, but QB Griffin Alstott was spinning it and WR Derrick Wright (5-9/145) was an absolute problem for DB’s this weekend. Add RB/WR Kamen Wilmington to that mix and it feels like Northside’s offensive numbers could be ridiculous this fall, wins and losses notwithstanding.
Just ONE MORE play…JUST ONE MORE
The difference between success and failure in this format isn’t mutually exclusive than the difference when the pads come on. It’s still about execution and proper decision-making under stress. If you look at some of the results from the pool play games, you can see that things could have been MUCH different if some teams could make just one more play on offense. Newsome’s only two losses in pool play came by a grand total of two points, while they were the only team to defeat Clearwater the entire weekend. We mentioned that Northside Christian was seven points in three games total from being a Top 5 seed and undefeated along with the Wolves. Steinbrenner went 3-1 during losing to TBT by a 20-13 score and then late to Largo 20-14. The name of the game is still to score points and prevent the other team from doing so. Sounds simple enough, but if it were so simple everyone would be doing it. Unforced errors like INT’s on passes downfield into double and triple coverage when you can still work your way down the field can cost you just as much with the pads off, as they do when they are on.
PROPS TO THE CHAMPIONS…
Clearwater certainly earned it. Following that loss to Newsome in the final round of pool play by one point was the equivalent of taking a fly-swatter to a hornets nest. The afternoon session saw them have to play Countryside, a rematch with Newsome in which they left nothing to be chanced by winning 21-6 and then they defeated the 2014 Champions Tampa Bay Tech 24-21 in absolute classic 7-on-7 game. They dug themselves a hole down 14-0 during the championship game, but kept their composure and played like the champions they eventually proved themselves to be. That kind of mental strength is perhaps more important than anything else they can develop this season. We already are quite aware of what they can do on the outside, now it’s time to become elite on the inside and become a complete football team. We wish the Tornadoes luck as they represent the state this weekend in Georgia at the southeast regional 7-on-7 tournament. We also give sincere props to the runners-up from Lake Gibson for their extremely classy effort and to everyone involved with that program.
PROPS TO EVERYONE FOR THAT MATTER…
While we’re at it, we should thank everyone that came whether fans or players or coaches. Aside from the anticipated moments of frustration and adversity, there wasn’t a single thing we would’ve changed this past weekend. Big County Preps is blessed to have the constituents that it does and we’d like to thank EVERYONE for their competition, their time and resources, and most importantly; their patience and positivity. From the kids, to the adults that coached the kids up to the staff that manned the concession stands, to the television crew and beyond the entire weekend can be deemed a huge success from our vantage point and this years’ tournament from a complete cross-sectional view has reset the standard for these types of events. We at BCP want to say “THANK YOU” from the bottom of our hearts for your commitment to this special event.