HUDSON – Yesterday was Tuesday, so that must’ve meant it was Pasco’s time to blow up…on a steamy summer night at Veterans Park on the grounds of the Fivay Recreational Complex. Plenty of good action was witnessed as the boys reach their seventh week of running around in shorts and t-shirts. Here now are a few things that caught the attention from the action.
A week one match-up, that can’t get here fast enough…
First game of the night featured a pair of teams that will lineup for-real, for-real on August 28th at River Ridge when the Royal Knights take on their local rivals from Mitchell. Quarterback Larry DallaBetta was in control of things from the start going 7-for-7 on his first drive and at one point was 21-of-23 with 3 TD’s just taking what the defense gave him and linking up with his talented receiver JJ Lewis for some nice catches. The Royal Knights battled though and we all know how they will operate when the pads come on, so no need to worry about their passing prowess too much. This game in the fall will be the ultimate “styles-make-fights” match-up and quite frankly we can’t wait for it.
The Schawrz may be with them, but they’ve also got this Lempfert kid…
River Ridge may have the leading rusher in the state from last season returning and they may have one of the most underrated offensive lines around the region, but they also can get it done on defense thanks to athletes like OLB/WR/DB Brandon Lempfert. He may have posted the majority of his numbers on defense last season, putting up 32 tackles, 2 sacks, 8 pass deflections and a caused fumble, but this young man can also do a little route-running and catching if you need him. Throughout their game with Mitchell on Tuesday, Lempfert was the safety-valve catching multiple touchdowns and even extending drives on fourth down with catches in traffic. Keep your eyes peeled for him this fall.
FINALLY got to see the Gators vs. Bulls
Unrelated: it wasn’t USF vs. UF. Actually this match-up between Wiregrass Ranch and Land O’Lakes strangely felt infinitely more interesting than the prospect of watching their collegiate mascot namesakes take the field. Land-O’s Spencer Childress looked like he was playing in 5th gear while everyone else was stuck in neutral as he zipped passes and found guys the entire game. Wiregrass had plenty of youth getting their reps and at times it showed, but the message needs to be reiterated that this team is not to be taken lightly, and that might not mean for this season only. There’s a ton of 2017 and 2018 talent waiting-on-the-wings and soaking up the instruction from their new coaching staff. Case in point, kids like Jordan Miner who is just a 2018-prospect and already standing at 6-foot-1, 165-pounds playing FS and WR. Or Jacob Hill, who is entering just his second season of football. Another 2018 kid, this WR led the Bulls in receptions at Sling-N-Shoot this past weekend and also has a few other things he’s good at. Like, being the first freshman in school history to make to regionals in wrestling, plays baseball and with his cross-country background in the family runs a 5:00-mile. We all should feel a little lazy after reading that, shouldn’t we?