Volleyball powers square off

Those who attended the East Lake Volleyball Invitational Thursday night saw quite a show.

Competing were four of the area's volleyball powers -- Berkeley Prep, Clearwater Central Catholic, East Lake and Countryside. There was a playoff-type atmosphere, with the one side of the bleachers packed with student sections from each school going nuts.

Some may be surprised with the results.

Countryside swept Berkeley Prep in three games. East Lake went 0-2 (losing to Berkeley and CCC). CCC went 1-1, coming back to win three straight over EL after the Eagles scored the final nine points of Game 1 to take the lead.

Berkeley Prep is far from down - even after losing two stars to D-I colleges. They've got three solid freshmen outside hitters that start, so they should be good for years to come.

Countryside (9-0) was impressive. Both sophomore Madison Truluck and senior Taylor Wilson were everywhere -- pounding kills right off the line, diving for digs. 

Watching tonight - and dodging several balls flying into the stands -- it got me thinking: Who do you guys think is the best hitter (outside or inside) in the county? Who's the one that pounds kills that you'd absolutely NOT want to have to dig.....

By the way, for those who haven't met or seen me yet, I'm Joe Smith, the new Pinellas County preps reporter. Just moved to Florida last week from California (after growing up in Michigan) just in time for Ernesto. I look forward to seeing everyone at high school events this year!

-- JOE SMITH (joesmith@sptimes.com)

Pasco Week 2 - Give us your picks

Time to give us your picks for Week 2.

Hopefully, as word spreads of the blog this will pick up in later weeks.

Look for our picks on our Friday football page in the Pasco Times.

Here are the games in Pasco County:

Admiral Farragut (0-1) at Bishop McLaughlin (1-0)

Gulf (0-1) at River Ridge (0-1)

Wesley Chapel (1-0) at Hudson (1-0)

Mitchell (0-1) at Zephryhills (1-0)

Ridgewood (1-0) at Pasco (0-1)

(Wesley Chapel running back Mario Melvin is pictured; Times photo - Zach Boyden-Holmes; Click to enlarge)

Are You Ready For Some Foot...races?

Those who prefer Saturday morning footraces to Friday night football will want to circle Sept. 9, the day some of the Bay area's top runners converge at Crews Lake Park in northwest Pasco County for the Gator Invitational.

The event should be particularly intriguing on the boys side, where Hernando senior Ben Martucci faces Jesuit sophomore Connor Revord in a de facto rematch of the recent Red Mule 5K, where Revord overtook Martucci down the stretch for a three-second victory.

Martucci finished third at last season's Class 2A state meet, four spots ahead of Revord. Also in the field will be Sickles' Derek Wehunt, who placed in the top 30 at last season's 4A meet; and Land O' Lakes sophomore Felix Soto, who steadily has been eclipsing the 17-minute mark. 

Look for a tight finish, but no personal records. Most of the course consists of winding, sandy trails, with some stretches of asphalt. Action begins at 8 a.m.

Medical personnel

Yesterday, I wrote about the Crystal River team doctor, a chiropractor.

The whole thing puzzled me when I heard about it, because a chiropractor is not a medical doctor. Granted, the guy has been helping injured players on the sidelines since 1977, but shouldn't the school district try to get an MD?

Citrus County schools don't even have certified athletic trainers on the sidelines. They do usually have an ambulance stationed nearby.

What do other school districts do for injuries? What kind of medical personnel should be around?

- Brian Sumers

BAD BLOOD

This week's game between Dunedin and Tarpon Springs should be a heated one. As most know, Tarpon lost a coach and Worth Jackson is ineligible after transfering from Dunedin to Tarpon. How does everyone think this one wil turn out?

NEXT QUESTION

The first question was answered. Northeast's Armando Sanchez was voted as the county quarterback with the strongest arm. Now on to the next question. Who is the county's most elusive running back? (i.e jukes, dekes, the guy that can make defenders grab air). The results will be published on Wednesday (Sept. 6). And for those of you stuffing the ballot (i.e. the anonymous, numerous posts for brinson, lenz and the phu running back that all came on Friday within seconds of one another) only one of those votes will count.

-- BOB PUTNAM

Hey, Pasco!

The heat is on in Dade City where the Pirates dropped their first game 9-7 to Springstead. Now they're host to perenial doormat Ridgewood.

The Pirates spanked the Rams 36-0 at their place last season. But Chris Taylor's kids can return the favor and put Pasco coach Dale Caparaso and his boys in a very uncomfortable spot heading to Mitchell for Week 3.

If Ridgewood wins at W.F. Edwards Stadium it wouldn't be unprecidented for a west team. Mitchell has won games there the past two seasons (41-13 in 2004; 24-14 in 2005). But coming off of 2-8 you have to wonder if Caparaso can salvage this ship.

I still think this team has enough talent to reach the postseason. Any thoughts?

(Photo of Pasco coach Dale Caparaso; Times photo - M.N. Golden; Click to enlarge)

NOTICE IS SERVED

Since East Lake's Lauren Hill is not playing volleyball for the Eagles this year, the title of "Best Serve" in Pinellas County has been vacated. Volleyball has been in season for a couple weeks so hopefully folks have been able to take in a few matches and the question now is who has the best knee-buckling, wrist-hammering serve? Who has the kind of serve that can change matches and send balls carooming into the stands? 
--BRANDON WRIGHT
Times Staff Writer

Eagles' Brown Set to Return

Brandon senior tailback Mike Brown, suspended the first two contests for an unspecified infraction, is expected to return for Friday's game at Newsome, first-year Eagles coach John Lima said Monday. Brown, who combined for more than 2,600 rushing yards the previous two seasons, was a highly conspicuous absence last week for Brandon, which finished with minus-2 rushing yards in a 26-0 loss to Chamberlain.

Ah, the Machismo of high school football

On Friday night, Crystal River's starting running back hurt his ankle early in the first quarter.

When the volunteer team doctor, a chiropractor, came over to help, the players greeted him with disdain. The player yelled at the doctor and explained, in an animated way, why he should return to the game. The doctor did not think that was a good idea. The player never returned.

The doctor, a 30-year veteran, said today it wasn't a big deal. He also said he does not think kids have changed much in the last three decades.

What do you make of this dustup? Kids being kids? Or a problem of respect?

- Brian Sumers

Top Performers

Pictured: Ridgewood's Byronell Arline; Times photo - Brendan Fitterer. Click to enlarge.

Now that every fall sport has at least one week of competition under its belt, we can reflect on some of the more memorable performances. The athletes who caught our attention in recent days were: Ridgewood football player Byronell Arline, who set personal single-game bests with 248 rushing yards and three touchdowns in a 39-17 victory over Mitchell; Armwood's Daniel Gentilesco, who blocked two punts, including one that was recovered in the end zone, in a 19-9 win over Hillsborough; and swimmer Rachel Burns, who won both of her individual events (200 free, 100 back) to help Countryside beat Northeast.

Of course, that's only a start. Here's your chance to tell us about the performances that turned your heads in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties. Whenever you have an athlete you'd like to recognize, click on "Comments'' and type up a quick description for our online readers to see. You can access this page from the "Top Performer-Female'' and "Top Performer-Male'' links at the top left of the high school sports blog. We're waiting to hear from you.

Citrus football

It's only Week Two but things are looking good for Citrus. The next two weeks are cruical stepping stones for the 'Canes. Just look at the 'Canes track record on the grid iron.

Last year Citrus lost in the preseason to Hudson, a team that went on to defeat Orlando Bishop Moore 28-14 and Williston 20-12 before losing 42-0 to Citra North Marion in the Class 3A playoffs last year. This year, Citrus won a long penalty-marred 34-14 preseason victory.

Then came Week 1:

Last year the 'Canes got drilled 40-12 by Kissimmee St. Cloud. This year Citrus pummelled them 48-3.  After amassing 19 touchdowns and 1,777 yards of offense, everyone knows sophmore running back Antoin Scriven is a threat. But what may surprise some people is what sophomore quarterback Cameron West can do. On Friday, with three pass rushers on his heels, West concocted a 15-yard touchdown pass to Colton Carlson for Citrus' first touchdown (with five minutes left in the first quarter.) In West' 2 1/2 quarters of play he passed for 213 yards and five touchdowns out of the shotgun.

Last year Citrus lost 29-15 to Ocala West Port, whom they play Friday and lost 68-40 to Gulf a week later -  a team the 'Canes face Week 3. What happens in the next two weeks will say a lot, especially since Gulf is considered a state title contender.

- DAWN REISS, Times Staff Writer

Times photo by M. N. Golden

John Benedetto (video coverage)

Video coverage of the first game of John Benedetto's 30th season.

Zephyrhills won 14-7.

IZZY GOULD, Times staff writer

(Times photo - Janel Schroeder-Norton; click to enlarge)

Quarterbacks, running backs, coaching decisions and more: Tuesday/Monday Morning Quarterback

I don't want to brag, but I probably watched more football Friday night than anybody else in the United States of America. First came the Hernando Christian-Calvary Christian game at 4 p.m., then the Hernando-Central game at 7:30. Then it was off to Bennigan's for a Reuben sandwich and the final three quarters of the Arizona Cardinals-Chicago Bears game on NFL Network. Finally, it was home for a night-cap: Eagles-Texans on Madden 2007 for Playstation 2.

By the end of the night, I had learned quite a few things, among them:

1) Matt Leinart is going to be a stud.

2) The Eagles are primed for a run at the Madden Super Bowl this year, opening up the season with an 81-7 win over a beleaguered Houston team that had some guy named Davis at running back rather than some guy named Bush.

And, from a local angle:

QUARTERBACKS, QUARTERBACKS, QUARTERBACKS: Though Friday's stat sheet might not indicate it, Hernando County has four quarterbacks who can throw the ball. No disrespect to the quarterbacks Hernando and Central used last year -- both the Leopards' Kyle Sizemore and the Bears' Gary Owen were tough, gritty seniors who brought a lot of other skills to the table -- but Friday night brought a glimpse of what might be a renewed emphasis on the by both teams. Though Central and Hernando will always live on their rushing games, junior quarterbacks Chase Walker and Jason Davies both showed decent throwing ability in the Leopards' season-opening 25-3 win. Though Davies attempted just seven passes, he completed five of them, the biggest of which was a 23-yard completion to senior wide receiver Chris Doran on 4th-and-3 that set up the game's first touchdown. Walker was a little shakier, completing 5-of-13 passes and getting intercepted twice, but the statistics don't tell the real story: he narrowly missed hooking up with twin brother Chad on deep throws twice (the first was overthrown, the second went in and out of Chad's hands), and he spent much of the fourth quarter in must-throw situations. Davies was making his first game as a varsity starter after a year directing the junior varsity offense. Walker started a couple of games at the end of last season. As both quarterbacks continue to grow more comfortable on the field, expect both Hernando coach Matt Smith and Central coach Cliff Lohrey to grow more comfortable using them.

KUDOS: In the spring, When Matt Smith resigned from his long-time position as wrestling coach to concentrate on football, I asked him how much pressure to win existed for a head football coach at Hernando High. He said he doesn't pay attention to outside pressure, that he puts enough pressure on himself. And, to an extent, I believe him. But there's no doubting Friday's win over Central was huge both for Smith and the Hernando program. Central had destroyed Hernando in each of his first two years as coach, and the Leopards have finished under .500 both years. With nine new starters on offense and six new starters on defense, Hernando appeared to be ripe for the picking. But it certainly responded.

KUDOS II: Three days later, I still love the call Smith made on 4th-and-3 from the Central 49-yard line in the second quarter. Despite the fact that he had a kid at quarterback who was making his first varsity start, and the fact that his offensive line featured five new starters, the coach called a long pass to wide receiver Chris Doran. Davies made a perfect through, Doran hauled it in, and five plays later, Hernando was in the end zone with a lead it would never relinquish.

A WORD OF CAUTION: After the game Friday, Central coach Cliff Lohrey told me his team's performance was "sickening." Indeed, anything that could go wrong, short of a fire on the visiting sidelines, went wrong: two interceptions, six fumbles, all-county running back Dujuan Harris gaining just 30 yards on seven carries. But don't jump on Lohrey. The Bears didn't have a preseason game, they were in a hostile environment, they were playing their first game in a few years without stud offensive tackle Andy Leavine (now pushing for a starting job at Florida International -- more on that later), they are learning their third offensive system in three years. There are a lot of factors Central must deal with. Give it time.

FIGHTIN' CHRISTIANS: I've covered Hernando county sports for 51 weeks now (feel free to send one-year anniversary ice cream cakes to 15365 Cortez Blvd, Brooksville, FL 34601), and Friday marked the first Hernando Christian football game I've attended. Obviously, the level of competition is not even close to what it is at the larger public schools. But I gotta admit: there's something cool about watching a 4-foot-11, 75-pound seventh-grader on the same field as a 6-foot-3, 250-pound senior. Also, HCA's post-game conference at mid-field was

a) the longest post-game talk i've ever experienced, and 

b) so full of positive re-inforcement that by the end of it I thought I had done a good job playing.

Beacuse of our schedules, it will probably be the last HCA game I'm at this year. But I enjoyed it, particularly M.C. Mike Drummond giving play-by-play from a television tower. Even if he is an Ohio State fan.

AND SO ON: During Friday night's Hernando-Central game I sat next to a couple who had just moved to Florida from Missouri and were anxious for some Friday night lights. They said they'll be at a lot of football games this year. I'm curious how many community members who have no relation to a specific school attend games.

MADDEN 2007 UPDATE: After jacking up the difficulty level from "All-Pro" to Madden, the Eagles struggled to move the ball against a tough Giants defense, but nevertheless pulled out a 20-14 win to improve to 2-0 on the year. Eli Manning was injured, putting Tim Hasselbeck under center. Besides having a gorgeous wife, Hasselbeck is one of the nicest professional athletes I've ever interacted with. Fortunately, he's not a very good Madden quarterback, and Jevon Kearse finished the day with four sacks and a number of knock-downs. The Eagles realize they'll have to step it up if they want to hang against a Manning-type QB.

DAY ONE: I'd like to use Tuesday/Monday Morning Quarterback to officially announce my campaign to get a Firehouse Subs built in Hernando County. As far as I can tell, there are only two in the Tampa Bay Area: one on Hillsborough Ave in Tampa, and one on Dale Mabry in Carrollwood. Hernandoans love Firehouse too!

LEAVINE UPDATE: I'm hearing that former Central offensive lineman Andy Leavine is currently No. 1 on the depth chart at left tackle heading into Florida International's season-opener against Middle Tennessee State Thursday. We'll have an update on Mr. Leavine in the paper at some point this week (hopefully Wednesday or Thursday), so stay tuned.

Pasco County - Week 1

(click scores for game stories) 

Ridgewood running back Byronell Arline rushed for 248 yards and three touchdowns Friday night.

(Times photo - Zach Boyden-Holmes; click to enlarge)

Zephyrhills 14, Land O'Lakes 7

Wesley Chapel 15, Gulf 14

Ridgewood 39, Mitchell 17

Springstead 9, Pasco 7

Hudson 28, River Ridge 16

Bishop McLaughlin 18, Brandenton Prep 12

Opening night football scores

Countryside 30, Boca Ciega 17

Pictured: Countryside's Dawrence Robbins. Times photo - Ted McLaren; Click to enlarge

Armwood 19, Hillsborough 9

Zephyrhills 14, Land O'Lakes 7

Northeast 28, St. Petersburg 7

Chamberlain 26, Brandon 0

Bishop McLaughlin 18, Brandenton Prep 12

Winter Garden Calvary Christian 24, Hernando Christian 0

Dunedin 17, Seminole 7

Durant 17, Plant City 13

Citrus 48, St. Cloud 3

Osceola 28, Pinellas Park 7

Gaither 21, Sickles 0

Wharton 36, Freedom 0

Belleview 56, Crystal River 6

Hernando 25, Central 3

East Lake 19, Tarpon Springs 6

Jesuit 34, Miami Archbishop Curley 10

Robinson 34, King 20

Hudson 26, River Ridge 18

Plant 35, Bloomingdale 0

Calvary Christian 21, Bradenton Christian 10

Blake 14, Tampa Bay Tech 6

Lakewood 35, Gibbs 0

Riverview 28, Newsome 7

Jefferson 19, Middleton 10

Wesley Chapel 15,  Gulf 14

Largo 23, Clearwater 14

Springstead 9, Pasco 7

Dunnellon 55, Lecanto 7

Frostproof 27, Nature Coast Tech 10

Ridgewood 39, Mitchell 17

Robinson 34, King 20

Riverview 28, Newsome 7

Dixie Hollins 14, Palm Harbur U. 0

Fort Meade 68, Shorecrest Prep 0

Tampa Catholic 37, Celebration 0

East Bay 47, Leto 26

Spoto 42, Lennard 12

Miami Gulliver Prep 48, Berkeley Prep 6

Providence 29, Tampa Baptist 13

Keswick Christian 41, Indian Rocks Christian 7

St. Petersburg Catholic 29, Lake Highland Prep 21

Canterbury 30, Sarasota Out-of-Door 19

Clearwater Central Catholic 32, Admiral Farragut 0

Pasco picks for 8/25/06

John Cotey and Izzy Gould say Mitchell over Ridgewood in tonight's opener. Steve Lee has Ridgewood in an upset. Cotey took Wesley Chapel - sucker - while Gould and Lee have Gulf getting some revenge for last year's 39-0 blowout. Here is tonight's picks column. Read, uh, laugh at our picks then give us yours.

Mitchell quarterback Tate Humphrey; Times photo - Dan McDuffie; click to enlarge

Just in time for kickoff

Look for complete team previews, rosters, schedules, stories, photos and more in our county-by-county high school football preview sections, to be published on Friday, Aug. 25. For a sneak peek, go to: http://www.sptimes.com/2006/webspecials06/preps2006/index.shtml. Later that night, check out our high school sports blog for scores from the opening-week games. If you have a photo from a game you'd like to share with online readers, take a picture or video with your camera phone or digital camera and e-mail it to photos@tampabay.com. Your subject line becomes the title of the photo and the body of your message becomes the caption. Files must be JPEGs and less than 700K in size. Photo galleries will be linked from the main high school sports page on our web site, http://www.sptimes.com/highschoolsports/.

Pictured, Tampa Bay Tech's Thomas Edmond. Click photo to enlarge.

No Free Lunches In This Cafeteria

The state's summer pattern of afternoon thunderstorms makes practice improvisation a prerequisite for the area's prep football coaches, who must find alternate ways to prepare their teams when lightning flickers around the practice field.

Case in point: Wharton coach David Mitchell, who conducted a full-contact workout in the school cafeteria late Wednesday afternoon after a lightning-riddled downpour.

"We'll go live," Mitchell said as he walked to the lunchroom. "We'll stand up and go live."

True to Mitchell's words, they did. Replacing their cleats with sneakers and moving the tables to the sides of the building, the 'Cats found just enough room to engage in 11-on-11 work, though defenders simply wrapped up ballcarriers instead of tackling them.

All in a day's work at football's grass-roots level, where indoor facilities are nonexistent but creativity abounds.

"We plan around what we have to do," said Mitchell, whose club faces Freedom on Friday. "If it's a bad storm, we do a little film. In (the wrestling room) we can go live, linemen on linemen, so this is almost like indoors. Or we'll go down to the cafeteria, move the tables out of the way, and go live in there."

Joey Knight

Opinions? Everybody's got one

Times prep writers selected Armwood defensive lineman Torrey Davis as the top senior in our five-county coverage area. The Tampa Bay Top Talents, as published in today's paper:

1. Torrey Davis, DL, Armwood; 2. Stephen Garcia, QB, Jefferson; 3. Robert Marve, QB, Plant; 4. L.D. Crow, QB, Countryside; 5. Jock Sanders, RB, St. Petersburg Catholic; 6. Alton Voss, QB, Gulf; 7. Marquise Branton, FB, Armwood; 8. Develin Robinson, WR, Land O'Lakes; 9. Joe Weatherford, QB, Land O'Lakes; 10. Mike Brown, RB, Brandon.

Here's your chance to tell us why we're wrong.

30 seasons and counting

John Benedetto begins his 30th as the head coach at Land O'Lakes on Friday in a home game against Zephyrhills.

He took over the year Stars Wars - the original blockbuster - hit theaters for the first time. It was the same year Elvis died.

Are any of you as impressed as I am? What are some other great coaching streaks in the Bay area?

Times file photo; click to enlarge.

Unsung heroes

Q: As I read through the articles regarding high school football I see all of the kids being mentioned that ran the ball or, of course, the quarterback.  However, there is never any mention of the boys in the trenches who block and open holes so these other boys can run the ball. I know it would be tremendous occasionally for these boys to be recognized for their hard work as well. They may not stand out as stars in the eyes of most spectators but that is not for lack of hard work and tenacity.

Frank Pastor, Regional Sports Editor: No question, linemen are the unsung heroes on most teams. But because we have a limited amount of space to recap a game, much of it is devoted to describing plays that determine the outcome, such as go-ahead touchdowns or pivotal turnovers. We try to give the linemen their due in other ways. Sometimes, it's including a quote from a running back or a linebacker who credits the players in front of him for his success. At other times, it's a a feature on a particularly successful line or lineman. We wrote features on several Hudson linemen during the Cobras' playoff run last season and did similar stories during Armwood's state championship seasons. Last year, we wrote a front-page story on a family of linemen from Clearwater. Linemen Robert Allen of Hudson, Danny Tolley of Wesley Chapel and Donnie Woods of Jefferson were cover subjects for some of our recent football preview sections. And don't miss the Tampa Bay Top Talents package in tomorrow's paper. Armwood defensive lineman Torrey Davis is our pick for the top player in the bay area.

Preseason Costly For Some

Those still wondering why Cadillac Williams gets barely a sniff of the field during the preseason need look no farther than Armwood's Lyle Flagg Field, where Chamberlain sophomore defensive end Randy Mull's season essentially ended before it began.

Mull sustained what Chiefs coaches said was a broken right leg moments into the second half of his team's otherwise encouraging 24-12 loss to Armwood. Action was delayed roughly 20 minutes while Mull was carted off on a stretcher. Coincidentally or not, Armwood's second-team offense entered on the Hawks' ensuing possession, and worked the rest of the game.

Elsewhere, Robinson emerged from its abbreviated preseason game at Tampa Catholic far more fortunate. Knights quarterback Travis Le, the heir apparent to 2005 Guy Toph Award winner Marcello Trigg, exited with an arm injury, but coach Mike DePue said Saturday the junior sustained only a hyperextended elbow and should miss no game action.

The question

We;re going to try something new in Pinellas County this season. We're going to pose a poll question about players and have the bloggers vote on it. We'll run the results each Wednesday starting Aug. 30. So here it goes. Who is the county quarterback with the strongest arm?
-- Posted by Bob Putnam

Can they play?

Q: Do you know if Hernando County or any surrounding Tampa Bay counties allow 8th graders to participate in varsity high school sports?

Vince Thomas, Hernando County reporter: Public high schools do not allow eight graders to participate, but certain private schools will sometimes feature middle schoolers on varsity rosters, since these schools might go all the way down to the fifth grade.

 

Preseason POY

Volleyball started this week and although last season was somewhat down (no Pinellas teams reached the final four in any class), there is considerable talent in the area. Who is the best player in Pinellas County? Is it Clearwater's Kristin Fisher or teammate Channing Salava? What about PHU's Sydney Miller? Or Countryside's Madison Truluck? Or East Lake's Sara Rex? IRC's Brianne Yeates? Tell us what you think.

--BRANDON WRIGHT, Times Staff Writer

Eagle Has Landed -- After Many Stopovers

New Brandon football coach John Lima may be an admirer of Nick Saban, but his nomadic resume screams of Lou Holtz. Lima never has previously been a head coach, but has assisted collegiately at the Division I, I-AA, II and III levels, as well as serving a five-year stint on the staff at Port Charlotte High. His most notable stop was a two-year run (1995-96) as a defensive graduate assistant under Saban at Michigan State. "A lot of people pay kudos to the college level, but it was more my high school experience _ it's night and day," said Lima, a 37-year-old Ohio State graduate. "Those are two totally different groups of kids to work with. In college, it's all about reps and getting the most out of every second at practice...whereas in high school it's teaching."

Crystal River Funding

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about all the money Crystal River is spending on its football program under the new coach.

In case you didn't see it, here it is.

What do folks think about spending almost $25,000 on a football program. Are there better things to spend on the money? Is football a good use of the funds because it brings the community together?

- Brian Sumers

Nature Coast

We've had some back and forth between readers in our Letters To The Editor section of the Hernando Times. A Nature Coast parent called out other high school administartors for what she felt was witch-hunting. Then, last weekend, another parent shot back at Nature Coast, basically telling staff and parents to quit with the persecution complex.

Any more thoughts on this issue? Has Nature Coast been unfairly targeted? Has Nature Coast been contrite?

Here, by the way, is Sunday's story on the investgation...a recap of sorts...

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/13/Citrus/Ravaged__reprimanded.shtml

Football schedules

Q: Where can I find a Pinellas high school football schedule for 2006?

Frank Pastor, Regional Sports Editor: The Times will publish schedules for all Pinellas County football teams (Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough schedules will be distributed in those counties) in our special preview section to run on Aug. 25. In the meantime, you can access schedules for every team in the state at http://i.fhsaa.org/members/ and entering the name of the school whose schedule you seek.

SO CLOSE

Dunedin's major baseball team lost Friday in the Southeast Regional Finals, falling one step shy of Williamsport. Had it not been for a buzzsaw named Kyle Carter (the best 12-year-old I have ever seen) from Georgia, Dunedin would've had a much better shot to make it back to the LLWS for the first time since the 1991 Duneidn team. I was extremely impressed with the sound fundamental baseball played this week, but also saw WAY too many breaking pitches. For those of you that made it out to Arnold S. White Stadium this week, what were your impressions?

Alton Voss commits to USF

Gulf quarterback Alton Voss gave an oral commitment to USF on Friday night.

To read more details about Voss' commitment click here.

- IZZY GOULD, Times staff writer

Citrus High football scrimmage Saturday

Citrus and seven other lucky high school teams will play in a preseason scrimmage at a FHSAA/Mid-Florida Officials Association-sponsored clinic at the Villages.

Schools usually are not allowed to scrimmage this time of year, but because the FHSAA uses this event to give officials additional referee training for high school playoff games, both football teams and officials benefit.

The scrimmage, which starts at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, is a small portion of a two-day clinic that begins Friday.

Eight teams, Citrus vs. Mount Dora, The Villages vs. St. John Lutheran, Belleview vs. Tavares and Leesburg vs. South Sumter, will scrimmage, playing on 50 yards of the Villages' football and practice fields. The event is free to the public.

Tell Me What's Up

What do you feel are the storylines entering this season for Hernando squads?

Springstead lost a bunch of players, NCT is returning a bunch of players, DuJuan Harris is at Central with a new coach, Hernando has a quarterback battle.

What else is poppin'?

Hawk's Younger Sibling A 'Big' Brother

Of Armwood's nine new defensive starters, none are likely to render more of an impact than 230-pound sophomore middle linebacker Jamiel "Petey" Smith. The younger brother of Hawks tailback Eric Smith, "Petey" initially was a starter in 2005 before deferring to seniors. This year, he'll defer to no one. Two summers from now, don't be surprised if he's drawing more college attention than Hawks senior defensive end Torrey Davis, who's expected to formally commit to FSU any day now.

ready for some football

Fall practice is nearly two weeks old. What have you guys noticed so far? Any newcomers/transfers? Any key injuries? Who looks good? Tell us.

Any plans for basketball tab?

Q: I was wondering if there's any way that the sports section could cover a preseason basketball preview in the same form or fashion that they do for the football season?

Frank Pastor, Regional Sports Editor: While we will continue to produce separate boys and girls basketball previews for each of the five counties in our coverage area, we have no plans at present to produce a special section similar to what we do for football. We tried a basketball section a few years ago, but the response from readers was lukewarm. Our experience has been that football far outweighs all other high school sports, including basketball, in terms of both attendance and reader interest. 

Davis v. Bunkley

Rivals.com rates Armwood defensive lineman Torrey Davis as the top senior in the state of Florida. But in 17 years covering high school sports, I've never seen a more dominant lineman than Chamberlain's Brodrick Bunkley, who recently signed with the Eagles. Do you think Davis can change my mind this season?

Scott Purks, Hillsborough County staff writer

Beating the heat

Every team has it's own way of coping with the summer heat and protecting its players. Citrus coach Rik Haines adapted an approach from his days as a University of Washington assistant: tracking players' weight daily to determine how much water and, therefore, salt they've lost, as Dawn Reiss described in a recent Citrus Times story: http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/08/Citrus/Worth_their_weight_in.shtml

Frank Pastor, Regional Sports Editor

Beck-ing out of Nebraska

Harrison Beck's ""official website'' (http://www.harrisonbeck.net/home.html) contains photos, a weekly weblog and an e-mail link. Even a personal message to his fans (''I would like to thank all the Husker Fans who have supported me these last 2 years. I will always remember all the positive, everyday people I talked to and encountered during my time in Nebraska. After much thought, and not taken lightly, I am leaving my friends and home here. Thanks again to all the everyday fans I met and talked to, but it's time to move on.'') Everything, it seems, except an explanation for why the former Countryside quarterback, who is not returning calls from the media, chose to skip two practices over the weekend before leaving Nebraska.

Frank Pastor, Regional Sports Editor

Nature Coast punished

Whether you think Nature Coast Tech's coaches and administrators were unaware of the Florida High School Athletic Association's recruiting policies or flat out cheating, whether you see the rules as necessary safeguards or far too stringent, whether you agree or disagree with the conduct of the county's other public schools in the matter, there's no denying that the FHSAA's decision to penalize the south Brooksville school (http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/04/Hernando/Principal__We_won_t_a.shtml) has been a hot topic the past few days. Where do you stand on the issue?

Frank Pastor, Regional Sports Editor

Got a question?

Readers can ask questions directly of Times prep staff writers via the Ask Us feature on our new web page. Just send your question to highschoolsports@tampabay.com, and we'll post responses to those of general interest as soon as possible. Questions and answers can be viewed by clicking on the Ask Us category at the top left of your screen.

Frank Pastor, Regional Sports Editor

J.R. Reed is back on his feet

Those of you who followed J.R. Reed at USF and/or Hillsborough High no doubt were encouraged by his performance for the Eagles in last Sunday's Hall of Fame game, especially the way he flattened Raiders receiver Kevin McMahan on a post pattern. Best of all, Reed afterward reported no ill effects from the career-threatening injury that kept him out all of last season. In case you missed it, here's the story Times staff writer Brandon Wright recently wrote about Reed's attempt to come back from a sheared peroneal nerve: http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/01/Bucs/Braced_to_fly_upfield.shtml.

Frank Pastor, Regional Sports Editor

Dreaded drills

Some local players, including Land O'Lakes receiver Devlin Robinson chimed in on our question about dreaded football drills .
I can't think of one drill I absolutely hated. What are some of the worst football drills?

Welcome to the new blog

Welcome to the St. Petersburg Times' revamped high school sports blog. New features include quick links to each of the five counties in our coverage area (Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus) accessed via the Category links to the left of your screen, as well as Ask Us (readers can submit questions for Times prep writers via the link on the bottom right of your screen) and Male and Female Top Performers (athletes of the month). Shortly, you will be able to read and respond to posts from prep writers based in each county. If you were a visitor to our old blog, please reset your bookmarks to: http://blogs.tampabay.com/preps/. We look forward to conversing with you.

Frank Pastor, Regional Sports Editor

No two-a-days in Pasco

Pasco County has ended the ritual of dreaded two-a-day football practice. Here's the story in case you missed it. Other counties such as Hernando and Pinellas have followed suit. Do any of you care? Are you happy to do away with two-a-days? Does it put you at a competitive disadvantage? Do they really help the team get better? Or are two-a-days just an accident waiting to happen?

Your thoughts?

[Times photo: Brendan Fitterer; click to enlarge]