Armwood playing with a new chip on its shoulder

Posted Nov 21, 2011 by Katherine Smith

Updated Nov 21, 2011 at 05:54 PM

The beast has been stirred.

Armwood’s defense, which gave up more than 30 points last Friday night for only the sixth time since the team won its first state championship in 2003, is mad.

Mad at themselves for allowing the litany of distractions from last week to affect them on the field. Mad they nearly lost in the first round to Bradenton Lakewood Ranch. But mostly, they’re mad they didn’t play Armwood football.

“That wasn’t us,’’ said Hawks linebacker Eric Striker, one of several defensive players who had to run through extra drills at Monday’s practice because of poor play Friday night. “We’re pretty upset and definitely going to bounce back this week.’’

The dust has somewhat settled from last week’s announcement that the FHSAA is investigating the eligibility of Hawks offensive lineman Jack Lightsey and his move into the Armwood district last spring. The FHSAA will not rule on the matter until after the state championship series, so Armwood can keep playing as long as they keep winning.

The journey to Orlando for the Class 6A title nearly ended last Friday night. Armwood needed a late touchdown from junior Alvin Bailey to defeat Lakewood Ranch 35-31. The win sends the Hawks to the regional semifinals where they’ll host rival Hillsborough Friday night.

“I don’t think they had the coping skills to be able to handle what was going on last week,’’ head coach Sean Callahan said. “When you have 11 guys on defense playing poorly, something’s up.’’

Callahan noticed a difference in the players at Monday’s practice. There was no goofing off, but more of a serious tone to the workout.

“Our response is to just stay focused and being focused falls into a lot of categories – paying attention, knowing your reads and all that,’’ Striker said. “Obviously we lacked that last week. With all that was going on, we did lose our focus, but we came together as a family.

“We definitely have a chip on our shoulder now.’’