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The high school football calendar for WDAE, 620 AM has been tentatively set. The slate of 10 games will kickoff Friday with Clearwater Central catholic at Tampa Catholic.
The schedule also includes two stops in Pasco County, the first coming Oct. 5 when Gaither travels to class 5A-District 5 foe Mitchell. The second is Nov. 2 when Ridgewood, a team with numerous expectations pinned on its back, travels to county power Land O’ Lakes.
The station will air the games of three Hillsborough County teams when it sets up at Robinson (Sept. 21), Jefferson (Oct. 12) and East Bay (Oct. 26).
Here is the full WDAE, 620 AM schedule:
Sept. 7: Clearwater Central Catholic @ Tampa Catholic
Sept. 14: Tarpon Springs at East Lake
Sept. 21: Jesuit at Robinson
Sept. 28: Gibbs @ Clearwater
Oct. 5: Gaither @ Mitchell
Oct. 12: Chamberlain @ Jefferson
Oct. 19: Boca Ciega @ Bradenton Southeast
Oct. 26: Newsome @ East Bay
Nov. 2: Ridgewood @ Land ‘O’ Lakes
Nov. 9: Northeast @ Largo
Gulf softball coach Rick Hohenthaner has begun posting video previews for all of Gulf’s home football games.
The videos are going to be posted on YouTube and are like commercials, rather than interviews.
Here is the first one featuring Bucs kicker Courtney Cohen:
Throughout the season, the rest also can be found on http://www.gulfhigh.org
Former Bishop McLaughlin football coach Jim Ceccarelli, who originally left the school to accept a coaching and teaching job in San Diego, informed the Tribune via e-mail on Friday that he took a job in Florida instead to stay closer to his family.
Ceccarelli is head coach at Orangewood Christian School in Maitland, a member of Class 1B, District 4 which went 4-6 last year. His squad opened the year with a 42-0 victory against Orlando Lutheran Academy in a Kickoff Classic last week, but lost 40-3 to Melbourne Holy Trinity Episcopal Friday night in the regular season opener.
Under Ceccarelli, Bishop McLaughlin went 5-5 in 2006, its second year of varsity football. He elected to leave the school because he was seeking a full-time teaching position in addition to his coaching duties. He is a member of the faculty at Orangewood.
The Pasco football team now has its own internet radio show that fans can tune in to each Wednesday evening from 7-8:30 p.m.
The show is hosted by Pirates girls basketball coach John Edwards and features football coach Tom McHugh and members of his staff discussing the team, its previous game and its upcoming game.
By next week the show will have an e-mail address where fans can send in questions for the coaches.
And if the internet isn’t your thing, you can go see the show live at Beef O’ Brady’s in Dade City.
The Web address for the radio show is www.pascopiratesradio.com.
Gulf volleyball players can breathe a sigh of relief – a deep sigh of relief. The players, A, won’t need to attend study hall sessions and, B, will stop practicing from 7 to 9 p.m. on weeknights.
All this can be attributed to the fact the Buccaneers will have access to the Bever-Hicks Activity Center’s gym floor following the surface’s revamping this summer. Delays in the project kept the volleyball team out of the gym and forced the squad to practice at Gulf Middle School.
Gulf coach Shari Schau expects to be in the gym by Wednesday.
The middle school volleyball team had its gym until 5 p.m. and the JV squad practiced from 5 to 7 p.m., followed by a two hour varsity session. Schau was concerned she would have to implement a study hall for her players between the time school ended and the time practice began, which has been avoided.
“So far they’re hanging in there and we’re doing the best with what we got,” Schau said last week. “The middle school has been absolutely fantastic with us as far as that’s concerned. The maintenance people have been great with giving me what I need and the administration has been wonderful , Jessica Eaton, the [athletic director] over at the middle school, has been fantastic.”
The project’s conclusion comes at the perfect time, considering the Bucs will host Zephyrhills Thursday night.
SPRING HILL—Bishop McLaughlin athletic director Mike Zelenka confirmed this morning that the Hurricanes have accepted an offer to play a football game against fellow Pasco private school Academy at the Lakes on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. in Spring Hill.
It will be the first time that each school faces a varsity opponent from its own county on the football field. Bishop McLaughlin is entering its third year of varsity football, while Academy at the Lakes is beginning its first year of 11-man.
The addition to BM’s schedule replaces the lost game caused by the cancellation of Tampa Bay Christian’s football season last week. AATL will drop its Sept. 7 game at Lake City Christian to make room for the Hurricanes, keeping its schedule at the maximum 10 games.
Friday evening, Zelenka and BM coach Marty Williams said the Hurricanes’ four seniors would play a significant role in deciding if the school would accept AATL’s offer. Losing the Tampa Bay Christian game gave the school an open date in the middle of the year, which could have been a benefit to the team with a smaller than average roster (24 players). Now the Hurricanes will play 10 consecutive weeks.
Here are the updated schedules for both teams…
Academy at the Lakes
Aug. 31 FT. MYERS GATEWAY
Sep. 7 open
Sep. 14 at Northside Christian
Sep. 21 at The Villages (JV)
Sep. 28 WINTER HAVEN ALL SAINTS’
Oct. 5 at Bishop McLaughlin
Oct. 12 TALLAHASSEE MACLAY
Oct. 19 HERNANDO CHRISTIAN
Oct. 26 at Gainesville Oak Hall
Nov. 2 CAMBRIDGE CHRISTIAN
Nov. 9 at Shorecrest
Bishop McLaughlin
Aug. 31 at Hernando Christian
Sep. 7 LAKELAND SANTA FE
Sep. 14 at Admiral Farragut
Sep. 21 at Calvary Christian*
Sep. 28 OUT OF DOOR ACADEMY*
Oct. 5 ACADEMY AT THE LAKES
Oct. 13 at Cambridge Christian*
Oct. 19 WINTER HAVEN ALL SAINTS’
Oct. 26 BRADENTON PREP*
Nov. 2 at Keswick Christian*
Nov. 9 open
HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS
*-district game
LAND O’ LAKES—The first football game in the history of Sunlake High School will have to wait a few more minutes, at least.
Tonight’s 7 p.m. Kickoff Classic between the Seahawks and Bishop McLaughlin is being delayed by lightning. An announcement was just made that the delay will last until at least 7:45, when officials will determine whether or not to go ahead with the game.
Ticket sales have been suspended, and many fans have retreated to their cars. Both teams remain inside their respective locker rooms, and have yet to take the field even to warm up.
The skies all around Sunlake are cloudy, and a light but steady rain has been falling for at least an hour now.
LAND O’ LAKES – Academy at the Lakes continues to tinker with its inaugural varsity football season schedule, which likely will be finalized early next week.
Wildcats athletic director and coach Mark Arbet confirmed Friday that AATL will play a home game against Cambridge Christian on Nov. 2 instead of traveling to Lakeland Christian on the same day. He’s still awaiting word from Bishop McLaughlin AD Mike Zelenka on the possibility of playing on Oct. 5, a date vacated on the Hurricanes’ schedule when Tampa Bay Christian cancelled its football season this week.
On Thursday, Zelenka said he was trying to decide if the benefits of having a bye week on Oct. 5 would outweigh adding a tenth game to its schedule. But both ADs see the game as good competition between two small schools relatively close to each other. Arbet added he would agree to play the game at Bishop McLaughlin.
If Bishop McLaughlin accepts the offer, Arbet would be inclined to cancel the Wildcats’ Sep. 7 game at Lake City Christian. The Florida High School Athletics Association mandates that prep teams can have no more than 10 regular season games, but budget concerns are the main reason why that game would go.
“We’re looking at a $3,000 investment to play that game,” Arbet said of going to Lake City. “We’ve got to feed the players and transport them a long way. That’s high dollars there. It’s not a feasible game for us.”
Travel expenses also contributed to AATL canceling the Lakeland Christian game for a meeting with Cambridge. Head of School Mark Heller pushed for the Cambridge game as well.
Gulf softball second baseman Sammie Vrbancic signed a letter-of-intent to play softball for Pasco-Hernando Community College.
Vrbancic collected a .238 batting average, a .310 on-base percentage, stole 13 of 14 bases and garnered 19 runs. Defensively, the infielder compiled a .959 fielding percentage, collecting 36 putouts and 34 assists. She will join teammate Julie Wisniewski, who signed with the Conquistadors in March. The pair helped guide the Bucs to a 17-9 record.
SPRING HILL—Following the loss of its Oct. 5 game with Tampa Bay Christian, which cancelled its football season this week, Bishop McLaughlin has received an offer from fellow Pasco County private school Academy at the Lakes to play a game on that date.
Bishop McLaughlin athletic director Mike Zelenka said he was “caught off guard” by the proposal from AATL AD Mark Arbet, but is considering it seriously and may make his decision as early as Friday.
“We’re just trying to determine if having a week off right in the middle of the season is a blessing because of our small numbers,” said Zelenka of the decision. Bishop McLaughlin has 24 players on its roster heading into Friday’s kickoff classic at Sunlake, still more than AATL’s 18 players.
“We’re at a similar level as them, so I see it as good competition,” Zelenka added. “And from a potential rivalry standpoint, it’s definitely something we could end up cultivating.”
Bishop McLaughlin likely would push for the game to be played at their stadium in Spring Hill because they lost a home game when TBC cancelled its season. Academy at the Lakes, however, is likely in the market for home games as well, with just four of their 10 scheduled games being played on their temporary home field at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Center.
Earlier today, Cambridge Christian coach Rick Shears told Tribune writer Adam Adkins that the school has verbally agreed to play AATL in Land O’ Lakes on Nov. 2. In order to play that game, the Academy would have to cancel a road game at Lakeland Christian already scheduled for that day.
Though AATL currently has no game scheduled for Oct. 5, it would have to cancel another game in order to play Bishop McLaughlin so it could stay at the FHSAA maximum of 10 games. The most likely candidate would be their Sept. 21 scheduled meeting with the junior varsity squad from The Villages.
Apparently rumors have been flying around that Ridgewood RB Byronell Arline is out for the season with a broken foot and the main vehicle for the rumor has been MySpace, but you can’t believe everything you read on the internet.
Ridgewood coach Chris Taylor said Wednesday that Arline went through the whole practice without issue and that the turf toe he suffered a couple of weeks ago isn’t bothering him anymore. Arline still wears the walking boot given to him last week when he’s not in practice as a precaution. Taylor said they want to make sure Arline doesn’t stub his toe around the house or school or have someone accidentally step on it, negating all the progress he’s made.
Taylor said Arline looked good in practice, isn’t limping when the boot is off and that he’s ready to go Friday when the Rams host East Lake in their Kickoff Classic.
In other Ridgewood news, T.J. Haab is the official starting quarterback. Last season Haab shared time with Charley Minichino. Minichino is still practicing at quarterback in case he’s needed but Haab is the main guy and Jimmy Mattos is the backup. Taylor said the Rams are in a good situation with 3 QBs that are capable of starting and he’ll play the best person during the season, whomever that may be.
River Ridge hired Mike McHugh as its new boys soccer coach, River Ridge athletic director Jack Homko announced Monday. McHugh, who was the program’s junior varsity coach, replaces Steve Doyle. Doyle coached the Royal Knights for five seasons before stepping down and moving to North Carolina.
John Weatherford, a Land O’ Lakes linebacker/fullback, is out for the year after he suffered injuries to his anterior cruciate, posterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee last week.
On Aug. 15, while running up the sideline on a running drill, the senior was tackled by a defensive player who pulled Weatherford down by his jersey. The player then rolled up on Weatherford’s left leg.
The tackle tore his ACL and slightly tore his MCL and PCL.
“I’ve always preached be a leader on and off the field and I guess now, more than ever, I‘m going to have to be a leader off the field like I said I always wanted to be,” Weatherford said Monday. “I always wanted to be a leader off the field and be an example in no matter what I do, so now, more than ever, I’m gong to have to be an example off the field and show people what it’s all about. It’s not just about me, it’s about the team and being a good leader no matter what happens.”
Weatherford, who led the Gators in tackles his junior season, was in talks with Central Florida, Colorado State, Duke, Florida, N.C. State, Rutgers, South Florida, Troy, Wake Forrest and West Point. Although he will not play his senior season in high school, he is still hopeful a school will take a chance on him and allowing him to take a medical redshirt. If not, he is confidence he can go to a college, walk on and earn a scholarship that way.
Weatherford, who will have surgery in two weeks, begins rehab sessions on the injured knee Tuesday.
Pasco swim fans know Brad Morrison to be synonymous with powerhouse Land O’ Lakes but that all changed with the opening of Sunlake.
Morrison is zoned for Sunlake and that’s where he is now, Land O’ Lakes coach Barbara Hayes said.
Morrison, a junior, is the county’s top returning boys swimmer. He placed third in the 100 backstroke (54.94) and 10th in the 500 freestyle at the Class 2A state meet last season.
Gulf point guard Anthony Jackson signed a scholarship to Vol State in Nashville. It is a two-year program and that Gulf coach Steve Feldman said has a good pipeline to four-year programs to UNC-Charlotte, Evansville and other Conference-USA programs.
Jackson had 1,101 points in his career at Gulf, third in school history, and leaves as Gulf’s all-time steals leader with 360.
Jackson, who also excelled in football at Gulf, was the clear leader in points in Pasco County during his senior season until his arrest in January for dealing in stolen property, a felony charge. The charge was later dismissed but not in time for Anthony to rejoin the basketball team to finish out his senior season.
“This story has a happy ending and I’m just like a proud papa,” Feldman said.
Feldman tried relentlessly to find Jackson a scholarship to get him out of the area and get a college education even when the possibilities were were slimming as the summer went on, but found Vol State, which was looking for a player just like Jackson - a fast shooter and combo player - to start right away.
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