Austin Named Top All-Star Lineman But West Falls To East In OT

Wesley Chapel High (WCH) defensive lineman Christian Austin wreaked havoc on the West team’s offensive line to earn Most Outstanding Defensive Lineman, but it wasn’t enough to lift his fellow All-Stars to victory Dec. 8 in the second annual Pasco County East-West Classic, which was played at Sunlake High in Land O’Lakes.

The East team, with Austin and 13 other players from WCH and Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) on the roster, fell to the West 27-21 on a quarterback scramble in overtime.

WRH and WCH had seven players each named to the team, which is comprised of only seniors. The event was sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel.

“This is a great thing, what we’re doing here,” said WRH head coach Mark Kantor, who was the head coach of the East team. “We should keep it rolling. It’s fun to coach the kids (from other schools) and just to be part of this.”

Wesley Chapel-area players showed up early and heavily on defense for the East squad. WRH’s 6-foot, 180-pound linebacker Ryan Scamardo made a touchdown-saving tackle and had a quarterback pressure on the West’s opening drive, but the West still found the end zone on a third-and-goal for the game’s first score.

A fumble recovery then set up a short field for WCH quarterback Jacob Thomas and the East offense. Thomas completed a first down pass to the 13, and then Zephyrhills Christian’s Mykh’ael Chavis ran it in from there to tie the game.

Austin, who is undersized for an interior player at 5’-10’ and 190 lbs., but able to use his edge in quickness to make plays, was a menace from his defensive line position. He beat behemoth 6-8, 350-pound lineman Darrin Bright of Ridgewood for a tackle-for-loss on the West’s fourth drive, forcing a punt.

On the next West drive, they tried a halfback option play, and Scamardo was there to break it up for a loss of yardage and force a fourth down.

Scamardo’s WRH teammate and fellow LB Jason Winston, tripped up the West quarterback on the ensuing drive to force another fourth down. Another Bulls player, safety Dylan Bryan, made a huge play on the next drive, intercepting the ball and returning it to the West 36.

In the third quarter, the West took a 13-7 lead but local defenders kept making plays, as Winston and Bryan combined to force another West fourth down.

The offensive players from WCH and WRH began making their marks, as well. On first-and-goal from the 5, Thomas ran a bootleg to his left and beat the West defense to the corner for a touchdown to give his squad a 14-13 lead.

And then, Austin logged another sack on the West’s ensuing possession.

With time winding down, the East got in the end zone again to take a 21-13 lead with 1:12 left to play, but the West charged right back with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 18 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

But, even though the West team fell short, WCH coach Tony Egan, who served as an assistant for the East squad, said, “This was an awesome experience, mixing it up with other coaches, no one wanting to give up any secrets, keeping it very vanilla. It’s also another chance for some of these players to get something on film.”

Egan mentioned that Thomas had finally received his first of what Egan expects to be multiple scholarship offers, from Ave Maria University near Naples, FL.