Category: Featured

Freedom Powers Way To Spring Win

The Freedom Patriots ground up the host King Lions for 143 yards of rushing in just two quarters of play. Running backs Carlos Rodicio and Xavier Freeman gained most of those yards with Rodicio scoring on the game’s only touchdown, a five yard run that made it a 7-0 win.

Top Players

Rising senior Carlos Rodicio was not a huge factor in the Patriot run game in 2015 but expect him to be a lynchpin in this year’s ground game. Rodicio picked up 65 yards on seven carries in two quarters against King.

“He’s going to be a huge factor on offense this year,” assistant coach Dave Sevier said. “He’ll play slot, running back and outside linebacker. He’s a downhill kid that takes it and goes.”

Freedom_CarlosRodicio — Carlos Rodicio led Freedom in rushing Thursday night.

Complementing Rodicio in the backfield will be rising junior Xavier Freeman. Freeman didn’t log a carry in 2015 but he should garner a lot of work in 2016. Freeman looked explosive Thursday night against King and picked up 50 yards on seven carries, including runs of 21 and 22 yards.

Rising junior quarterback Deshard Hughes was stymied by the King defense and the Lions picked him off twice but coaches are pleased with how fast he’s picked up the offense and with his athletic ability. Hughes did make a great stop on defense to kill a Lion drive in the first quarter of the spring game.

Rising junior linebacker Brendan Abel showed flashes of promise against King. He made a crushing hit to separate a Lion receiver from the ball on King’s first possession and swarmed to the ball the rest of the night.

Rising juniors Jayland Desue and Miguel Quiles made some big defensive plays for the Patriots. Desue logged a sack on the Lions’ first possession and Quiles had two tackles-for-loss and a half sack that ended the Lions’ fourth drive.

Top Plays

Hughes found Donta Acree for a 25-yard gain in the first quarter against King.

On Freedom’s scoring drive, Freeman carried three straight times for 21, 22 and 2 and then was thrown back for a loss. No matter, Rodicio broke an 11-yarder to the King six-yard line and then scored on a five yard burst.

The Lions were set up first and goal at the 5, late in the second quarter, but the Patriot defense held. On a fourth down run from the 11, Sebastian Cuevas chased Lion quarterback Kenneth Wilson to the sideline, tackling him at the five to get the ball back with just seconds remaining.

Top Position Battles

The Patriots are high on Hughes but they played Amar McRae also. McRae seems like the better run option as he broke a 28-yarder.

Rodicio and Freeman should have plenty on their plate in 2016, no real need for a battle over the position.

Only Acree and Xavier Walker caught passes for the Patriots in the spring game. No doubt that position will be up for competition.

Top Comment

“Carlos (Rodicio) was steady and Freeman stepped up even after the fumble,” Sevier said. “We rode them on that winning drive, those two lead by example.”

“ They’ve added some wingspan to the pocket,” Sevier said of tackles Bryant Young and David Springs

Top Takeaways

The Patriots are still in that brutal 7A-8 district with Plant, Sickles, Wharton, Gaither. It’s going to be tough sledding for a squad that has just 35 players on the roster and dressed just 30 for the jamboree. Athletes are going to have to adapt to playing both offense and defense.

Only two starters return on the offensive line but coaches are pleased with what they see in Young and Springs. The Patriot line created quite a bit of running room against the Lions in two quarters but their ability to come together as a group will dictate the fortunes of the 2016 Patriots. The Patriots only have six offensive linemen. If there’s much attrition in 2016, that will make head coach Floyd Graham’s debut season with Freedom tougher.

Wharton, Freedom Seek Answers In Spring Football Finale

Both high school football teams in New Tampa suffered disappointing seasons last year, but to very different degrees.

Freedom High, coming off its first winning season since 2009, failed to build on a 6-4 record in 2014 and slumped to 3-7 last season.

Meanwhile, Paul R. Wharton High, which was coming off a disappointing 2014, failed to make the playoffs despite posting an 8-2 record in 2015, because both losses were in district play. Great season, disappointing to miss the postseason.

After a few months of offseason workouts in the weight room and some 7-on-7 ball, both squads kicked off spring football on April 25, and will wrap it up tonight at 7 p.m. with a jamboree at King High on N. 56th St. with Wharton playing Hillsborough for two quarters, and Freedom playing the second half against the host Lions.

For results, check back at NTNeighborhoodNews.com tonight.

Heading into the summer, both teams will continue to work on some pressing questions.

WHO’S TO BE THE QB?

Wharton and Freedom both entered the spring with gaping holes under center for the first time in years.

This is the first year Wharton head coach David Mitchell entered the spring with no idea who his starting quarterback would be since Chase Litton was in the eighth grade in 2010. The record-setting Litton was a senior in 2013, and senior transfer Adam McAfee took over for a season before another senior, Bryce Martin, threw for 1,319 yards and 10 touchdowns last fall.

Wharton_QBs — It was a crowded battle to see who would emerge as the No. 1 quarterback at Wharton.

But whose turn is it now?

“We don’t know,’’ said Mitchell.

Junior varsity starter Darin Green would have been the logical choice, but the sophomore-to-be also is a standout basketball player and Mitchell said he will bypass football to focus on his hoops game.

Considering Martin was the only player to throw a varsity pass last season, that leaves a big, big hole in the Wharton lineup. At Wharton’s practices last week, five possible QBs took turns throwing passes.

Freedom narrowed its choices down to two: rangy 6-foot-3 rising junior Amar McCrae, and rising junior Deshard Hughes, who is built like a linebacker, where he will also play.

So for those counting at home, the two New Tampa football teams combined return one player who threw a varsity pass — which was intercepted — last season, and that was Robert Mungin, a Freedom defensive back.

IS SHANNON THE NEW KING?

Wharton_Shannen — Wharton RB Shannon King could follow in the footsteps of past Wildcats who developed into college standouts. He’ll likely be called on to carry the load for Wharton this fall.

Wharton grad Vernon Hargreaves became the school’s highest-ever NFL draft pick when he went to the hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 11th pick in the first round. Litton, who tore it up last year at Marshall, could be next. And, former Wildcats WR Auden Tate should start this season for Florida State and has future NFL wideout written all over him.

Who’s next from Wharton? This spring could give us a glimpse as rising junior RB Shannon King steps into a primetime role.

Considering Wharton’s passing game will be a bright shade of green, look for the Wildcats to lean on their rushing game, where King ran for 399 yards and five touchdowns last season, running behind senior and 1,000-yard rusher Miles Williams.

King is 5-10 and about 220 pounds, a bottom-heavy load who can both run around and through opponents. Mitchell thinks King can be special. The month of May could provide a big clue to whether or not he’s correct.

WHERE’S THE BEEF?

You won’t find many football coaches heading into spring who won’t tell you that finding capable offensive and defensive linemen is a primary concern, and the New Tampa schools are no exception.

“We need to find out who’s who up front,’’ Mitchell says.

Wharton is graduating big boy blockers like Zach Humphreys (6-4, 275), Daniel Martel (6-4, 270) and Andrew Williams (6-2, 270), but the Wildcats do appear to have some beefy replacements.

At Freedom, the Patriots also suffered significant losses on the offensive line. “We are very, very thin on the offensive and defensive lines,’’ said new coach Floyd Graham. “We need to get some kids well.”

READY FOR A BREAKTHROUGH?

Graham did not hesitate when pointing out his spring MVP: rising senior Trent Burnett, a 5-7, 185-pound jack-of-all-trades.

Burnett will start at running back for the Patriots. He has very good hands and should be a weapon in the passing game.

Last year, Burnett only had 18 carries for 64 yards, but added nine catches for 146 yards (second on the team) and two TDs.

Burnett also will play DB and return kicks. “He’s going to be everything,’’ said Graham, chuckling. “He’s going to be a game changer.’’

IS FLOYD GRAHAM THE ANSWER?

Surprise! Freedom has a new head coach. Graham is now the eighth coach in 14 seasons of Freedom football. He replaces Todd Donohoe, who lasted longer and won more games than any other coach in the school’s history (four seasons, 15 wins).

New Freedom coach Floyd Graham started the football programs at Newsome High in Lithia & at Steinbrenner High in Citrus Park, coaching the Warriors to a 7-3 record his last season there.

Graham, ironically, first applied for the Freedom job in 2002, the first year the school was open, but didn’t get it. He went on to start the program at Newsome High (in Lithia) in 2003, and at Steinbrenner High in 2009, having success at both schools and compiling a 21-29 record, including 7-3 his last year with the Warriors.

He is excited about taking over an established program.

“The last time I coached (in Hillsborough County), I didn’t have any seniors,’’ Graham said. “This is a different kind of animal. Something is already there. I just have to polish it.”

Graham has installed a spread offense at Freedom, hoping to take advantage of an athletic squad. He will also line his defense up in a 4-2-5.

The no-nonsense new coach had 40 kids out practicing when we checked out Freedom last week, after starting the spring with 58.“We knew we were going to have to clean house a little bit and we did,’’ Graham said. “But I’m happy with what we got.”

Students Go For The Win Saturday In Cooking Challenge at One Buc Place

New River Elementary students and members of the school’s nutrition team (l.-r.) Cameron Keehn, Payton Furman, Payton Leidy & Charyn Maldonado will make their recipe, cheesy chicken and bacon quesadillas with Greek yogurt veggie dip, for the Dairy Council of Florida’s third annual Gridiron Cooking Challenge.

A team of students from New River Elementary was chosen as a finalist to compete in the Dairy Council of Florida’s third annual Gridiron Cooking Challenge this Saturday.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the event, which is part of Fuel Up to Play 60, an in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by the National Dairy Council and the National Football League to help encourage today’s youth across the U.S. to lead healthier lives.

New River Elementary is a recipient of a Fuel Up to Play 60 grant and has participated in the event for the past three years, since the competition’s inception. The school’s team won the first year it competed, and this year’s team members want to put their school back on top.

New River fourth grade students Cameron Keehn, Payton Furman, Payton Leidy and Charyn Maldonado will make their recipe — cheesy chicken and bacon quesadilla with Greek yogurt veggie dip, for the event’s judges.

“The kids got together to create this recipe,” says Kathy Gillooly, one of the team’s coaches, along with Holly Mitchell and Ryan Ketterer (all three are physical education teachers at New River). “They wanted it to be fun and creative, and kid-friendly.” She says the students made their quesadillas in the shape of footballs, and that they were surprised at how much they liked the veggie dip, which includes spinach, peppers and onions.

Gillooly explains that the students are part of New River Elementary’s nutrition team, which goes on the school’s morning show to give tips on healthy eating and sets up a table at school events to hand out free samples of nutritious snacks and smoothies. There are nine kids on the nutrition team, so Gillooly explains that they drew names out of a hat to choose which four students would be able to participate in the cooking challenge.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Gillooly says of the competition. “They go all out to make it a big deal for the kids.”

The competition will be held at One Buc Place on Saturday, May 14. For more information about the Gridiron Cooking Challenge, please visit FloridaMilk.com/FuelUpToPlay60.

Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon cancels the 2016 Freedom Fest

Rotary Prez — Incoming WC Rotary Club president Dr. Pablo Rivera (right) and current president Erin Meyer, at the club’s meeting at Quail Hollow Country Club in Wesley Chapel on May 11.

The Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon has been forced to cancel the 2016 Freedom Fest, which had been scheduled for July 2, after the host site pulled out.

‘The Grove (at WC shopping plaza) just pulled out on us,” said Dr. Pablo Rivera, the club’s incoming president for the 2016-17 Rotary year & the event co-chair. “I literally have major sponsor checks inbound to us as we speak that I now have to return.” The club was hoping to have those sponsors instead sponsor the upcoming Duck Derby.

Rivera said the club tried to quickly relocate the event to a few other locations (including near the Tampa Premium Outlet Mall), “but we can’t pull off a (venue) change by July 2 (the scheduled date for the 2016 Freedom Fest).”

The event had previously been held at the Shops of Wiregrass mall, last year drawing an estimated 50,000 people to the July 3 event and raising more than $25,000 for the club’s selected charitable causes.

The club’s first-ever Duck Derby will be held on Saturday, May 21, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., lakeside at Hungry Harry’s BBQ on U.S.41 in Land O’Lakes. The top prize for the Duck Derby will be $2,500, with more than two dozen other prizes available.

“We’re now focused on making the first Duck Derby another major fund-raising event for our club’s selected charities,” Rivera said.

Current club president Erin Meyer added, “We still plan to host a fifth annual Freedom Fest next year.”

Mother’s Day Extra Special For The Holcomb Family

Alissa Holcomb sat in church on Mother’s Day in 2011, when Pastor James Dodzweit asked for all the mothers in attendance to stand and be acknowledged.

That morning, Alissa had suffered her third miscarriage.

She stayed in her seat.

Her story, and journey, started right there.

That summer, Alissa and her husband John had all but given up on having children. Married in 2004, they started trying to make a family in 2006. Alissa had already been through two miscarriages, but the third one, on that Mother’s Day in 2011, was the cruelest of them all.

“Lord, what do you have in store?,’’ she prayed.

They agreed to stop trying for a baby. The pressure, and heartbreaking failures, had become too much.

So, they turned to adoption, which Alissa says they had always planned to do, in addition to having their own babies anyway. Alissa had her heart set on adopting a baby, but twice, when they thought they were close, a pair of matches fell through.

They came to a halting revelation: “Maybe we’re not going to be parents,” she recalls.

But, Alissa continued to attend adoption classes. She learned that older sets of biological siblings were the hardest kids to find homes for, and also the most plentiful in the adoption system. So, while she desired a baby, she came home one night from class and told John she might be open to adopting somewhat older siblings.

She didn’t share this with anyone. And yet, strangely, the adoption agency, which knew she was only looking for a baby, called soon after her conversation with John to ask if she would be interested in a five-year-old African-American boy and his four-year-old sister.

In October 2011, she met Isaac and Aliah, and on Dec. 3, the children moved into their home. She had her kids. She was a mother.

A week later, Alissa found out she was pregnant.

***

With a Dollar Store pregnancy test in the bathroom of a Cracker Barrel, Alissa confirmed the suspicion she had an hour earlier by the sickness she says she felt after catching a whiff of a soiled diaper.

Her previous pregnancy tests had taken longer to reveal a thin double line. This one was instant and “darker than dark.”

holcombs She was dumbfounded. She went to the doctor for a quick blood test to confirm, and then met her husband at Walmart, where he was shopping. She surprised him with a baby Christmas stocking.

When he looked inside, he saw the pregnancy test.

“It was crazy, just crazy,’’ she said. “I mean, that’s not a plan. That’s not how this is supposed to happen. But, because of our faith, we felt this was totally God, they way he had orchestrated the whole thing.”

On March 7, 2012, the Holcombs’ adoption of Isaac and Aliah was made official. She spent her first-ever Mother’s Day pregnant with Jacob, eating breakfast in bed, compliments of Isaac and Aliah.

***

Alissa works as the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area director for Young Life, a national, non-denominational Christian ministry dedicated to introducing teenagers to Jesus and helping them grow in their faith.

She doesn’t share the same birthing story most moms do. There are no straight lines from moment to moment, just roadblocks and obstacles and twisting paths headed seemingly nowhere, until they all headed somewhere.

“The moment I laid eyes on Isaac and Aliah, and other adoptive parents can speak to this too, it was like a unique birthing experience,’’ Alissa says. “We were overcome by emotion. We knew. These are our kids.”

Jacob, who was born in July of 2012, made Alissa a mom again. And, after giving up on having a fourth child, the Holcombs found out — surprise — in 2015 that she was pregnant with Annlee, who is now 9 months old.

“It’s been a crazy journey,’’ Alissa said, “and I’m really grateful. As hard as it’s been, I’m really grateful for the (now four) children I have.”

Alissa works hard at making her family work. Despite her biological attachments to two of her children, she has worked hard at ensuring that she has that same feeling of attachment with Isaac and Aliah. They come from hard places. They have questions. The Holcombs attend family counseling to help seek those answers out.

“Being parents is the hardest thing we’ve ever done,’’ Alissa says. “But, we are committed to the overall health of the family. It’s a work in progress.”

***

For Alissa, Mother’s Day brings on a wave of emotions. It it is a reminder of pain and suffering, but mostly of hope and salvation. She thinks there were reasons for everything, from the miscarriages to failed adoptions to her change of heart that brought Isaac and Ali
ah into her heart, to her first and second successful pregnancies.

Since that lowest point in 2011 when Mother’s Day was only a reminder of failure, it now brings her joy.

Just a year after that, when Pastor James asked all the mothers to stand, she jumped to her feet, smiling, with one thought:

“Oh my gosh,’’ she thought, “I’m here, and I’m a mom.”