QB No Longer A Question Mark For WCH Wildcats Football Team

Isaiah Bolden (above, left, with the ball) won the starting QB job in the spring and delivered a long TD run and TD pass in the 31-14 victory over Mitchell High on May 18.

Like every high school football team in the Tampa Bay area, Wesley Chapel High (WCH) came into spring practice with a number of important questions.

On May 18, however, the Wildcats may have answered their most important question during their 31-14 spring football victory over Mitchell High, based in the Trinity area of New Port Richey.

After a three-way battle to replace last year’s starting quarterback Jacob Thomas, second-year Wildcats coach Anthony Egan declared Isaiah Bolden the winner of a three-way battle with senior Tyler Wittish and junior Jelani Vassel to call his signals during the 2017 football season, which begins in August.

All Bolden did was go out and threw for a touchdown and run for another in the victory by the Wildcats over Mitchell. WCH is coming off a 7-2 record in 2016, their most successful season since 2004.

“He (Bolden) started looking really good in 7-on-7s this season, so I thought we should give him a shot, see what happens,” Egan said.

Isaiah Bolden’s favorite target during the spring game was WR Justin Trapnell, who had more than 90 yards receiving, including a 58-yard TD.

While Egan also says he liked what he saw in Whittish and Vassel, it was hard to resist the temptation of putting his best athlete under center. An oral commitment to the University of Oregon in Eugene (ranked 21st in the nation by an Athlon Sports preseason poll), after initially committing to Florida State University in Tallahassee, Bolden is another threat in a backfield filled with guys who are a threat to score every time they touch the ball.

And, it’s no secret that the Wildcats want to get Bolden more touches. He had nearly 500 return yards last season, including three touchdowns (two on kickoffs and one on a punt return), but with Thomas under center and the Wildcats committed to the running game, Bolden was limited on offense.

WCH attempted fewer than eight passes a game in 2016 despite having Jacob Thomas, the county’s leading passer the year before, under center. Bolden may not throw much more than that, but expect those attempts to be a lot more exciting, as the future Duck opens things up, whether he throws the ball or tucks it under and runs. Bolden has high-level speed and his presence under center will pull attention away from the Wildcats’ receivers and backs, who are already talented and numerous.

Bolden threw for 95 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown pass to Justin Trapnell, to give WCH a 10-7 lead over Mitchell at halftime in the spring game.

On the opening drive of the second half, Bolden scrambled out of the pocket, dodged one defender and raced 64 yards for a touchdown to extend that lead to 17-7. He finished with 81 yards rushing.

Bolden won’t have to do it all, if the spring game is any indication. With a number of talented skill players returning, as well as a good group of linemen, the Wildcats seem poised to take another step in 2017, which kicks off with a home game Aug. 18 against Land O’Lakes.

Dexter Leverett, who ran for 1,249 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2016 and had 100+ yards in all nine of his starts, ran for 55 yards against Mitchell, and also led the way with some key blocks.

“Us backs, we have to take care of each other,” Leverett said. “Everyone has to do their thing.”

Malik Melvin ran for 123 yards in the spring game on eight carries, with two scores. He is a rising star and would likely be the main guy on a different team, and is coming off a solid 2016 campaign.

Keith Walker

“If you take one thing from our backfield, it’s unselfishness,” Coach Egan said. “They want to block for each other. Now we have three or four guys who want to do it.”

About the only bad news out of the Wildcats vaunted backfield this spring was the expected loss of sophomore Keith Walker, who ran for 48 yards on four carries with a TD but is zoned to attend Cypress Creek in the fall.

The WCH defense looked a little wobbly out of the gates in the spring game, giving up a three-play, 64-yard drive, but tightened up and didn’t allow another score the rest of the way (Mitchell’s second, and final, touchdown came on a kick return).

Do-everything defensive lineman Austen Wittish is the only returning starter from the 2016 front seven. He led the team in tackles last year with 93, including four for a loss of yards. The Wildcats’ success this season could hinge on how Wittish, his brother Tyler (a junior), seniors Andrew Brooks and Matt Severson and junior Ben Thomas can gel. Egan mentioned Chase Harris and Nick Hoffman as guys who will factor into the defensive alignment in 2017.

“It’s the same system but we’ll have six new guys up front this year,” Egan said.

WRH Bulls Football Team Preps For Tough 2017 Schedule In Spring Game

New WRH Bull Raymond Woodie III (6), follows a block by Jordan Miner (1) on the way to a big gain in the 33-27 spring game loss to Tampa Catholic on May 19.

The Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) football team will arguably be one of the top two or three teams in Pasco County, but that does them little good when it comes to making the playoffs because they play in Class 7A-District 8, which also includes Hillsborough County powers Plant, Sickles, Gaither and Wharton.

So why not cap the spring football season against, well, another tough Hillsborough County team? That was third-year head coach Mark Kantor’s thinking as the Bulls fell behind 33-13 in the fourth quarter before rallying back and falling just a little short in a 33-27 loss to Tampa Catholic (TC) on May 19.

“You don’t know what it’s like going against them (Hillsborough County teams) until you actually line up against them,” Kantor said. “These kids are seasoned guys now and they’ve learned so much.”

Spring offered some challenges for the Bulls, who are coming off their most successful season after a 7-3 record earned them a spot in the Class 7A playoffs last season, their first postseason appearance since 2010.

To get back to the playoffs, one of the Bulls’ primary focuses in the spring was on replacing multi-facted quarterback Chris Faddoul, who signed to play for Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. Faddoul made the lion’s share of the Bulls’ pass attempts in 2016, was third on the team in rushing and was their primary punter and place kicker. Replacing him is like replacing 3-4 players, but the Bulls have a deep roster (43 for the spring) and a lot of candidates.

Jordan Miner

Junior Grant Sessums, who threw only 28 passes in 2016, took all of the passing attempts in the spring game against TC. He was harried by the Crusaders’ defense and threw thee interceptions, but also threw for two touchdowns and ran for another.

Rising junior Raymond Woodie III comes over from playing QB at Carrollwood Day School  (CDS), but played free safety in the TC game, picking off a pass and running it back 40 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

Woodie, a contrast to Sessum’s pocket-style passing, threw for 543 yards and four touchdowns as a sophomore for CDS, and already boasts 16 college offers from the likes of the University of Southern California, Penn State University, Michigan State University and the University of South Florida.

Nkem Asomba

His recent transfer to WRH left him out of the quarterback spot for the spring game as he learns the playbook, but Woodie could end up sharing time under center with Sessums.

“He (Woodie) adds another dimension,” Kantor said. “He’s tough, athletic and wants to help the team.”

He’ll also strengthen a running game led by senior Daquion “Da Da” McGee, who rushed for 1,063 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns last year but found tough sledding against TC, rushing 13 times for minimal gains.

His counterpart in the backfield is fullback Chase Oliver, a 5’-9”, 210-lb. sledgehammer.

“Chase is a throwback football player,” Kantor said. “If he played in the ‘60s, he’d be an All-American.”

On the Bulls’ first drive against TC, Oliver steamrolled a Crusader defender for 11 yards and a first down. On the second drive, he caught a short pass and rumbled 54 yards, clobbering defenders to set up a short score. He finished with five touches for 82 yards in the spring game, although he never found the end zone.

The WRH coaches are careful not to run Oliver too much, as they also need him on defense, where he starts at linebacker. “It’s challenging (playing both ways) but I have to lead by example,” said Oliver, who is emerging as one of the team’s veteran voices. He says he was pleased with the late charge by the Bulls vs. TC.

“You can’t go to sleep, you have to play a complete game,” Oliver said. “I like the way we fought back from 33-13.”

Speaking of veteran leadership, the Bulls’ QBs will have the luxury of having a senior-heavy receiving corps. Leading receivers Adrian Thomas and Jacob Hill return after more than 400 yards between them in 2016. Rising senior Jordan Miner is a threat at wideout and at defensive back. Daniel Biglow and Shamaur McDowell also are good-sized, veteran receivers.

McDowell, Miner and Woodie give the Bulls the most recruited trio of teammates in Pasco County.

Devaun Roberts

The Bulls also got a great showing in the spring game from senior Devaun Roberts. He set a high bar for himself against TC, picking up two sacks, a tackle for loss, a fumble recovery, a pass defended and a quarterback pressure from his defensive end position. “This is my first year at defensive end,’’ Roberts said. “I’m used to playing tight end though, so now that I’m lined up over the tight end a lot, I know the blocks. It felt good to get in there and scare that quarterback. We’re going to do well this year.”

Behind Roberts are two big, set pieces who certainly look like dominant linemen. Lenczden, whose measurements are not listed on the roster, is roughly 6’-6” and 260 pounds. Senior Nkem Asomba is listed at 6’-5”, 265. “He’s actually a basketball player, football is new to him,” Kantor said of Asomba. “He’s shown some athleticism and that he can play this sport.”

Wiregrass Ranch High Co-Valedictorian Lauren Payne Follows Her Sister To UF

Wiregrass Ranch High co-valedictorian Lauren Payne will follow her sister Emily to the University of Florida.

Lauren Payne says she wasn’t necessarily trying to earn the title of valedictorian of the 2017 class at Wiregrass Ranch High, but that’s where her hard work and smart choices landed her.

She recently graduated as co-valedictorian, with a weighted GPA of 4.79.

“I chose my classes based on what I thought was going to be interesting,” Lauren says, not with having the toughest schedule in mind. “I took a mix of AP (Advanced Placement) classes and dual enrollment, and they were all good.” She says her favorites — among courses such as AP calculus B/C, government and statistics — were her dual enrollment world literature and AP biology classes. What did she take for fun? “Oceanography and anthropology were like electives,” she says.

“Lauren has a really strong work ethic,” says her mom, Janet. “It is really important for her to try her best and challenge herself.”

Lauren’s natural drive to try her hardest has earned her some pretty impressive credentials. For example, she’s a National Merit Scholarship winner. This makes her eligible for a program called the Benacquisto scholarship, where the State of Florida provides a financial award equal to the cost of attendance at a Florida school, including tuition and fees, on-campus room and board, books, supplies, travel and miscellaneous expenses remaining after using  award given by the National Merit Scholar program and the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program.

Lauren is taking her Benacquisto scholarship to the University of Florida in Gainesville, the school from which her older sister Emily just graduated. Emily was WRH’s salutatorian in 2013.

“I chose UF because I’ve been visiting my older sister there since middle school,” she says, “and I always felt like I belonged.” UF also offered her its Presidential Scholarship, which offers $5,000, $8,000 (gold) and $10,000 (platinum) per year to in-state, high-achieving students.

Her plan is to major in microbiology and cell science and eventually work in the medical field. “It’s exciting to be on my own for the first time,” says Lauren, who has lived in the same house in Meadow Pointe her entire life, attending Sand Pine Elementary and John Long Middle School before WRH.

While she’s following her older sister’s footsteps into college, she also followed her athletically. Lauren watched Emily run cross country in high school, so she started running in middle school. Lauren became part of a team at WRH that won the Sunshine Athletic Conference Eastern Division championship this year.

“I looked up to my sister, so I thought running cross country looked like so much fun,” Lauren says. “Once I started, I really liked the coach and all the girls on the team, so I stuck with it, even though it was a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

She adds, “There are some days for everyone where it’s just a really rough run and it doesn’t feel fun or easy. There’s a point where you have to decide whether I’m going to stick through this. The experience with all the other girls on the team made the hard days worth it.”

In addition to being a scholar and an athlete, Lauren also was active on campus at WRH, as a class Senator all four years, president of Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society), a Ranch ambassador (representing the school at different events such as orientation and open house) and a member of both the National Honor Society and the Science National Honor Society.

“She grew up liking to try a lot of different things, such as dance, swimming, and playing a couple of different instruments,’’ said her mother Janet. In fact, Janet says Lauren still plays violin but had to stop playing in the school’s orchestra.

“Orchestra is a big-time commitment,” Janet said, “Lauren had to make choices. She even did cheerleading for her first two years, but couldn’t keep doing all of those activities, so she had to make decisions about how to best spend her time.”

While Janet is proud of Lauren, she doesn’t seem at all surprised at her success. “Since Lauren was pretty young, she’s always had a curiosity about how things work and has been enthusiastic about school,’’ Janet said. “We’ve had great public schools and great teachers who have nurtured her along the way. Those things came together: good schools, good teachers, she gets a lot of support and she tries hard.”

New Audi Dealership In Wiregrass Ranch Holds Its Official Groundbreaking

Dirt and excitement are in the air at the groundbreaking for Audi Wesley Chapel, which will open later this year off S.R. 56, a mile or so east of the Shops at Wiregrass. (Photo by Stephen John Photography)

A high-tech concept in luxury car sales is coming to Wesley Chapel. Dimmitt Automotive Group has broken ground (and has already begun going vertical; see photo below left) on its new Audi dealership, a 40,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility off of S.R. 56 in Wiregrass Ranch, that’s considered Audi’s most innovative retail experience yet.

Audi Wesley Chapel is expected to open in the fall of 2017 (“probably in November,” according to Dimmitt CEO Scott Larguier). The project, referred to as Audi Terminal, will be a modern, open-area facility (rendering, bottom right, from the Dimmitt Automotive Group) that’s designed to be fully client-centric.

“From the moment you enter the showroom, you’ll notice that the entire facility is designed with the customer experience at its core,” Larguier explained during the building’s May 22 groundbreaking ceremony, which included members of the Dimmitt family, Bill, JD and Quinn Porter and Scott Sheridan of Locust Branch, LLC (which is developing the Porter Family Trust property in Wiregrass), Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore and Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce CEO Hope Allen, as well as more than a dozen WCCC business members.

According to a Dimmitt press release, the Audi Terminal will “capture customers’ imaginations before they even walk in the door. Its stunning architecture will look like a modern art building. Inside, customers will be greeted with exciting Audi automobiles, iPads and luxury lounges filled with sleek leather club chairs.”

Larguier explained that the high-tech building is reflective of the high-tech luxury Audi vehicles that will be on display and sold inside.

What customers won’t see are sales desks and phones. “It’s the perfect union of elegant interaction and advanced technology,” Larguier said.

Audi Wesley Chapel is the latest example of Dimmitt Automotive Group’s commitment to an elevated car buying experience. The Dimmitt family already features Cadillac, Land Rover, Jaguar, Toyota, Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and McLaren dealerships.

Everyone on hand praised not only the Porter and Dimmitt families, but also Pasco County for bringing yet another luxury brand to “the Chap,” as Allen loves to call it. Audi will open just a few months after Lexus of Wesley Chapel, which is being opened by the Williams Auto Group.

Will The Diverging Diamond Fix The I-75/S.R. 56 Interchange?

This rendering of the recently-opened Sarasota DDI is nearly identical to what will will be built at S.R. 56 and I-75 in Wesley Chapel, which the major exception being I-75 passes over the intersection, while in Wesley Chapel S.R. 56 passes over I-75

A diamond could be a commuter’s best friend, according to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

A diverging diamond, that is.

That was the message delivered by Ryan Forrestel, PE of American Consulting Professionals, LLC, as he presented what he feels will be the solution to the snarled mess that is the S.R. 56 interchange of I-75 to the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) on May 23, during a meeting at the Mercedes-Benz of Wesley Chapel dealership located just a few hundred feet from where the construction of the diverging diamond interchange (DDI) will begin.

Forrestel, the consultant design project manager for the $24.1-million Diverging Diamond Interchange project, told a group of roughly 20 representatives from affected  businesses like Havertys, Tampa Premium Outlets, Chick-Fil-A, Florida Hospital Center Ice and others that it will be a good news, bad news proposition.

The good: engineers say the DDI is going to make traffic smoother and more efficient and in the long run yield improved results for local businesses.

The bad: during the long-awaited construction beginning in fall of 2018, the already-congested interchange is likely to become even more clogged.

No one, however, was surprised.

“I think this is a good opportunity for us,’’ said Stacey Nance, the general manager of TPO, located just west of the DDI. “Is it going to be cumbersome? Absolutely it is.”

Forrestel’s presentation seemed to assuage some of the concerns of representatives from those local businesses, many of whom are concerned that shoppers already are avoiding the area because of the traffic.

Ryan Forrestel

The project, moved up twice from its original 2024 and then 2020 start dates, is expected to expedite traffic through the much-maligned interchange, which handles roughly 100,000 vehicles a day and connects many of the residents of Wesley Chapel, Lutz and Land O’Lakes to Tampa.

Forrestel said he will have the DDI plans drawn up by January, and then in June of 2018, bidding will begin to find the company to build it.

Construction should start by the fall of 2018, and Forrestel said it could tentatively take anywhere from 18-36 months to build.

“We haven’t gotten that far yet,’’ Forrestel said. “That’s just a safe range.”

The timing of the construction is a concern to local businesses, as it will likely conflict with the busiest shopping time of the year.

“The fear was starting in the fall,” Nance said. “If there is any concern, it’s that it is hitting us all at prime time.”

Forrestel said the current LOS, or Level of Service, of the interchange is “F,” and “it is only going to get worse before it gets better” as development continues on the north and south sides of S.R. 56, both on the west and east sides of the interchange

Much of the traffic is caused by morning commuters trying to get on I-75 southbound, and evening traffic trying to exit northbound, which can back up two miles from where I-75 splits to S.R. 56.

“On the northbound off ramp and southbound on ramp, we’re making a lot of changes,’’ said Forrestel, who said he drives past TPO every morning and sees the eastbound traffic backing all the way up to Old C.R. 54 (or Wesley Chapel Blvd.).

As part of the DDI project, however, that mile-long backup during peak morning hours is projected to be reduced to 300 feet once a second lane is added to the exit for people getting on I-75 southbound.

The other change, which Forrestel describes as minor but really important, is widening the northbound off ramp. He said the original design had four lanes, with a center lane serving as a shared lane for travelers going east or west. But, they found that it created confusion for drivers and had a significant impact on the traffic, so the exit will be widened where the barrier wall on the east side of the ramp ends, and will now be five lanes.

Three of those northbound exit lanes will be dedicated to go west (turn left onto 56), and two lanes will be dedicated to go east (or right onto 56).

“It will be a significant improvement,’’ Forrestel said.

The first DDI in Florida was recently completed in Sarasota — at the University Pkwy. exit (No. 213)  — and has drawn positive reviews (including from Neighborhood News editor Gary Nager, who will provide a video tour of the Sarasota DDI in the episode of WCNT-tv that will premiere on YouTube and Facebook on Friday, June 9), after nearly four years of construction that involved rebuilding everything. Forrestel said that the Wesley Chapel DDI project will involve no expansion of the overpass, although it will be reconfigured, so it shouldn’t take nearly as long to complete.

The median on the bridge, as well as the current walkways, will be eliminated to create an additional westbound lane, and the bridge (which is technically two bridges) will be connected. Pedestrians will be able to cross right down the center of the bridge.

Forrestel added there will be plenty of signs directing drivers. The fourth eastbound lane on S.R. 56 is being pulled back 500 feet, so signs can alert commuters much sooner about the interchange directions.

“All of these changes will be improving the efficiency of the interchange dramatically,” Forrestel said.

The real key to making it all work, however, remains the DDI’s signature crossovers, where the east and westbound lanes appear to cross over. Though other solutions were considered for the interchange — like a flyover similar to what was built an exit south at Bruce B. Downs Blvd. — the DDI was chosen for its ability to handle large swaths of traffic from both directions.

“Huge left turns lanes work best for the DDI,” Forrestel said. “In some places, they are a great solution; in other place they are a terrible solution.”

The Wesley Chapel interchange, however, it is expected to move more cars through the interchange in a free-flowing manner, as the left turn lanes will no longer be crossing in front of other traffic and only entail two phases of lights.

Forrestel showed a video of a DDI in Atlanta (which can be seen at youtu.be/gY8xU-UAQWs) which has fewer lanes but otherwise resembles the one coming to Wesley Chapel.

Forrestel said the timing of the lights will be adjusted to accommodate the busier traffic in the morning and evening.

The scope of the DDI project takes into account a model that projects traffic out to 2038 and considers the lengthening of S.R. 56 (one of the signs at the interchange will point you to Zephyrhills, in fact) as well as projected land uses in the Wiregrass Ranch area.

Local businesses asked that they be kept updated so they can inform customers of the construction. “We want everybody to be prepared,’’ said WCC CEO Hope Allen.