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.”

New Tampa Wildcats 20 years old!

The New Tampa Wildcats, the first organized youth football and cheer program in New Tampa, was established in 1997 and will celebrate its 20th season beginning on July 5.

The Wildcats have their own field very close to County Line Rd. in the Live Oak Preserve area of New Tampa and provide a safe, fun environment for boys and girls ages 5-15. The program’s stated goal is to, “develop well-rounded young men and women who learn not only the fundamentals of football and cheerleading, but also the importance of education and teamwork.”

You don’t have to live in New Tampa to play or cheer for the Wildcats. For more information, visit http://www.NewTampaWildcats.org/, call (813) 501-5259.

WCH Softball Caps Huge Turnaround With First Playoff Appearance!

The Wesley Chapel softball team won almost as many games this season (19) as it had in 10 previous seasons (22), setting a school record.
(Photo courtesy of Steve Mumaw)

The Wesley Chapel High (WCH) girls basketball team won eight more games this season than it did last season. The WCH football team, just two years removed from an 0-10 season, went 7-2. The Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) football team made the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

However, when it came to the 2016-17 school year, there weren’t any high school teams in Wesley Chapel that turned things around quite like the WCH softball team did.

Buoyed by a bevy of youngsters and first-year coach Steve Mumaw, the Wildcats did the improbable this spring — they beat softball powerhouses Pasco, River Ridge and Land O’Lakes in one of Tampa Bay’s toughest districts, won 19 games and made it to the Class 6A Regional semifinals before losing 4-2 to the eventual State champion Gators.

“Now that it’s over and the tears are gone, we can reflect,’’ said Mumaw. “Land O’Lakes won the State championship, and we were pretty close to (beating) them. It could have been us.”

Depending upon how many players return —the new Cypress Creek Middle/High School zones are expected to claim at least a few players — the Wildcats have the makings of what could be a state contender the next few years.

That was hardly imaginable before 2017. Although they showed signs of promise last year, winning seven games in their best season ever to that point, the previous eight years had yielded records like 2-22, 2-21, 2-20, 1-22, 1-15 and 0-24. At one point, WCH lost 27 straight games and 43 of 44 over a three-span.

Things changed this spring with the infusion of some key freshmen, who meshed instantly with a talented crop of sophomores.

“We had high expectations,’’ said Mumaw, who has had two stints as the baseball coach and one as the athletic director at WCH. “I wouldn’t say we expected to get to the point we did, but we knew we were going to be a much-improved team.”

An Ace In The Circle

You don’t win in softball if you don’t have a good pitcher, and the Wildcats have a very good one in Jordan Almasy. The newcomer went 13-6 in the circle this year, including a complete game shutout over the Gators during the season, and striking out 130 batters in 116 innings.

Catcher Neely Peterson and pitcher Jordan Almasy confer during a game this season. (Photo courtesy of Steve Mumaw)

“She was tremendous,’’ said Mumaw. “She was the reason we were what we were at the end of the season. The way she could just take another team and kind of dominate them was a key.”

The Wildcats got strong seasons from returning players like the coach’s daughter, senior Dana Mumaw (a .286 batting average and 16 RBI), as well as from sophomores Payton Hudson (.328), Ashley Nickisher (.367, 15 RBI) and Neely Peterson, who set a school record for home runs (3) and RBI (20), while hitting a team-high .443.

Peterson has to share both of those new school records with one of the talented freshmen who helped drive the Wildcats, Anna Margetis, who also added a .338 average to her exploits, and fellow frosh Morgan Herndon batted .370.

Herndon wasn’t even a starter at the beginning of the year, and came on late, as did so many of the Wildcats. Peterson, who hit in the middle of the lineup, was walked 17 times, as teams avoided her this season. But, once the rest of the lineup came around, that became a dangerous proposition. After driving in just one run during a nine-game stretch in the middle of the season, Peterson took advantage of a hot lineup, driving in 13 runs over the last 10 games.

“When they had to throw to her later in the season because girls were on base, she always came up with the hit to drive them in,” Mumaw said.

She wasn’t alone. In fact, after a season in which a school-record five players had 10 or more RBI, this spring, the Wildcats doubled that with 10 players with double figures in RBIs.

Mumaw says it was a complete team effort.

“It was enjoyable,’’ he said. “I wouldn’t say I did a better coaching job or anything, they did it all. I just had to stay out of their way.”

  

Wildcat Baseball Bidding For State Final Four

Senior SS Drew Ehrhard leads the Wildcats in almost every offensive category this season.

By the looks of things midway through the 2017 season, the Wharton High baseball team was nothing special.

It was, however, nothing that a few lineup tweaks and a bolt of confidence couldn’t fix.

After back-to-back losses to Freedom and Newsome dropped the Wildcats’ record to 8-8 on April 6, the team has been, well, perfect.

“We saw everything was kind of going downhill,’’ said senior shortstop Drew Ehrhard. “We kind of looked at each other at one practice, and just decided it was time to pick things back up.”

The Wildcats have now won 10 straight games, including a second straight Class 8A, District 4 title and regional playoff wins over Ocoee and Ocala Forest.

Tonight, the Wildcats travel to Tallahassee to take on Lincoln High in the regional final, with the winner advancing to the state final four starting June 2.

Lincoln, ranked No. 6 in the state by MaxPreps, has won 16 straight games, but face a Wharton team that seems to be peaking.

The recipe for the Wildcats’ success has been right out of the baseball handbook: great pitching, solid defense and clutch hitting.

Aaron Cohn

In the 7-6 extra-inning win over Ocoee in the Region 8A-1 quarterfinal, the Wildcats got a tremendous relief outing from senior Aaron Cohn (6 innings, 2 hits, 1 run and a season-best 7 strikeouts), two hits from Ehrhard, two RBI from senior catcher Zach Sirois and a walk-off sacrifice fly from Brian Baughman to win the game in the eighth inning.

“And, that was not a routine fly ball,’’ said coach Scott Hoffman. “That was a missile.”

The Wildcats improved to 18-8 with the win over Ocala Forest a week later, as junior leftfielder Ricky Viloria singled in Duncan Pastore in the bottom of the seventh in a 6-5 win.

Wharton has outscored opponents 78-17, and 11 of those runs surrendered coming in the last two games.

“We always thought that If we get hot, we feel good about our chances,’’ Hoffman says.

Not too many of the ‘Cats have been hotter than Ehrhard, who will play next season for the Division II powerhouse University of Tampa Spartans.

Wharton’s on-field leader is hitting .438 with nine doubles, four homers and 24 RBI, all team and career highs.

He has played every inning of every game for four years, and this season, he has hit safely in 22 of the team’s 26 games.

“Drew is the most unbelievable player we’ve had here,’’ said Hoffman, as he watched his star blast three batting practice pitches over the centerfield fence at a recent practice. “He’s a dream kid as an athlete, academically and with his character.”

He has not been alone in putting up big numbers for the Wildcats.

Pitchers Austin Appel, Pastore and Cohn also have played big roles in Wharton’s charge down the stretch. When the year began, pitching was one of the team’s biggest question marks.

However, Appel stepped up to be the team’s senior ace, and is 7-1 with a 1.81 ERA.

Pastore fit into the relief role successfully, with a 0.93 ERA, and in eight appearances, he has allowed hits in just two of them.

In arguably the team’s biggest regular season win of the season, Pastore struck out four in two innings to get the victory over highly-touted Plant, 2-1.

“I definitely think it was the Plant game that turned everything around,’’ Ehrhard says. “We played some competitive games before that, but the game against Plant was to see what we were really made of. After that, we knew that everyone who steps on the field in front of us, we have a chance to beat.”

Cohn, a Fairleigh Dickinson University (in Teaneck, NJ) signee, has turned in some fantastic late-season performances as well. In his six appearances (including three starts) during the winning streak, Cohn has gone a perfect 6-0, allowing just 13 hits and two earned runs in 27.2 innings (for a tidy 0.50 ERA) while striking out 28.

While the Wildcats thrived with great pitching and hitting from Ehrhard, junior Leo Alfonzo (.307) seniors Ricky Nieves (.328, 16 RBI) and Clayton Coringrato (.275, 17 RBI), Hoffman was expecting another player to surprisingly emerge in the late season run.

“One of you guys will be the difference maker,’’ he told them at a practice. “I don’t know who it is, but it will be one of you.”

It turned out to be Sirois. In the past six games, the team’s catcher is 12-for-24 (after going 11-for-61 the first 19 games) with seven RBI (compared to four the rest of the season).

“He’s emerging, he hasn’t done that all year,’’ Hoffman said. “He’s a different person.”

And against Ocala Forest, it was Viloria getting his first game-winning hit to lift the Wildcats, who now appear to be a different team, hoping to make it back to the State final four for the first time since 2012.

“This is a great group,’’ Hoffman says, touting the team’s work ethic and 3.4 cumulative grade-point-average, second in the county. “We get overlooked a lot. The newspapers like to talk about the same schools all the time. Find another school that has played for the district championship five of the last six years, and won it three times. There aren’t many. I think they think because we’re in New Tampa (we can’t play), but every time it’s tournament time, we’re there.”