The New Tampa Family YMCA in Tampa Palms is well known for its impact on the community. On April 29, it expanded this impact to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.
The Wounded Warrior Project provides free programs and services focused on the physical, mental, and long-term financial well being of injured veterans, their families and caregivers.
As of April 1, 2016, this 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization has served 87,264 veterans as well as 17,872 family members.
The New Tampa Y hosted 40 warriors from all over the southeastern U.S. ā as far away as North Carolina ā for the project.
The warriors participated in games like āCapture the Flag,ā rock climbing, basketball and baseball, and completed a water fitness & therapy class conducted by a YMCA personal trainer.
The warriors and their families also took classes regarding healthy eating habits and diabetes prevention. New Tampa YMCA executive director Tony Kimbrough, who also ran the Wounded Warrior Project event, says that the goal is to make this an annual event for the Warriors.
āWe are definitely looking to expand this program in the future,ā Kimbrough says.
For more information about the Wounded Warrior Project, volunteer information, or to make a donation, please visit WoundedWarriorProject.org. For more information about the New Tampa Family YMCA (16221 Compton Dr.), please visit TampaYMCA.org/locations/new-tampa.
It won’t count in the official record book, but don’t tell that to Wiregrass Ranch, which dominated play and defeated Pasco in Friday’s spring football game 40-6, the first time the Bulls have ever beaten the Pirates.
Top Players
Dada McGee was stellarĀ tonightĀ for the Bulls, carrying the ball 19 times for a total of 144 yards to go along with three touchdowns from 2, 10 and 18 yards out, respectively. McGee had seven runs of 10+ yards.
Justin Mosley was very stoutĀ on defense as he had a nose for the football, recovering three fumbles.
Although Jordan Miner didnāt see much action at cornerback, he did return a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown to close out the first quarter.
Chase Oliver
Chris Faddoul tallied a rushing touchdown and made kicks of 20 yards and 45 yards to extend the Bulls lead.
Wiregrass Ranch’s offensive and defensive lines won the line of scrimmage battle all night, leading to the Bulls offense rushing for 266 yards, while holding Pasco to only 202 yards.
Wiregrass Ranch RB Chase Oliver had a nice return after missing all of last year with an injury. He rushed for 69 yards on 8 carries, including a big run of 28-yards.
Top Plays
Jordan Miner
Minerās 92 yard kickoff return was a game breaker for the Bulls offense and defense as Pasco didnāt score again after it.
Faddoul, who also stars on the Wiregrass Ranch soccer team, was on fire,Ā as he booted most of his kickoffs into the end zone, as well as converting a long 45-yard field goal that energized the Bulls offense.
The only passing completion of the game was a 53-yard pass from Faddoul to Cameron Leonard, but Leonard was caught from behind by a Pasco defender who forced a fumble and grabbed it for a takeaway.
Top Position Battles
For Pasco, both Chris Debyah and Javion Hanner split snaps, although Debyah took the majority of snaps. Neither completed a pass.
Top Quote
Wiregrass Ranch coach Mark Kantor was most impressedĀ tonightĀ with his team’s physicality. āI thought defensively we were flying around, and just making tackles.ā
He credited his teams success to his coaches: ā[They] do such a bang up job for six months in the weight room, and then come out in the spring game and get physical. Itās the coaches who did a whole lot of work with these kids, and Iām proud of them.”
Top Takeaways
Wiregrass Ranch’s offensive and defensive lines proved their worthĀ tonightĀ as they dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. This is a step in the right direction for the Bulls as they look to be a playoff contender in district 7A-8.
Miner and Shamaur McDowell both received recent offers from multiple FBS college programs, and both showed why they are top athletes in Pasco County for the Class of 2018.
Jacob Thomas stretches before Friday night’s spring football game.
By Derek Lariviere
WEEKI WACHEE ā Wesley Chapel brought out a new philosophy under first-year coach Anthony Egan, and the results were obvious almost immediately as the Wildcats ran all over Weeki Wachee. The Wildcats dominated, winning 54-20 inĀ rainy conditions.
Top Players
Heading the list is Dexter Leverette (15 carries, 282 yards, 5 TD). In his first appearance in a Wesley Chapel uniform, he amazed many on hand with his game-breaking ability. He raced up the middle for a 59-yard touchdown in the first quarter and never looked back. The rising junior moved in from South Carolina prior to his sophomore year but was ineligible to play football last season due to transfer rules. Now thatās he back on the gridiron, Leverette is chomping at the bit.
Defensively, the front seven for the Wildcats was aggressive throughout the night. LB Donovan Willingham sacked Weeki Wachee QB Alec Cromie early, and DE Christian Austin took Cromie down twice. DT Andrew Brooks recovered a fumble and knocked down a couple passes as this group dominated the battle at the line of scrimmage.
Top Plays
Dexter Leverette ran for 282 yards and 5 TDs as Wesley Chapel put up 54 points against Weeki Wachee.
In addition to a 59-yard touchdown sprint withĀ 6:38Ā left in the first quarter, Leverette also had scoring runs of 27, 27, 1, and 63 yards. His production overshadowed Melvin, who broke for long touchdowns of 46, 22, and 35 yards. The last of Melvinās runs cemented the final score withĀ 2:09Ā left in regulation.
Top Position Battles
Prior toĀ FridayĀ night, Egan challenged his running backs. All had shown good burst in practice, but he was hoping someone would separate himself in this game. Leverette and Melvin answered the call, but Egan fully expects Ellrie Allen and a host of others to earn carries along the way.
Ben Goins and Devin Singletary were expected to be the lead receivers and big weapons for Jacob Thomas after the quarterback passed for 1,825 yards and 17 touchdowns last season. Goins has moved away, according to Egan, and Singletary didnāt receive a touch in the spring game. Thomas only attempted five passes, going 2-of-5 for 21 yards. Both he and backup Justin Sylvester were banged up during a scrimmage last week, but they each played the entire game.
Top comments
When asked how good he was as a freshman in South Carolina, Leverette said with a smile, āWhat do you think, man? Of course.ā
āIt is a tribute to (River Ridge),” said Egan. “I brought a couple things from their system, but we added to it, and weāre multi-dimensional. Weāre going to do some different things.ā
Top Takeaways
If Jacob Thomas gets the opportunity to bring some more balance to the offense than what happened against Weeki Wachee, this could be the areaās surprise team.
Leverette made some moves on guys that literally shook defenders off of their feet, and even though most of his work was between the tackles, he showed the speed and ability to do damage on the edge and in the pass game.
With Egan using River Ridge as a blueprint, expect the defense to take some good steps this year. If that group can make some plays, the offense has enough talent to win games.
The Wharton Wildcats held down Hillsborough and speedster Duran Bell for most of the first half of their spring jamboree at King High School. In their first two drives, the Terriers went for minus 20 yards. Only late in the second quarter with the field cut in half did Bell get around the Wildcat defense for a 25-yard touchdown. A late pick-six hung a 14-0 loss on the Wildcats but head coach David Mitchell was not discouraged.
āI think we played better than we thought we would,ā Mitchell said. āWe raised the bar, thereās still room to get better but as a group we played well; thereās nothing to be upset about.ā
Top Players
The Wildcats will look to rising junior running back Shannon King this season. King ran for just shy of 400 yards in 2015 and is the source of veteran leadership on the Wildcat offense.
Shannon King
āHe (King) in the man on the team this year,ā Mitchell said.
King only picked up 20 yards on Thursday night against a stout Hillsborough defense but with a hefty offensive line and a whole summer to develop, look for King to be a thousand-yard rusher this fall.
Rising senior wide receiver Justin Brown will be depended on to make up for the top three Wildcat receivers from 2015 moving on. Brown didnāt log any catches in the spring game against Hillsborough but gained 25 yards on a pair of jet sweeps that netted first downs for the Wildcat offense.
The Wildcats should be fine on defense as veterans AJ Hampton (rising junior), rising senior Chase Goode, and rising senior Justin Visconti return. Goode was second on the team in tackles (71) in 2015 and Visconti was second in sacks (5).
Linebacker Chase Goode
Top Plays
Some other Wildcat defenders emerged in the spring game as rising sophomore Cade Coleman had a drive-killing tackle-for-loss in the second quarter.
Linebacker Christian Thompson and lineman Lavel Dumont combined for a sack that ended up with the Terriers turning it over on downs.
Defensive back Hunter McCain had a bone-jarring hit that broke up a sure completion deep in Wildcat territory.
Top Position Battles
The biggest question mark for the Wildcats this year is at quarterback. The Wildcats started Andrew Curtin who struggled, then Harrison Hawk, who also struggled.
Mitchell thinks that rising sophomore Reshae Soloman, who is listed at 5-6, 125 is going to be the guy in the fall. He was ineligible for the spring game but Mitchell said, āHeāll be the number one guy unless someone beats him outā.
Top Comment
āOur defense is going to be solid but we have to keep them off the field,ā Mitchell said.
Top Takeaways
The Wildcats still have some big questions to answer this summer. The quarterback controversy is going to hurt them and prevent them from scoring a ton of points, but if youāre in a situation where youāre looking for a quarterback to step up, Ā youād better have a stout defense and solid ground game.
The Wildcats seem to have that as a hefty offensive line with Nikolas Dominguez, Coty Meier and tight end Lavel Dumont. It will be a tall task to get past Plant and the Sickles in the district, but the Wildcats were one win away from grabbing one of those playoff spots last year.
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 gameās 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 yearās ground game. Rodicio picked up 65 yards on seven carries in two quarters against King.
āHeās going to be a huge factor on offense this year,ā assistant coach Dave Sevier said. āHeāll play slot, running back and outside linebacker. Heās a downhill kid that takes it and goes.ā
Carlos Rodicio led Freedom in rushing Thursday night.
Complementing Rodicio in the backfield will be rising junior Xavier Freeman. Freeman didnāt 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 heās 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 Kingās 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 Lionsā first possession and Quiles had two tackles-for-loss and a half sack that ended the Lionsā fourth drive.
Top Plays
Hughes found Donta Acree for a 25-yard gain in the first quarter against King.
Brendan Abel
On Freedomās 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
āCarlos (Rodicio) was steady and Freeman stepped up even after the fumble,ā Sevier said. āWe rode them on that winning drive, those two lead by example.ā
ā Theyāve added some wingspan to the pocket,ā Sevier said ofĀ tackles Bryant Young and David Springs
Top Takeaways
Charles Strawn
The Patriots are still in that brutal 7A-8 district with Plant, Sickles, Wharton, Gaither. Itās 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 thereās much attrition in 2016, that will makeĀ head coach Floyd Graham’s debut season with Freedom tougher.
By Christen Caporali
The warriors participated in games like āCapture the Flag,ā rock climbing, basketball and baseball, and completed a water fitness & therapy class conducted by a YMCA personal trainer.
