Category: Sports

Wesley Chapel Area Prep Football Preview

WR Dontrell Clerkley, left, and QB Owen Walls should be one of the top tandems in the area this season. (Photos: Charmaine George)

CYPRESS CREEK
COACH: Mike Johnson
LAST YEAR: 3-7, lost to Tampa Catholic 55-7 in the first round of Class 4A playoffs.
KEY RETURNEES: Owen Walls (Sr., QB, 1,233 yards, 13 TDs in 2020), Andrew Burgess II (Sr., RB, 119 yards, 1 TD), Dontrell Clerkley (Sr., WR, 427 yards, 6 TDs), Merrick Simmons (Sr., WR, 331 yards, 6 TDs), Dernere Jones (Sr., WR, 166 yards), Colton Corrao (Sr., PK), James Cleary (Sr., OL/DL), Austin Slusher (So., OL/DL), Vincent Tre (Jr., LB).
TONIGHT: The Coyotes host Bonita Springs at 7:30 p.m.
REST OF THE SCHEDULE: The two toughest, and most important games (because they are 5A-District 9 games) will be at home, against Nature Coast Tech (Sept. 17) and Zephyrhills (Oct. 15).
GAME TO WATCH: Cypress Creek and nearby Wesley Chapel have only played once, in 2019, with the Wildcats posting a 19-0 win. On Oct. 29, they play again, and this time it’s a district game and could have some meaning. Time to rev up this rivalry!
THE SKINNY: With a young and unproven offensive line and loads of talent at quarterback and receiver, we might see a version of Air Johnson this year. The Coyotes put up a 45-0 win over Bishop McLaughlin in last week’s preseason game, not a bad way to kick it off. Clerkley and Walls should click, and Simmons and Burgess II are versatile athletes. Clerkley, also a standout at defensive back, caught TD passes in five of the last six games in 2020. Johnson said in the spring he was expecting freshman WR Jaelen Collins to add to the firepower. Defensively, transfer middle linebacker Niko Huitz was a standout in the spring and could play a big role in 2021. Cypress Creek has one of the top kickers around, senior Colton Corrao, who was ranked No. 13 in the country by Kornblue Kicking, a recruiting company that holds camps, trains and ranks kickers.

COACH: Tony Egan
LAST YEAR: 5-5, lost to Chamberlain 40-0 in first round of Class 5A playoffs.
KEY RETURNEES: Ethan Harper (Sr., QB, 699 yards, 7 TDs in 2020), Nehemiah Morgan (Sr., WR/S, 399 yards, 3 TDs), Jaylan Blake (Sr., RB, 485 yards, 4 TDs), Max Hembrecht (Jr., OL/DL), Ryan Warren (Jr., OL/DL), Briac Riles (Sr., OL/DL), Josh Poleon (Jr., LB), Ayden Roysdon (Jr., LB), Yael Diaz (So., LB).
TONIGHT: at Sunlake at 7:30 p.m.
REST OF THE SCHEDULE: The Wildcats probably have the second toughest schedule in the county, behind Wiregrass Ranch. It will be tough to catch up if they come out of the gates slowly.
GAME TO WATCH: The Nature Coast Tech game on Oct. 1 may be the most important, but the Sept. 3 game against Wiregrass Ranch might be the most fun. The neighborhood rivals skipped last year’s game, so this should draw a boisterous crowd.
THE SKINNY: Rain washed out a ton of practice time for the Wildcats, and the 27-0 preseason loss to The Villages is not a promising sign. But the Wildcats have some nice pieces on offense, including the biggest offensive line Egan has had in his five seasons at the school. If Harper converts some of the promise he showed last year, and Morgan breaks out, the Wildcats should put up some points. Defensively, Wesley Chapel has excellent linebackers in Poleon and Roysdon, and the addition of Tampa Bay Tech transfer Jorden McCaslin will elevate that group. There have been some injuries, however, that could hamper the team’s depth.

The Wildcats have gone 5-5 the past three seasons, and Egan is tired of .500 and is setting the bar higher.

“I’m expecting to compete for a district title,” he says. “We have to get in the playoffs. It would be nice to win the first playoff game here.”

Linebackers Nate Kidd, left, and Abram Beer lead the way on defense.

COACH: Mark Kantor
LAST YEAR: 4-5, had to forfeit playoff game due to Covid-19.
KEY RETURNEES: Rocco Becht (Sr., QB, 1,550 yards, 18 TDs in 2020), Corneil McCrary (Sr., RB, 453 yards, 3 TDs), Jr. Kenneth Walker (527 yards, 6 TDs), Bryson Rodgers (Jr., WR, 47 catches, 710 yards, 10 TDs), Izaiah Williams (So., WR), Abram Beer (Sr., LB/SS), Nate Kidd (Sr., LB), Logan Ridolph (Sr., OL/DL), Christian Loaiza (OL/DL).
TONIGHT: The season opener against Hernando has been postponed with the hopes of rescheduling.
THE REST OF THE SCHEDULE: Yikes! The Bulls play two teams that advanced to the state semifinals last year (Mitchell and Tampa Bay Tech), another team that has won multiple state championships (Armwood) and three other teams that finished 9-3, 7-2 and 6-1 (Zephyrhills, Wharton and The Villages, respectively). Did we say yikes already?
THE SKINNY: The offense is loaded, with Iowa State commit Becht throwing to Rodgers (a certain 5-Star recruit who already has Alabama, Florida, Florida State and Georgia among many suitors) or Williams or newcomer Malachi McLaughlin. All good choices. Walker and McCrary are 1,000-yard threats in the backfield, and tackles Loaiza and Ridolph bookend a very promising offensive line. The Bulls scored at least 41 points in every win last year. Wiregrass Ranch should score points this season, but the Bulls were shut out last week by Clearwater Central Catholic. More disconcerting was the score — 37-0. The defense has some questions that need to be answered after a bumpy 2020 and a spring game where it allowed 36 points to Berkeley Prep. Linebackers Kidd and Beer will try to shore up a unit that is shallow upfront, but can place talented athletes in the defensive backfield. If the defense can take the next step, big things could await the Bulls.

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A Peek At New Tampa’s Fall Prep Sports

Friday, August 27, is the season opener for the Wharton and Freedom football teams, who will open the season against each other.

As if Freedom (1-9 last year) didn’t have enough of an uphill climb against the Wildcats, who won this meeting 50-0 last year, the Patriots also will have to deal with what could be a raucous opponent and fired up crowd as the school also debuts its new artificial turf field, which was installed over the summer, for a regular season game.

Wharton will have more offensive weapons this season so expect more scoring, but the Wildcats defense alone may be worth the price of admission.

The group allowed only 10 points a game last season, and could make a claim as one of Tampa Bay’s best.

Almost every defensive player is back, and the linebackers are outstanding. Senior Daveon Crouch has orally committed to Boston College, senior Henry Griffith led the team with 82 tackles, including nine for a loss, in 2020, and sophomore Booker Pickett, Jr., (pictured) was named a second-team MaxPreps Freshman All-American.

Senior CB Jairon Dorsey led the ‘Cats with five interceptions last season, while junior cornerback Dijon Johnson recently picked up college offers from Boston College, Ole Miss and Florida, and the defensive line is solid.

They say defense wins championships, but Wharton has a few obstacles to overcome if they are going to prove that true, namely, one of the toughest schedules the team has ever faced.

The new District 7A-10 includes perennial powerhouses Armwood and Tampa Bay Tech, plus Wiregrass Ranch, and the non-district schedule includes former State champs Jesuit, Jefferson and Plant.

GOLDEN GIRLS?: If Wharton football isn’t New Tampa’s best fall sports team, then it may be the Freedom girls swim team.

Led by Division 1 signees Michelle Morgan (Univ. of North Carolina) and Carly Joerin (Dartmouth College), the Patriots return just about everyone from the squad that finished seventh at the Class 3A meet last season.

“We were second in the District, second in the Region and seventh at State,” says second-year coach John Olewski. “We expect even better things this year.”

Morgan was the State champ in the 200-yard individual medley and added a silver in the 500-yard free while anchoring the 400-yard freestyle relay that won bronze.

Joerin also swam on that relay, as well as the 200- and 500-yard freestyles. Alexa Valdez-Velez also swam on the brone-medal-winning relay team, and is a key returner.

Olewski says he has 27 swimmers, and every event is covered and then some this season. “We’re definitely looking forward to it,” he says.

SPEED RACER: Brooke Reif has her sights set on breaking Wharton’s cross country record of 18 minutes, 34 seconds in the first meet this season, then getting her times under 18 minutes, and then leading the Wildcats back to the Class 4A state meet as a team after missing out last year.

Luckily for her last goal, she will be counting on the return of the whole team — seniors Alex Frye and Alexi Amer, junior Olivia Hammill and a handful of others.

“We have everyone back,” she says. “I think everyone has improved and we’re much better. State is our goal.”

Reif and Frye could be a formidable top duo this season. They were the only Wildcats last season to advance past Districts, with Reif getting past regionals en route to a 31st place finish at State.

While Reif’s times were nothing special last season in cross country, her track season was so exceptional the experts at flrunners.com think she’ll have a cross country breakthrough. Reif was third in both the 1600- and 3200-meter runs at the Class 4A State Championships, performances that lead flrunners.com to rank her No. 10 in the entire state in their preseason cross country rankings.

HIGH FLYING: While 6-foot-3 senior middle hitter middle hitter Bella Bonatakis (pictured) wants to play the toughest competition out there, you’ll have to excuse her for not shedding a tear when she found out that Wharton was no longer in the same district as Plant.

“Maybe it’s a little bit of a relief?,” Bonatakis said with a wide smile.

A little? Wharton has made the District final eight of the last nine seasons, and lost six of those games to Plant. Of all the teams that Wharton has ever played at least five times, it only has losing records against Carrollwood Day School, Bloomingdale and…Plant.

Goodbye, and good riddance.

With Bonatakis (200 kills and 85 blocks last year), senior setter Gabrielle Frye (295 assists) and senior libero Kylie Lauderdale (170 digs) returning, Wharton will be formidable again.

Throw in setter Danielle Galfond to help run the Wildcats’ 6-2 offense, future star Paige Boyd and returning hitter Ja-Niya Lamar, and a deep bench, and — Plant or no Plant — the Wildcats have all the makings of a team that can win that elusive Distrct title.

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Prep Notes: Wharton New Field, Spring Football Update

Wharton High will be playing its football games this fall on a brand new artificial turf field, with construction expected to be completed by the end of July.

The Wildcats will debut the field for their regular season football home opener against rival Freedom High on August 27.

“Oh yeah, they are excited about it,” says Wharton’s athletic director Eddie Henderson.

According to Henderson, Hillsborough County Public Schools is doing a rotation of 3-5 fields each summer, with the final goal being to install artificial turf at every public high school.

Last year, the first schools in the rotation — Sumner, Sickles and Hillsborough — had new fields put in. This summer, Steinbrenner, Lennard and Blake are getting new fields, along with Wharton. Each field costs roughly $2 million, but Henderson says the District will make up a lot of those costs with what it saves in maintenance and re-sodding.

“I think that there will be a lot of money saved over the long run,” Henderson says.

Plant High was the first county public school to put in an artificial turf field in 2010, after raising $600,000 for the project.

SPEAKING OF WILDCATS: Wharton recently wrapped up its spring season with a 14-0 loss in one half of play against Tampa Bay Tech, but second-year coach Mike Williams wasn’t concerned about the score.

“The spring is about evaluating our kids and seeing who is ready to move up to varsity,” Williams says. “And we liked what we saw.”

Although the Wildcats graduated all of their varsity quarterbacks, Williams was pleased with last year’s junior varsity starter, Tyree Works, who handled all of the spring snaps. But, Works will have more competition in the fall from some promising freshmen and transfers. Williams is hoping to transition from a power-based offense to one featuring more perimeter passes to spread out the game.

With leading rusher Keith Morris and some key wide receiver transfers ready to beef up the offense, Williams expects to score more than the 19 points per game the team averaged last year.

Almost every defensive player is back, including a linebacking crew that could make an argument for being the best in Tampa Bay and includes All-Staters Daveon Crouch, who recently committed to Boston College, and Henry Griffith and second-team MaxPreps Freshman All-American Booker Pickett Jr.

The Wildcats went 7-2 in 2020 because the defense was top-flight, allowing only nine points per game and posting three shutouts.

“This is going to be a big summer for a lot of the guys,” Williams says.

NUMBERS GAME AT FREEDOM: Freedom High, coming off a winless season, picked up an 8-7 jamboree win over King last month to wrap up spring football.

Quarterback Alex de la Cruz threw a touchdown pass to Greg Underwood Jr., and then found RJ Broadnax for the two-point conversion and the win.

De la Cruz will enter the fall as the starter, after promising freshman and last year’s leading passer Taquawn Anthony said he would not be returning to Freedom.

The Patriots suffered a more serious blow when their best player, Robby Washington, transferred to Eagle’s Landing High in McDonough, GA. Washington led Freedom in rushing, receiving and touchdowns last year, and averaged more than 12 yards every time he touched the ball. He has offers from Alabama, Miami and Boston College.

Third-year coach Chris Short will continue trying to rebuild the Patriots, though only 22 players dressed out for the spring game and very few of them had any previous game experience.

He says a lot of players are waiting on paperwork, but admits that adequately filling a football roster for the upcoming fall season will be a tough chore.

“The hardest thing I’m dealing with right now is the same as when I was an assistant, and that’s getting kids to come out,” Short says. “I’m hoping it’s a cyclical thing with us, but if we can get these kids signed up we’ll be okay.”

football Freedom Wharton

Success Comes Quickly For Cypress Creek Lacrosse

Cypress Creek High is only a four-year-old school, but it has already earned district championships in several sports. And now, you can add girls lacrosse to that list.

The Coyotes, who started as a club team in 2018 before becoming an official varsity sport in 2019, won the school’s first lacrosse District championship (Class A-District 5) in April when they defeated Lake Wales 11-10.

That was followed a week later by a loss to nationally-ranked Orlando Lake Highland Prep in the A-2 Regional playoffs, but Cypress Creek finished 15-5 and won all six of its District games.

Quite a turnaround for a program that could barely field a team its first season.

“We had a couple of years under our belt and then, this year, it just kinda clicked,’’ Coyotes coach Jason Alvis says. “They had experience. It was amazing how much it took off because of that.’’

It’s also amazing how far the team has come since its inaugural season.

Alvis, who never played lacrosse but got into the sport just through attending oldest daughter Jordan’s club practices as a freshman for Wiregrass Ranch High’s club team, petitioned Cypress Creek at the behest of his daughter to see if the school could start its own club team.

The school said okay, but had one question: “Who’s going to be the coach?,’’ Alvis remembers.

Even though he was not a teacher on campus, because it was only a club team, it turned out Alvis was going to be the coach.

In 2018, he formed the club team, using players from both Cypress Creek and Wesley Chapel high schools and playing other high school club teams. While club lacrosse isn’t sanctioned by the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) and you don’t compete for district or state titles, the Coyotes did get to play an international friendly against Cheltenham High School from the U.K.

“After the game, the girls exchanged stories and gifts,” Alvis says. “It was quite the experience.”

*Jason Alvis (right) and assistant coach Sydney Maziarz celebrate the Coyotes’ District title.*

However, because lacrosse wasn’t exactly a well-known sport and had to compete for players with the more established spring sports like tennis, softball and track and field, it was tough to drum up interest the first year. Alvis says he never had more than 16 girls in 2018; you need 12 for a full lineup.

“It was bad,’’ Alvis says. “I had four or five girls at any one practice. With me not being on campus, I couldn’t recruit. I told some of our club girls that they had to find multi-sport girls and get them to try lacrosse. We had just enough girls to field a team.’’

In 2019, the Cypress Creek lacrosse team was sanctioned by the FHSAA and could play other high school teams. The Coyotes finished 7-9 that year, and started off the 2020 season 6-3 with mostly underclassmen before Covid-19 ended the season.

With a group of 10 seniors and some talented underclassmen returning, Cypress Creek was ready to prove itself this season. With a much-more-competitive roster of 23 players, the Coyotes started with 7-0 and 10-1 records, on the way to a 15-5 season. Two of their five losses were by a single goal.

The experienced Coyotes powered their way to an unlikely appearance in the District A-5 championship game. After trailing 9-4 at halftime, they showed some of the resilience built up in their early years and locked down Lake Wales, holding the Highlanders to one goal in the second half to win 11-10 and capture the District title.

“I didn’t know what winning was like,’’ says junior midfielder Liberty Mermerian, who says she won two games in two years for her previous high school team in Boise, ID, before transferring to Cypress Creek. “I found out it was about the work you put in. My first high school team, we didn’t really put in much effort. But here, when we won that District (final), it was all about the attitude of our players and the amount of effort we put in. When we all celebrated on that field and everybody was hugging each other, that was an earned moment.’’

The Coyotes not only earned their first-ever District championship banner, they also received some postseason accolades. Three players were named first team All-Conference: Junior defender and team captain Miranda Garcia, sophomore Avery Smith (team-high 82 goals) and senior Brianna Segers (65 goals).

Two players were named to the second team: Mermerian and Kendall Smith.

Cypress Creek was named the Sunshine Athletic Conference Team of the Year and Alvis was named the Coach of the Year.

Despite losing 10 seniors to graduation from this team, Alvis believes the success is just beginning for this program. There will only be three seniors next year, but he knows there is talent in the younger classes, including his daughter Jenna, who will be a junior.

“And I’ve heard that with our success, girls from other sports are saying ‘Hey, I think I’m going to try lacrosse now,’’ Alvis says.

lacrosse

Wesley Chapel Spring Football Recap

Bulls Fall Short In Spring Game
It was a tale of two halves for the Wiregrass Ranch High football team in their 36-28 spring game loss to Berkeley Prep on May 20.

In the first half, Iowa State University commitment Rocco Becht completed four touchdowns to three different receivers as the Bulls jumped all over the Bucs.

*Rocco Becht threw four touchdown passes in the spring game loss to Berkeley Prep.* ***(Photo: Charmaine George)***

In the second half, the Bulls were outscored 20-0. Head coach Mark Kantor, however, didn’t care as much about the score as he did about having a spring game, which no one played last year due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

“For me, it was about getting back to being competitive, and we accomplished that this spring,” Kantor said. “I don’t care if we win or lose a spring game. I saw some good things from the guys and they definitely competed; now we need to work on closing the deal.”

As is usually the case, Kantor spent the spring looking for depth on the offensive and defensive lines. Offensively, he has rising senior tackles Logan Ridolph (6-4, 275) and Christian Loaiza (6-5, 315) protecting Becht, and hopes to strengthen the other spots on the line. Defensively, he is searching for another interior lineman to pair up with rising junior Thomas Pehek (6-2, 210), especially after Berkeley Prep had success running the ball in the spring game.

Kantor is excited about the scoring potential of his 2021 Bulls. Becht threw for more than 200 yards and, of his four TDs, two were to rising senior transfer Malachi McLaughlin and one each went to rising junior running back Kenny Walker and rising senior Abram Breer.

Kantor says rising sophomore Izaiah Williams and rising junior Elijah Westbrooks, both WR/DBs, had outstanding springs.

“We’re excited about the fall,” Kantor said. “It’s going to be fun getting back in front of 1,200-1,300 fans at the Ranch cheering us on again.”

Back To Basics For Coyotes

After a 3-7 season in which games were cancelled and/or rescheduled and consistency was unattainable due to Covid-19, Cypress Creek High coach Mike Johnson eagerly welcomed the 2021 spring campaign.

“We just wanted to get back to basics,” Johnson said. “Last season was like a mish-mash of pickup games. You’d lose a game, pick up a game, it was just hard to get anything established.”

This spring, the Coyotes were able to put in 90 percent of their offensive and defensive schemes, and hope to refine them by the start of the 2021 season.

*Rising junior linebacker Logan Falk closes in on a Land O’Lakes ball carrier in the spring game.* ***(Photo: Charmine George)***

In their spring game on May 19, they tied Land O’ Lakes 21-21 on a last-second field goal by rising senior placekicker Colton Corrao.

Operating in a different offense this year, promising rising senior quarterback Owen Walls completed 19 of 31 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. However, he also threw three interceptions.

Walls did engineer two scoring drives in the final six minutes to earn the tie. He found rising senior Merrick Simmons for a TD with just over a minute remaining and, after a defensive stand by the Coyotes, the offense was able to get in position for Corrao’s FG.

Johnson said the spring allowed him to find some depth on the offensive line, where he has 9-10 players to choose from.

He says rising junior Niko Huitz, who transferred in from New Mexico, was a spring revelation. He had an exceptional spring game and “was all over the field,” Johnson says, and rising sophomore Jaelen Collins impressed enough that Johnson expects big things from him this season.

“We have the guys, now we just have to put the pieces of the puzzle together,” Johnson says.

Wildcats Split Halves In Spring Clashes
The All-Conference football teams in Pasco County aren’t announced until after each season, but Wesley Chapel High football coach Tony Egan feels confident that he can fill in the linebacker positions on those teams right now.

That’s how impressed he was this spring with the play of rising junior Jorden McCaslin (photo) and rising seniors Ayden Roysdon and Josh Poleon. Egan feels that all three linebackers have not just All-Conference high school talent, but Division I-A or I-AA college talent as well.

“I have to say the linebackers impressed me every day,” Egan says. “Every day, one of them did something that jumped out at you. It’s a really good group.”

The trio will anchor a defense that Egan says should be pretty good in the fall. The Wildcats surrendered 14 points in a one-half 14-7 loss to Dixie Hollins on broken plays in the spring jamboree, and then just one TD in a 28-8 win over Fivay in the other half.

While the Wildcats return their quarterback, top rusher and a bevy of talented receivers, Egan is concerned about the offensive line. He returns four starters, but they are young. “The offensive line will make us or break us,” Egan said.

Athletically, Egan thinks this is the best team he’s had since taking over in 2016. Even the offensive line is the biggest he’s had. He believes the 2021 team has the potential to be his best yet.

“The toughness and accountability is lacking,” says Egan, as the Wildcats head into an important summer of training. “But, if we get those things right, we’re going to be really good.”

Cypress Creek High wesley chapel high Wiregrass Ranch High School