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.

Linebacker Ayden Roysdon, left, led the Wildcats with six sacks last season, while WR Nehemiah Morgan had a team-nest 399 yards receiving and three TDs.

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.

Wesley Chapel Sports: Local Teams Set Sights on Postseason

It has been tough sledding at times for the Wesley Chapel High football team this season.

It would be an understatement to say that the Wesley Chapel High (WCH) football team has hit some potholes in the road.

The Wildcats lost their home opener to cross-town rival Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) by a touchdown. WCH lost its starting quarterback and top college prospect, Isaiah Bolden, to a shoulder injury in that game, and he was later dismissed from the team.

The ‘Cats suffered a demoralizing Class 5A, District 8 defeat at Anclote 27-10, as Florida State University recruit Chaz Neal was ejected and suspended for the next game against Ridgewood.

And, a rash of injuries has sapped the Wildcat roster down to the low 30s, even the high 20s on some days.

The Wildcats, however, remain in the playoff hunt, and they actually control their own destiny. At 4-1 in Dist. 5A-8 (and 6-2 overall), WCH has two crucial distrct games remaining — Oct. 20 at home against first-place Zephyrhills (5-0), and next week’s home finale against River Ridge, currently tied with Wesley Chapel for second with a 4-1 record.

Senior running backs Dexter Leverett and Malik Melvin are still a potent one-two punch. Leverett is closing in on another 1,000-yard season after running for 179 and two TDs in a 33-6 win over Ridgewood.

Senior linebacker Austen Wittish leads the county in tackles with 104 (and five sacks), and senior wideout-turned-quarterback Justin Trapnell has solidified the QB position since the loss of Bolden.

Along with the aforementioned standouts, sophomore receiver Jelani Vassell, junior tight end Tyler Wittish, junior lineman Seth Petty, and senior linemen Andrew Brooks and Matt Severson form a group that the team is rallying around.

“It’s a special group of guys that stick together and have true grit,” Wildcats head coach Tony Egan says. “There’s not one of them that takes a play off and I anticipate them all playing at the next level somewhere.”

“It’s been more responsibility these last couple of weeks but we tell each other to work hard and stay together,” Austen Wittish said. “We have to play together as a family.”

Bulls Also In The Hunt

After a season of narrow escapes, WRH finally lost its first game of the season Oct. 6 to Gaither by a 23-12 score, but bounced back with a 39-8 win over New Tampa’s Freedom and is currently 6-1.

The Bulls had opened their season with five straight wins, but only a 20-0 victory over New Tampa’s Wharton High was comfortable. The other four victories were by a combined total of 21 points. But the Bulls are in good shape for a second straight playoff berth, with tonight’s game against winless Leto, an Oct. 27 home game against Plant and Nov. 3’s season finale against Auburndale.

Cypress Creek Middle High (CCH), which won the first game it ever played 12-0 over Gulf, has found matching their hot start difficult.

The Coyotes, who play their last home game Oct. 27 against Mulberry, had been outscored 273-0 the past five games heading into tonight’s game at Springstead.

VolleyBulls Break Through

The WRH volleyball team had a breakout season. 

Wiregrass Ranch volleyball players (l.-r.) Jaizah Anderson, Carolina Eichelberger and Destanie Aydt led their team to an SAC title. (Photo: Andy Warrener)

Brimming with offensive firepower, the Bulls finished 20-6 – the second-best regular season record in school history — before losing a close 25-23, 26-24, 25-16 match to Wharton in the Class Class 8A, District 8 semifinals.

The Bulls’ offense carried them through a tough schedule and to a Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) championship, which they won 3-2 over Land O’ Lakes on October 10.

Three Wiregrass outside hitters are in triple-digit kills for the season. Juniors Jaizah Anderson and Destanie Aydt led the team heading into the postseason with 159 and 135 kills, respectively, while senior Caroline Eichelberger rang up 113 kills during the regular season.

“I’d like to say I developed them (the trio), but they came that way,” Wiregrass head coach Michelle Davis said. “We have a great feeder program in John Long Middle School and all three of those girls play on high-level club teams. It’s amazing talent coming in, I just have to fine tune it.”

The three didn’t even come all the way together until this year. Aydt and Eichelberger played together in 2016; Anderson transferred in from Fivay High in Hudson.

Now, the trio is a force to be reckoned with. Davis doesn’t even need to have all three on the floor at the same time, even though Eichelberger can play middle hitter with Aydt and Anderson on the outside. Davis often opts to rest one of her hitters to keep them fresh, in case a team like Land O’ Lakes (15-8) takes them the distance.

“It’s encouraging, we have not had this kind of power for years,” Eichelberger says

“It’s always good to have someone on the team who can back you up, even if you get into slumps,” Aydt says.

Lankton Making Waves

WRH’s boys’ swim team also is showing some promise.

SAC champ Doug Lankton

The Bulls are coming off of a fourth-place finish at the SAC meet, but even more promising is the rise of sophomore all-distance freestyler Doug Lankton.

Lankton won the 200-yard freestyle at conference and placed second in the 500 free. Lankton also led off the 4×100 freestyle relay for the Bulls that wound up taking second at the conference meet..

Lankton, even as a sophomore, brings experience to the Bulls as a veteran of the Pipeline swimming club under coach Rene Piper. He is sure to be a factor in his strongest events, the 200 and 500 freestyles, when the Bulls take to the water for districts on Wednesday, October 25, at the Bobby Hicks Pool in Tampa.

“We think he has chances in both events ,” Wiregrass boys coach Kyle Gramm says. “He’s just now coming up to his peak and cut five seconds from his 500-yard time at conference. It’s going to be exciting to see what he does at districts.”

Season Of Firsts For CCH

In its very first year of existence, everything accomplished at the new Cypress Creek Middle High School is a new school record.

CCH golf standout Jarrod Smith.

Sophomore boys golfer Jarrod Smith is helping to establish some of those records. Smith, who played for WCH as a freshman, is coming off a third-place finish at the SAC tourney held at Northdale Country Club.

Smith shot a two-over 74 and made First Team All-SAC. He is no stranger to the sport, having picked it up six years ago and making Second-Team All-SAC as a freshman at WCH. He is and will be the guy to watch at Cypress Creek.

“He is definitely our bright spot,” Cypress Creek boys coach Anthony Mitchell said. “It’s super exciting. Obviously, by this time next year and beyond, he’s going to be one of the favorites to win conference.”

Smith’s strong suit is his putting game. He hit a 30-foot putt for birdie on the 10th hole at the SAC championships to help secure his third-place finish. He led the Coyotes into the Class A, District 13 championships at the Eagles Club Golf Club in Odessa last weekend.

“I just try to go out and play the best round I can every day,” Smith said.

The Cypress Creek Middle High cross country teams enter their first postseason this week. (Photo: Gigante Productions)

CCH Cross Country Team Making Strides

In its very first year of existence, Meanwhile, the CCH cross country team, while tiny in its first year, has the benefit of veteran coaches coming over from WCH, where boys coach John Hoffman and girls coach Eliza Passardi coached together for three years.

“New facilities, new rubber track and it was exciting to be a part of a brand new program,” Passardi says.

The coaches didn’t even discuss coming over to CCH together, it just happened.

“I knew I was coming over but we didn’t talk about it,” Passardi said. “We had a great team at Chapel where, between the two of us, we went to states two of the last three years.”

The Coyotes, who are competing in Class 2A, District 7 meet in Weeki Wachee on Thursday, October 26, only have 11 cross country runners, with seven of them boys. But, Hoffman thinks he has a couple of runners who could advance to Regionals in sophomore Joe Vreeland and freshman John Rowsell.

There will certainly be a lot more attention drawn to the program as spring track season rolls around. Hoffman, already pegged for the head track coach position, will have the only eight-lane rubber track in Pasco County. CCH is already confirmed to host the conference track meet and Hoffman is trying to work out hosting a large invitational for the spring as well.

“Everything’s new here at the school, it’s a lot to put together,” Hoffman said. “We even already have the hurdles for the track, packed in boxes, unassembled.”

H.S. Sports: Finally For Freedom Football & Swimmers Head For County Meet

The streak is over.

After seven seasons of lopsided losses to their neighborhood rivals just up Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., Freedom High’s football team finally has New Tampa bragging rights.

The Patriots used a 99-yard drive in the final minutes, capped by junior Dominick Vazquez’s first rushing touchdown of the season with 1:42 remaining, to knock off New Tampa rival Wharton 12-7 on Sept. 28 in a Class 7A, District 8 clash.

The Patriots’ win was their first of the season, and first over Wharton (now 2-4, 0-3 in 7A-8) since a 16-7 victory in 2009 under coach James Harrell.

When he was told his team had ended a losing streak that long, said Freedom head coach Floyd Graham, who is in his second season, said, “It just blew my mind. I know it’s a huge rivalry with the schools just three miles apart, and a lot of the guys on both teams went to middle school together, so it was a big deal to win this.”

The Patriots (2-4, 1-1) have had problems all season long finishing games, hampered by having to play so many players both ways due to a small roster of roughly 30 players. For the fourth time this season, the Patriots failed to score in the first half, but for the first time, they found a way to score critical second half points and offset a 42-yard touchdown run by Wharton’s D.J. Green that had given the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.

And, they did it with a backup quarterback seeing his first action of the season. With senior signal caller Sebastian Cuevas injured near the end of the first half, junior Jayland Desue, the team’s leading receiver, entered the game under center and led the Patriots to a pair of scoring drives.

The first was topped off by a 10-yard touchdown run by Stanley Elisme, cutting the Wildcats’ lead to 7-6. The second was one Graham may never forget, both for the way it started and the way it ended.

Three plays after taking over on their own 1 yard line with about six minutes remaining, Freedom faced a 4th-and-2 from the 9. Never in 27 years had Graham gone for a fourth down inside his own 10-yard-line. He looked over at defensive coordinator Henry Scurrey, who said “We have to go for it. What do we have to lose?”

So, Graham and the Patriots went for it. As Wharton scrambled out of punt return formation, junior Jeremiah Ashe (left) dashed eight yards on a jet sweep to keep the drive alive.

“I just knew I had to do anything I could for my teammates to help get this win,’’ said Ashe. “I was a little nervous, but I did what I had to do.”

The unlikely conversion created a spark on the Freedom sideline. A few Wharton penalties moved the Patriots along, and Vazquez scored with 102 seconds left to give Freedom its first lead of the season.

Wharton’s last gasp attempt at a comeback ended on an interception by Ashe, who now has had an interception in every game this season.

“It’s one of the best feelings,’’ said Graham. “I can’t stress to you how hard they have played for three weeks and come away with nothing…. They have given everything they had, come into the lockerroom afterwards with blood on their knuckles and so dehydrated. We’ve been so banged up. That makes this extremely special.”

(l.-r.) Freedom swimmers Hannah Labohn, Genevieve Clark, McKaley Goldblum & Abigail Leisure are headed to the county swim championships.

SWIMMING: The future is bright for the Freedom High girls swimming team, which placed third at the Western Conference swim championships in Brandon on Sept 27.

The quartet of sophomore McKaley Goldblum, sophomore Abigail Leisure, freshman Hannah Labohn and senior Genevieve Clark (photo, above right) advanced to the Oct. 6 county championships at Bobby Hicks Pool by finishing in the top two in two medley relays and five individual events.

The foursome finished second in the 200-yard medley relay, and first in the 400 freestyle relay.

Goldblum finished first in two events – the 100 and 200 freestyles – while Leisure and Labohn captured gold in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, respectively.

Clark advanced to the county championships after a second-place finish in the 50 free.

The Freedom boys advancing to individual events at the county meet were freshman Zach Kopel (first in the 200 free, second in the 500 free) and junior Christian Morera (second in the 100 backstroke). Kopel, Morera, senior Cobyn Panarelli and freshman Glynn Morgan took second in the 200 medley relay.

Wharton sophomore Charles Fields is headed to the county championships after a second-place finish in the 50 free, and first-place in the 100 free. He will be joined by sophomore Derek McDonald, junior Jeff Korver and senior Joseph Malone, who swam with Fields on the winning 200 freestyle team.

Senior Raweerat Khunduang led the Wharton girls with a win in the 50 free and a second in the 100 free, while teaming up with junior Juliana Silva and seniors Kyra Okin and Valeria Ramos to take second in the 200 free relay.

Local Prep Sports Notebook — High School Teams Excelling In Softball & Track

National Signing Day was Wednesday, Feb. 1. Signing to play college ball from Wharton were (l.-r.) volleyball player Allie Schneider (Florida College), softball player MacKenzie Allen (University of Tampa), and all-time volleyball kills leader Kathryn Attar.

Freedom coach Autum Hernandez knew coming into the 2017 softball season she was going to have to lean on her incoming freshmen this year, but she didn’t know the youngsters would come through so quickly.

Thanks to some clutch pitching and hitting from freshman Niyah Pope, the Patriots opened what should be an interesting season with a 6-5 win on Feb. 14 over traditional Tampa Bay power Riverview.

Pope pitched the last four innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four, to earn the win, and also contributed a base hit and two RBI for Freedom.

“If she keeps working hard, she is going to be very good,’’ said Hernandez, who guided the Patriots to the State championship game in 2013.

Hernandez has never started a season with so many young players. She only has 11 players on her roster, and five of them are freshman. She says once they adapt to the speed of the high school game, however, the Patriots could be contenders in Class 8A, District 4, which includes Wharton, Wiregrass Ranch and defending champion Strawberry Crest.

“We’re small, so we have to stay healthy,’’ she said.

The season-opening win was a confidence boost for her young players. The Patriots fell behind in the top of the second inning when the Sharks scored all five of their runs, but settled down and started coming back. They scored a run in the bottom of the second, and then added four in the bottom of the third to tie it up.

In the bottom of the seventh, Freedom loaded the bases and senior Gracie Seidel scored the winning run on an error, the ninth miscue of the game for the Sharks.

“We just put the ball in play and took advantage of their mistakes,’’ Hernandez said.

The Patriots may be young, but they do return a few key components, like Seidel, the senior centerfielder who batted .259 last season with five extra base hits, junior middle infielder Dallas O’Clair (.296 with a team-high 16 RBI) and infielder and leading hitter Lauren Hall, who batted .436 in 2016.

The Patriots will host rival Wharton on Thursday, March 9, 7 p.m.

Speaking of the Wildcats — who were 11-10 last season but advanced to the District championship game before falling in extra innings in a Regional quarterfinal loss to Ocala Forest — they return the bulk of their roster and opened their season in impressive fashion.

The Wildcats pounced on the Panthers of Plant for a 10-0 victory shortened after five innings due to the mercy rule.

Signing from Freedom were (l.-r.) football player Kalijahe Spann (Warner University), girls basketball player Megan Clark (Tennessee Tech) and golfer Tyler Bray (Maryville College).

TRACK OFF & RUNNING: Hillsborough High may have won the team titles at the New Tampa Preseason Classic on Feb. 9, but the tracksters from Wharton and Freedom both came away with some notable performances.

Wharton sophmore Nehemiah Rivers and his senior sister Bryanna both captured first-place in the 1,600-meter run. Nehemiah won his race in 4 minutes, 44 seconds, while Bryanna covered the four laps in 5:20.

Rivers was followed in her race by six of her teammates, as the Wildcats swept the top seven spots in the race. Senior Rania Samhouri was second in 5:24, and was followed by junior Rachel Lettiero, freshman Nia Rivers, sophomores Kayla McCullough and Amanda Blake, and senior Marin James.

Freshman Casey Pleune was second in the boys’ race behind Nehemiah Rivers in 4:46.

Wharton senior Aria Tate won the 100m hurdles in 14.70, more than two seconds ahead of the next closest finisher, and Lettiero won the 3200m race, with sophomores Amanda Brake and Nicolina Otero finishing in second and third, respectively. The Wharton boys picked up first-place finishes from senior Ryan Russell, who won the 400 hurdles in 50.50 seconds; Eric Jurgensmeyer, who won the 800 meters; and senior high jumper Justin Brown, who soared 5 feet, 8 inches.

Freedom junior Alejandro Michel won the 3,200-meter race in 10:36, 19 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, and Bryant Young tossed the discus 102 feet and 10.25 inches to win his event. Young’s throw was almost 16 feet further than anyone else.

Freedom’s Trent Burnett was a double winner, winning the 200m in 24.10 and with a long jump of 20 feet, 9 inches.