Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Kyle LoJacono

The Gaither football program made three straight playoff appearances from 2006-2008, but has won only four games since then including a 3-7 record in 2010.

Nine-year Cowboys coach Mark Kantor resigned the post in December after learning administration wanted to go in a different direction with the program. Jason Stokes was picked to lead Gaither in January and thinks the program is very close to getting back to the top.

“The big thing with any teenager is getting consistency out of them,” Stokes said. “They played with Plant last year and beat Plant City, which were both playoff teams. It shows there is the talent. Us as coaches just need to bring it out of them. Limit the mistakes and help them play consistently and correctly.”

The strength of the team the last two years was its defense, which returns many of its starters including junior linebacker Josh Scarberry.

Scarberry had a team-high 75 tackles and nine sacks in 2010 while adding one interception, three passes defensed and causing three fumbles. He was named the team defensive MVP and the All-Laker/All-Lutz News Defensive Player of the Year following the season.

“Our defense has been together for a long time,” Scarberry said. “We’re all mostly seniors and know what the other guys are going to do. We work together really well. … I think we’re a lot stronger on defense. We lose some very good players like Chad Hannah and Xavier Wynn, but I see the younger guys making a lot of improvements. We’re looking really good and I’m excited to see what we can do in the fall.”

While the coaching staff has changed, the defense unit gets back a familiar face. Brian DelValle, a 2002 Gaither graduate, was the Cowboys defensive coordinator in 2009, but spent last season as Land O’ Lakes’ co-defensive coordinator.

“I was really excited when I heard coach DelValle was coming back,” Scarberry said. “We had good

chemistry my sophomore year. Coach Kantor left and we were close, but having coach DelValle back helps with the change.”

Stokes also brought back five coaches from the 2010 staff to help with continuity, including offensive line coach Jeff Ditman.

“Coach Ditman can convey a lot of what we did last year to our new coach, so it will help us not miss a step,” said junior left tackle Matt Finnesy. “I’ve had him for three years, so I’m really happy he’s still with us.”

The biggest changes for Gaither will be with the offensive system.

“We really want to be balanced,” Stokes said. “Last year they were very pass heavy on the offense.”

Stokes predicts that balanced attack will help the offense gain and score more than the 211 yards and 11.5 points per game the Cowboys had in 2010. It will also help sophomore quarterback Shug Oyegunle, who had 1,412 passing and 287 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns last season.

“Shug is a pass and run threat, but we have other guys who can get things done running the ball,” Stokes said. “We want the other defense to be worried about all our weapons and not just focus on Shug.”

Oyegunle became Gaither’s starting quarterback halfway through his freshman season. He said he is very comfortable running the offense despite the change in scheme.

“I have a lot of experience,” Oyegunle said. “I’ve seen a lot of different things in games and practices and the coaches have been working with me for awhile now. I feel much more comfortable than a year ago.”

Oyegunle will need to find some new options at wide receiver as the Cowboys lose four to graduation, including Josh Bultron and his team-high 371 yards and four scores. One of those new options could be junior Mitch McNall.

“It’s going to be hard because we have some big senior receivers leaving, but me, Carlo Perollo and some other guys have been working hard to replace them,” McNall said. “We need to get better because we’re losing a lot.

“It helps having a quarterback with a lot of experience,” McNall continued. “We’re excited about that because we already have good timing and he knows how we’re going to run our routes.”

The Cowboys move into Class 7A-District 7 with Chamberlain, Freedom, Steinbrenner, Tampa Bay Tech and Wiregrass Ranch. Of those teams, only Tech (7-5) and Wiregrass Ranch (6-5) finished with winning records last year.

“We’re really excited about the new district and our new schedule,” Scarberry said. “We think we can take that next step.”

–All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.

By Kyle LoJacono

The Steinbrenner football team posted a 5-5 record in the program’s second season in 2010. Good enough for most new schools, but not for one that already has two state championships.

The girls soccer program won the Class 4A state title in February and Alexis Wright claimed the 2A girls 100-meter hurdles crown in April.

“It’s really amazing the school already has state titles and it’s pushing us to get better,” said Warriors football coach Floyd Graham.

Steinbrenner will not lose too many graduating seniors, but two will be difficult to replace. Tight end Tobi Antigha and inside linebacker Alex Bombino were the leaders of the offense and defense respectively, according to Graham.

“We had 13 injuries in the first two games, so we had to move a lot of kids up,” Graham said. “We had a lot of starters who were freshmen last year, so they have eight or nine games of experience. We’re still trying to find someone to replace Tobi at tight end and for a go-to receiver. John Marc Carrier and Josh Roberts are having a great spring, and I hope they can step in.

“Bombino, that’s a tough one to lose, but one guy who has taken over his leadership role is Amiri Brown, and I think he is going to be one of the best linebackers to ever walk out of here,” Graham continue. “Logan McKnight is moving from running back to focus on linebacker and I think can be very good too.”

McKnight, a sophomore, will likely replace Bombino at inside linebacker in 2011. He is not shy about what his goals are in for the coming fall.

“I want to lead the county in tackles,” McKnight said. He then added, “Alex was a great player for us. I’m hoping I can do all the good things he did and improve on what he did for our defense.”

Another force for the Warriors defense will be junior lineman Alex Vega, who transferred from Plant as a sophomore. He believes the defense will be a strength in 2011.

“We have a lot of underclassmen on the defense and that’s a good thing because they’re all coming back,” Vega said. “We lose Bombino, who was a great player, but we’re mostly all back on the defense.”

Vega played football at Plant, which has won three state championships and finished as the 5A runner-up in 2010. The difference in history is stark between the two programs, but Vega relishes the opportunity to help build a football legacy with the Warriors.

“We were starting from ground zero,” Vega said. “You don’t have a program established like Plant. Coach Graham and the other coaches had to have kids coming from other schools and make them a team. It’s different, but it’s exciting too.”

The offense was a little unstable for Steinbrenner at the start of 2010. Senior Christian Carrier was the main quarterback for most of 2009 and the start of last year, but Graham made the switch to freshman Curtis Fitch near the middle of the season. Fitch finished with 656 passing yards and five touchdowns and is expecting more consistency in 2011.

“I want to get a more stable offense going,” Fitch said. “It’s going to happen if we continue to work hard in every practice. It starts with that.”

The Warriors employed a Wing-T offense most of last year, which uses a power sweeping running game and short passes. Graham said freshman running back Jake Carroll will be key for the scheme to be effective.

“We moved him up from junior varsity after we had all those injuries,” Graham said. “The first time he touched a ball in a varsity contest he had a kickoff return for a touchdown against Jesuit. He won the spot and averaged more than 100 yards a game and had 12 touchdowns.”

Carroll said the team was building momentum at the end of last year and thinks a good spring can springboard them into the fall.

“We’re so new, so we want to set the tone this spring,” Carroll said. “We want to continue going in the right directions and go out and make the playoffs for the first time.”

Graham agrees with Carroll about the roll the team was on to end 2011.

“Our goal was to be competitive last year,” Graham said. “We were competitive in all but two games, which were against the top two in the district in Jesuit and Robinson. We won five of those other eight games and lost one by one point and won our last two games. It was those young guys who did that and they’re all back.”

By Kyle LoJacono

The Wesley Chapel football team last made the playoffs in 2004 with a 7-2 record.

Second-year coach Ben Alford isn’t making any bold predictions about a return to the postseason, but he forecasts experience and veteran leadership will put the Wildcats on the right path.

“We have to start doing the little things,” Alford said. “Last year we lost two games by three points and we were in the last game of the year against Gulf and made some mental mistakes at the end. Those are the kind of things an older team doesn’t do. We’re a much older team, so we’re hoping to be on the right side of those close games.

“They’re learning from those little things we did wrong last year,” Alford continued. “Those little things as individuals and as a team. It’s those things that make a losing team into a winning team. I know I don’t want to go 3-7 again this year and I don’t think these players do either.”

Part of the struggle last year came from big changes in the offensive system. John Castelamare coached the program until Alford took over and ran a run-heavy Wing-T. Alford wanted to put in a spread offense based on passing, which may have been too radical of a change last season.

“It’s definitely easier right now that the kids have had more time with the offense,” Alford said. “I think we might have changed things up a little too much offensively. Right now we’re working to run a certain amount of plays very well and make sure those are run right. If you run three plays perfect, that’s better than 100 plays that are average or just ok.”

Freshman quarterback Alex McGough was given the task of running that offense last season, completing 42 of 102 passes for 418 yards and one touchdown.

“I feel a lot better in the offense and I’m just trying to keep getting better,” McGough said. “I want to be a lot better next year than I was this season. I want to get better with my offensive line, receivers and running backs so we can have a better season.”

Alford was a quarterback at Pasco High and his teaching has added to McGough’s comfort level in the offense.

One of the offensive weapons for McGough will be junior wide receiver Keegan Tanner. He had nine catches for 33 yards in 2010 when he was mostly a defensive back, recording 41 tackles. He is expecting more yards and points from everyone next season.

“Now that we know the offense, it’s a lot easier,” Tanner said. “Before (coach) would have to explain every play and what we needed to do. Now we can huddle up and call the play and everyone knows what to do. It’s a lot easier and we can do more in practice.”

The Wildcats will need to find someone to step in for graduating senior linebacker Jake Fisher, who led the team with 120 tackles and recently signed to play football at Beloit College in Wisconsin.

“You can’t replace a Jake Fisher,” Alford said. “He was such a huge part of our team. His younger brother Luke is a totally different player than Jake, but we expect him to be just as important to our defense.”

Luke, a junior linebacker, had 43 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two interceptions and has learned a lot from his brother.

“He taught me to be fearless and go hard after the ball on every play,” Fisher said. He then added, “I think I’m going to have to be more vocal to tell people what they need to do on the field. That way there is no confusion.”

On the defensive front, sophomore Hunter Robinson had 36 tackles. The defensive end said a new mental state will also be key if the team is to make a turnaround in 2011.

“I think it’s a lot about mentality,” Robinson said. “Last year I think everyone expected us to be bad because we had a new coach and a lot of young players. We didn’t have a lot of energy and we focused more on the other team than ourselves. We have to worry about us and put everything out on the field.”

The Wildcats will host Tarpon Springs on Thursday, May 26 at 7 p.m. for their spring game.

“It’s really big to win the spring game,” Fisher said. “If we could get a victory, it would be a boost for us and motivate the younger players to keep working in the summer.”

–All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.

By Kyle LoJacono

The already record number of Wiregrass Ranch High student athletes who have signed to compete in college continued to grow on May 13

Swimmers Brandan Leroche and Rebecca Pindral, and football player Raymond Powell each inked their names to commitment letters, pushing the number of Bulls signees this year to 15.

Pindral will compete at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), a Division I program. Leroche will swim at The College at Brockport, a Division III program in the State University of New York system. Powell, a safety, picked Marietta College, a Division III program in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Bulls built for life in the pool

Leroche and Pindral are the first Wiregrass Ranch swimmers to sign with a school, but the two took very different approaches leading up to their signings.

Pindral began swimming 12 years ago and said she spends most of her time at the New Tampa YMCA, where the Bulls practice and compete for home meets.

“I’m really excited to be able to swim with UMBC,” said Pindral, who is undecided on her major. She then added, “I fell in love with the school on my recruiting trip. It’s a Division I school and they won the American East (Conference) championship last year. That’s exciting. I feel like everything I’ve done has led up to this.”

Leroche is a relative newcomer to the pool, just picking it up as a freshman and only started competitively in the summer before his sophomore year.

“It was something I always hoped for, but I wasn’t sure if I had enough time in the pool to get good enough,” said Leroche, who plans to major in international business and economics “I always kept it in my prayers. My father and I always talked about it. To be honest with you, it’s really a blessing to know that a school wants me to come swim for them.”

Pindral placed sixth in the Class 2A 100-yard breaststroke this year with a time of 1:07.09. She also qualified for states in the 200 medley. She reached the finals meet every season in high school except her freshman season.

Pindral was named All-Laker/All-Lutz News Girls Swimmer/Diver of the Year and to the All-Sunshine Athletic Conference first team as a senior.

Leroche was part of the Wiregrass Ranch 200 medley relay team that took fifth at the regional swim meet in 1:52.16, one spot away from qualifying for states. He also was on the Bulls 400 freestyle relay that finished 14th at regionals.

As an individual swimmer, Leroche reached regionals in the 100 backstroke, where he place 11th in 1:01.91.

Both swimmers gave credit to what they learned from their coaches at Wiregrass Ranch and to Andrew Palumbo, an aquatics instructor from the YMCA.

“I can’t wait to take everything I’ve learned from the coaches here at Wiregrass and Andrew from the Y to the next level,” Pindral said.

Powell born to play football

Most boys born in Bavaria, Germany grow up dreaming about athletic success on the soccer pitch, but Powell was drawn to the football gridiron.

“I love everything about football,” said Powell, who plans to major in chemical engineering. “The speed, the hitting, the team aspect. Everything about it.”

Powell, who is the fourth Bulls football player to sign with a college this year, started playing football in eighth grade. His father Robert, who is in the U.S. Army, and mother Susanne are still in Bavaria.

Powell moved to Pasco County during the summer between his sophomore and junior years in part to play football in the United States. He has noticed big differences between the game here and in Germany.

“For one thing you only practice twice a week over there instead of five times here,” Powell said. “In Germany there were maybe 50 people in the stands. Here the stands were always packed.”

Wiregrass Ranch went 6-5 in 2010 and won the first district championship in program history. Powell had 48 tackles and a team-high four interceptions last year. He was named the Bulls football Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts as a senior.

“I can’t say enough about Powell,” said Wiregrass Ranch football coach Jeremy Shobe. “He’s one of the hardest workers we’ve had and is a fearless hitter. He came here for the love of football and is one of the best defensive players we’ve ever had.”

After traveling thousands of miles to attend high school, Powell should have few problems traveling a few hundred north for college.

“It really won’t be that hard for me to go off to college,” Powell said with a laugh. “It’s not like I’m leaving my parents because I already had to do that to go to high school.”

–All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches. All race results as recorded by the Florida High School Athletic Association.

By Kyle LoJacono

Jason Stokes is the first new football coach for Gaither in nine seasons and he sees great things just over the horizon for the northern Hillsborough County program.

Stokes was a running back while in high school in Maryland and then became a linebacker at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

He started coaching and teaching full-time in 2003 as a junior varsity coach with Riverview, where he later became the defensive coordinator. His first head coaching job was at Bloomingdale in 2008, where he guided the Bulls to a 7-5 record and the only playoff berth in that program’s history.

He was the leader at Middleton the last two seasons, where he had a 10-10 record but was not brought back after the 2010 campaign.

Stokes recently spoke with the Lutz News and The Laker about leading Gaither.

Q: Why did you first get into coaching?

A: I was passionate about it. I’m passionate about teaching the kids and about the competition. I love sports and I love what it brings out of young people.

Q: What do you think about the opportunity to make this program into a winner?

A: I think Gaither is Plant before Plant became Plant. I think the talent is here. I think the infrastructure is here. I think the administration is here. We have the parental support, the community support and the support from the staff. Right now I just have to put faith in my coaching staff to do the right thing for us to take it to the next level.

Q: Gaither hasn’t made the playoffs since 2008 and has only four wins in the last two years. What is it going to take to make the postseason?

A: A lot of hard work and dedication. It takes everyone coming to practice and getting here on time. It’s going to take hard work for the entirety of every practice. It’s going to take focus in the film room. It’s not going to be easy, but from what I’ve seen, the kids are willing to make those sacrifices and I feel good about things so far.

Q: What are the focuses for you on and off the field?

A: On the field my goal right now is to create toughness and accountability in these kids. Be accountable to your teammates. Off the field it’s a lot of character building. We’re going to plan a lot of community service projects. Just keeping their noses clean and letting them know what accountability is all about. They need to know it’s more than just football. It’s grades, it’s family, it’s community.

By Kyle LoJacono

Jennifer Graham was named Steinbrenner’s volleyball coach May 9 and is thrilled with the chance to lead the program into its third year.

“I’m very excited,” said Graham. “I was the junior varsity coach two years ago and an assistant for varsity last year, so the team already knows me. I think the program has a great future with the kids we have and the incoming freshman, and I’m very happy to have the chance.”

Graham replaces Staci Elias, who resigned the post the week before. The Warriors had a 24-15 record and won two district championships the last two years. Graham’s experience with the team made her the logical choice to take over.

“She’s been with the program since it started, she knows the girls and I like her philosophy,” said Steinbrenner athletic director Eddie Henderson. “I’ve seen her in action and I’m very pleased with how she does things.”

Graham played high school volleyball as an outside hitter in Michigan and then in college at Central Michigan University.

She began coaching as the leader of a junior varsity team in Michigan in 2004 while completing her college degree. Graham moved to Florida in 2005 and was a volleyball assistant at Newsome, where she met her husband Floyd, Steinbrenner’s football coach.

Graham’s first volleyball head coaching job was with Lincoln Park Academy in Fort Pierce before coming to Steinbrenner when it opened in 2009.

Graham was also the Warriors flag football coach this year, but is undecided if she will return to that post in 2012. She has coached track and basketball, giving her a diverse athletic background.

“I’ve coached two or three sports every year since I became a teacher, but now I get to focus on the sport I love the most,” Graham said. “Volleyball is my passion and the goal is still to get this team to states. That’s been the goal since we started the program.”

Graham has other plans with the sport, including trying to get a boys club team going at the school.

“Hillsborough County doesn’t have boys volleyball, but I’d like to see what we can do at the club level,” Graham said. “We had four student managers who were boys last year and I’ve been teaching volleyball to the boys in my P.E. classes. They really like the sport and I think it could be something we could become known for.”

Steinbrenner moves up to Class 7A-District 7 with Chamberlain, Freedom, Gaither and Wiregrass Ranch for the 2011 season. Of those, only Freedom reached the playoffs in 2010.

–All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.