By Kyle LoJacono
Even during the glory years of Zephyrhills football, the Bulldogs have perpetually had one of the smallest rosters in Pasco County — that is until this season.
Zephyrhills has 72 kids competing for spots on the varsity and junior varsity team this year, a fact that has second-year coach Reggie Roberts excited for the season.
“It helps us to really build the foundation,” Reggie said. “We’ve got a lot of really young kids who will be around for four years. About 70-80 percent of our kids are freshmen who were very successful in middle school.”
Many of those freshmen came from Stewart Middle, which amassed a 10-2 record the last two years and a pair of conference championships.
“They have only known winning the last few years,” Reggie said. “I’m excited we have these young kids with that expectation.”
Freshman Jaylan Pickett was a starting running back on those Stewart teams. He relishes the chance to bring that winning tradition back to the Bulldogs.
“It’s a lot of pressure, but I welcome it,” Pickett said. “It makes me want to work even harder to live up.”
Zephyrhills has also gotten reinforcements from the Zephyrhills Christian six-man football team, including the Warriors quarterback Mikey Smith and running back Josh Roberts.
Zephyrhills Christian went 13-0 last season en route to claiming the Florida Christian Association of Private and Parochial Schools (FCAPPS) state championship.
“I wanted to be a part of something big like this,” said Smith, who will be a linebacker and backup quarterback this year as a freshman. “I feel like there is something good building here.”
Josh was one of the biggest offensive playmakers for Zephyrhills Christian last year, but has moved to defensive end with the Bulldogs.
“It’s a little different, but I’ll play wherever coach wants me,” said Josh, a senior.
Josh is the brother of senior Jamal Roberts, who has played for Zephyrhills the last few years as a wide receiver, running back and quarterback.
“It’s fun because we play on opposite sides of the ball,” Josh said. “We can tell each other our mistakes.”
Reggie has seen a difference in the players’ resolve during preseason practice.
“A lot of times last year we’d face some adversity in a game and we’d give up,” Reggie said. “I don’t see that in these kids now, even the older kids who have been around. There’s no give-up in these kids.”
The Bulldogs have gone 2-8 in each of the last two years, but Reggie has seen renewed vigor caused by players fighting for roster spots.
“There’s going to be some places where the younger kids are higher on the depth chart than the older kids,” Reggie said. “The state of competition is back and nobody has a lock on any position. Everybody has to work for that spot everyday. It makes our jobs easier and we don’t have to go above and beyond to motivate. The play on the field motivates.”
Reggie also made an addition to his coaching staff. He hired Pasco High graduate Darrell Davis as his wide receivers coach. The Pirate turned Bulldog played at North Carolina State from 2007-10.
“He was a star at Pasco and just joined our staff from the arena league,” Reggie said. “He’s already an asset to our team.”
Like most coaches, Reggie takes losses very hard, but for him it is also personal. He played at Zephyrhills from 1986-89. Tom Fisher was his defensive coordinator his first three years before taking over the helm when Reggie was a senior.
Reggie and the Bulldogs reached the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) playoffs for the first time in his final year and won a district championship. Zephyrhills has made the playoffs seven more times since 1989.
“Winning is not new to Zephyrhills High School,” Reggie said. “We’re not a new school. Tom Fisher won football games here, but recently the expectation to win has been very low. We have to change that, and I think the mentality has changed.”
The Bulldogs will get a chance to see how much that mentality change has helped when they host Land O’ Lakes on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m. for their season opener.
“People might not see it yet, but on Friday nights I think you’ll see it,” Reggie said. “I think we’re going in the right direction. We’re the little dogs on the block. We understand that people think we’re not going to do so well this year, and rightly so because we only won a few games last year, but I can tell you we have a bunch of players who are ready to play football.”
