By Kyle LoJacono
The Wiregrass Ranch football team reached new heights two years ago, winning a district championship and finishing better than .500 for the first time.
Then 2011 happened.
The Bulls suffered through a 0-10 campaign last season and were outscored 410-46. The players are out to show the sixth-year program is more like what was on the field in 2010.
“We all have that internal drive to go out and prove what we’re all about,” said sophomore wide receiver Tyre Creary.
Junior quarterback Jake Day added, “Not that we wanted to go 0-10 at all, but it’s something that motivates every one of us. The guys who will be seniors want to get us back on top.”
The falloff was great, but not completely unexpected. Wiregrass Ranch lost 49 combined seniors after the 2009 and 2010 seasons, but bring back most of the core this year.
The Bulls return leading rusher Eli Galvan, a freshman, who had 317 yards on 59 carries and a touchdown.
Wiregrass Ranch also brings back its leading receiver in junior Ryan Shea, who snagged 15 catches for 191 yards and a score. Also adding to the receiving corps are towering 6-foot-9 sophomore James Jackson (three catches, 40 yards) and the speedy Creary (14 catches, 182 yards).
Day began last year as the Bulls starting quarterback, but a concussion in Week 1 against Wesley Chapel and another against Gaither in Week 4 derailed any chance for him to get settled under center. He completed 14-of-58 passes for 226 yards and two scores, and said he is completely healed.
“I feel so much more comfortable now,” Day said. “I’ve been going to football camps and doing everything to get better as a quarterback and player.”
Wiregrass Ranch also has three players competing for the quarterback spot in freshmen Zach Davidson and Shane Bucenell and sophomore Zack Drury.
The defense graduated its top four tacklers and top two sackers, but get a talent infusion from inside linebacker Xavier Wilson. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior moved from Virginia last December; too late to play but soon enough to be a part of winter workouts.
“I’ve already seen a lot of improvement,” Wilson said.
He said the defense is working to win games on its own.
“I’ll put it the way coach says it: ‘We’re going to try and outscore the offense,’” Wilson said. “We’re not just making turnovers. We want to score.”
All the players want to get their first win since Nov. 5, 2010, a 35-7 victory against Hudson, but fourth-year coach Jeremy Shobe said the focus is on smaller goals this spring.
“We’ve talked about eliminating mistakes and focusing on the here and now,” Shobe said. “We want them to look at every rep and every drill. We talked about the process before this spring. We’re not talking about winning and losing. We talk about what we are doing in the process to get better. If you worry about those small things the wins will take care of themselves.”
Creary added, “Our receivers coach says look the ball all the way into your hands. Sometimes last year we’d just try and catch it, and we had a lot of drops. You forget to do everything to make the catch before you start running. We’re trying to get all those things down perfect.”
Shobe has seen improvements with the simplified approach and drive to redeem the program.
“We’re probably already ahead of where we were at the end of spring last year,” Shobe said. “If we play to our potential it does not matter who we’re playing.”
It won’t be easy competing in Class 7A-District 7. The grouping includes reigning district champion Tampa Bay Tech (8-4) and runner-up Gaither (9-4), which made the regional semifinals and finals last season, respectively. Steinbrenner (7-3) is also in 7A-7, along with Freedom (2-8) and Chamberlain (1-9).
–Stats/results as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches
