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Pride is taking charge
By KRISTEN LEIGH PORTER Crystal River pride didn't begin for Ryan McNally when he became a senior, or the first time he started, or even the first time he pulled on a junior varsity uniform as a freshman. McNally has been wanting this since he was a young Crystal River Shark looking up to the middle school kids, then as a middle-schooler watching the JV. "You move up one by one, and ever since we're young we're like "Wow, I can't wait until I'm in high school,' " McNally said. "Then next thing I know, I'm on JV and I'm watching the varsity on Friday night, then next thing I know it's varsity already," he said. "You feel pressure that you've got to do good. We have pride and don't want to be the team that loses that." The senior couldn't foresee that he would lead the Pirates in rushing this year and last. He originally tried out for wide receiver in middle school, but teammate Scott O'Steen urged McNally to consider one of the running back positions. "Scotty was like, "Didn't you play running back, Ryan, back in Sharks?' " McNally said. "And I was like, "Yeah, but I don't know.' And he was like, "Come on, come on.' So I've played running back ever since." Most of McNally's teammates throughout the years, including O'Steen, are members of a 3-2 Pirates squad hoping to make its seventh straight playoff appearance. They are the ones being looked up to by future Pirates. O'Steen said it was difficult to walk through the halls at Crystal River High when the Pirates were 1-2 after a 29-15 loss to Dunnellon. The players were faced with questions, and comments such as, "Man, you all really stink" and "You all just aren't as good as last year." McNally and O'Steen, along with seniors such as Charlie Slattery and Norman Longfellow, knew they had to pull the team together. It was time to forget about the standings and what the opposition is doing and think about Pirates pride. "Some of the seniors, it took a while for us to realize what we had to do and what our voice was capable of doing," O'Steen said. "We finally tested it out before the Dixie County game, and it was heard. It was just amazing being a senior and seeing what kind of difference we made just by getting everybody up." That came through in a 21-6 road win that might be looked upon as the turning point. "You don't see in the paper "Crystal River Wins A Game Towards Their Pride,' " O'Steen said. "You only see that one's a district game and one's a conference game. Most games should be played for pride, especially being on Crystal River. Our football team is based on pride." After losing 22 to graduation, that relatively inexperienced team has been forced to grow up fast. Eight positions on either side of the ball had to be filled. Even so, starting off 1-2 for the first time in 10 years was difficult, McNally said. "I know no one said it out loud, because no one wanted to admit it, but I think some of the younger kids were worried about it," McNally said. "But I knew we were going to pull together; it would just take a little time," he said. "That's all this team's missing really is experience, and we've got that and now we're ready to go. We're ready to play like Crystal River plays." That might have been easier had the schedule been more kind. Every squad the Pirates have faced sports a winning record with the exception of 0-5 Springstead. Dunnellon (5-0) is No. 9 in the Class 3A poll, as voted on by the Florida High School Sports Writers Association. Previously ranked South Sumter (4-1) and Dixie County (4-1) are among others receiving votes in 2A, and Lecanto is 3-2. So how did the Pirates seemingly turn it around? The talent was there all along. Jere DeFoor and his coaching staff have made adjustments, picked up the tempo and moved players around. The results are yet to be determined, DeFoor said. "Right after we played the South Sumter game, we moved two inside linebackers to ends, moved two defensive ends to tackles, moved outside linebackers inside, and we moved McNally and some of them in the secondary to the outside," DeFoor said. "I made the comment to the coaches then, I said, "We won't see it next week, but in 2-3 weeks we'll see us get better.' " Including tonight's match-up with Central, the 2002 Pirates have at least five more games to cement their legacy. They will be tested against North Marion, last year's district champ, and a Citrus team that's 5-0. Crystal River is 1-1 in Class 3A, District 3. Kristen Leigh Porter can be reached at 564-3628 or porter@sptimes.com.
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