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Palm Bay living up to preseason hype

Jefferson's opponent suffered through its own early-season stumbles before winning 12 straight.

By EMILY NIPPS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 11, 2002

The Palm Bay Pirates, listed among the nation's top teams in a sports writers' poll, learned their lessons from early losses. The glamour of being the top dog in the area might have gotten to them, coach Dan Burke later mused. There were struggles, yes, but now they're back on track.

Sound familiar?

Palm Bay (12-2) and Jefferson (13-1), which meet in Thursday's Class 4A final, aren't quite mirror images of each other, but they see familiarities on the game tape. Like the Dragons, the Pirates run the I-formation and consider themselves a "power football" team.

The teams share something else: a little taste of humility.

After opening the season as USA Today's No. 2 team in the country, the Pirates promptly went 0-2, losing in overtime to 6A state finalist Orlando Edgewater and 6A region finalist Miami Carol City. That both teams were considered to be at the top of the biggest classification provided little comfort. Doubt started to sink in.

Before opponents' fans could start chanting "overrated," though, the Pirates took their season -- the season they were supposed to have -- and ran with it, winning their next 12 games convincingly.

The Dragons, who also stumbled early but have won the past 12, haven't seen many opponents with as much talent as themselves.

"They're a lot like us," Jefferson assistant coach Lane McLaughlin said. "They've got a lot of skilled positions, and their style is similar to ours."

The Pirates have outscored four playoff opponents 182-49 and beat two undefeated teams, Land O'Lakes (49-14) and top-ranked Lincoln (44-21).

Palm Bay linebacker Reggie Nelson and two-way player Joe Cohen are among the top 100 players on several national recruiting lists and have received offers from Florida, Florida State and Miami. Other prospects include defensive backs Jimmy Wright and Ron Ellis and defensive end Courtney Mills.

The Pirates' biggest weapon, though, is speed. Wide receiver Xavier Carter is a state track champion. He and Nelson ran 40 yards in 4.3 seconds at the Nike Miami Camp. Cohen (4.45) was the MVP of that camp.

The Dragons are impressed but not intimidated.

"I coached the state championship team (Hillsborough) in 1996, and in that game, I saw a lot of future college and NFL stars," Jefferson coach Mike Simmonds said. "I see a lot of that in Palm Bay. And I think we have players like that on our squad."

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