BROOKSVILLE - Usually a junior varsity game has little effect on a varsity practice. At Central, it's a bit of a pain for coach John Wilkinson.
He could use the bodies.
"It's very difficult on a day like this," Wilkinson said with a nod to the practice field, where fewer than two dozen Bears stretched. "The JV can't help us. A lot of our coaches, they become players again. But what can you do?"
The answer at Central this year is "nothing," yet also "just go out and win." The Bears are 4-2 and winners of three of their last four with the smallest roster in the county, a mere 21 players.
Twenty-one's a healthy soccer squad or track team, but in football it's far from an ideal situation. Central can't practice 11-on-11 without a coach lining up somewhere, and on game day many Bears go both ways. But through the first half of the season, the Bears have made it work and are starting to wear the small-in-number label with pride.
"I like it this way. These guys are dedicated," junior center Andy Leavine said. "There could be other kids on the team, but these are the dedicated kids at Central. They love football."
They have to in Wilkinson's system. The third-year coach is notoriously tough on conditioning and running, factors players said have kept many students away from the team. "I guess they can't endure all the running, all the sweating," senior linebacker Daniel Harris said. "I guess they're not tough enough."
Wilkinson had 33 players in 2002, his first season, then 27 at the start of last year. Now it's 21, though the team almost certainly will have its most successful season under Wilkinson and has a shot at tying the school record for wins with eight (its final four games are all against squads with losing records).
Whether or not they do, each player will have a big hand in it. On such a small team, there's plenty of football to go around. Losing a player to injury is a nightmare, like when running back/linebacker Bryan Nutter was sidelined last month with a concussion.
"When we lose one guy, we actually lose two guys, then we have to shuffle everyone else around," Wilkinson said. "When Nutter guy hurt we shifted Jeremy (Flowers) from corner to linebacker, Shane (Collard) over to corner ... it's a shuffle."
Yet it's one Central clearly manages, growing stronger as the season continues. Last year the Bears won three of four games after a 1-5 start, outlasting teams with bigger rosters.
"I feel if you invest a lot into the team, it's a lot tougher for you to quit. That's why I feel like we always play hard for four quarters," Wilkinson said. "They have a lot invested in time and sweat."
John Schwarb can be reached at 800 333-7505, ext. 1407. Send e-mail to schwarb@sptimes.com
