Regional coaches reflect on some playoff teams they're all too familiar with.
By BOB PUTNAM
Published November 19, 2004
Wesley Chapel coach John Castelamare said the goal against Citrus was to send pass rushers at quarterback Walter Howard with abandon in an attempt to put the junior on his back early and often.
The plan forced Howard to scramble and took away his ability to throw deep.
But it didn't result in many sacks.
Howard, an elusive, keen-armed quarterback, was an effective antidote to the Wildcat defenders who crowded the line of scrimmage. Directing a short-pass, heavy spread offense, Howard was 23-of-44 for 259 yards in a 23-15 loss.
"He's a tough one to bring down," Castelamare said. "I thought we had pretty good pressure on him. But we only got one sack. That's a credit to him."
Castelamare was quick to point out that Howard was not the Hurricanes' only weapon. Citrus has two strong running backs in E.J. Cobb and Willie Miller. The Hurricanes also have a dependable tight end in ????, who can either pick up a blitz or beat it by getting off the line fast and catching a pass.
"They like to throw the ball, but I think they're really balanced," Castelamare said. "They can hurt you in a lot of ways. If you take away one thing, they'll go to something else."
Case in point. Cobb and Miller never got on track against Wesley Chapel. But Howard did. His mobility bought him precious seconds before he had to throw the ball. Howard threw for two touchdowns against the Wildcats, both coming on fourth down.
"That short passing game works well for them," Castelamare said. "They use some I-formation, but for the most part they like to spread guys out and use some play-action to mix things up."
Castelamare said after a grueling season in which several of his skill players went down with injuries that he will most likely not attend a playoff game tonight.
"But I'd really like is a hammock I can rest on in an island," he said.
