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Preseason opens up for county squads

Jefferson must replace several key players from last year's state runnerup who graduated.

By ROD GIPSON
Published August 19, 2005

Editor's note: Every Friday this fall, North of Tampa will run a preview of that night's prep football games for high schools in north Hillsborough County. Here's the season's first preview.

TAMPA - If Mike Simmonds pays a little more attention to preseason than other coaches, he has a good reason. The past two seasons has seen Jefferson High School's football coach and his squad face Riverview in exhibition play, and both times Simmonds and the Dragons drew a tough assignment.

"They provide a great test for your team," said Simmonds. "They tested us on both sides of the ball and they won both games.... They definitely got us ready for the season."

The Jefferson Dragons will get ready for the 2005 campaign by kicking off the preseason tonight at Riverview. And despite being a program that went 10-4 last season and advanced to the Class 3A state championship game, Jefferson has plenty of talent to replace and questions to answer.

Jefferson lost three starters on the offensive line to graduation, three linebackers, almost its entire secondary and standout running back Alex Suber. But the Dragons return starting quarterback Stephen Garcia and will feature running back Fred Amiker, who showed potential when Suber wasn't in the lineup.

"We pretty much know what we have and how we'll approach this game," said Simmonds, whose program moves up to Class 4A this season. "There's some people we'll be looking at, but we'll play everybody."

That seems to be the consensus around the area as all eight squads in north Hillsborough kick off the exhibition season this evening. The games, which all begin at 7:30 p.m., will feature upperclassmen, but even more newcomers as coaches get one last chance to see what they have before the regular season begins Aug. 26.

JEFFERSON at RIVERVIEW: The Jefferson Dragons were hit hard by graduation but are always competitive. Repeating as a state finalist will be tough but look for new starting running back Fred Amiker to contribute mightily tonight and all season.

ALONSO at MIDDLETON: The Alonso Ravens are the lone county team that has a bye week to start the season. That means tonight's game takes on more meaning as Alonso will go two weeks before opening the "real" season. And after a 1-8 season last year after reaching the playoffs in 2003, the Ravens should be a hungry squad.

FREEDOM at BRANDON: The Freedom Patriots were one of just seven teams in the county last season that had more yards passing than rushing. Heading into a second season under coach Adam Stegeman's system, the Patriots hope that translates into more wins.

GAITHER at PLANT: The Gaither Cowboys are a running team but boast one of the area's best wideouts in senior Carlton Mitchell. That may prompt a shift to more Cowboy passes this season.

ARMWOOD at CHAMBERLAIN: The Chamberlain Chiefs draw the assignment of trying to slow down the Armwood steamroller. The Hawks are coming off back-to-back state titles and start a quest for a third against a Billy Turner-led Chamberlain squad that went 5-4 last season to miss the playoffs for the first time in six seasons.

LETO at TAMPA BAY TECH: New Leto coach Scott Palmer's first mission is to get rid of the negative image surrounding the program that saw the Falcons win just four games during the last three seasons. The new Leto enthusiasm will get a tough test in an improved Tech team.

SICKLES at MITCHELL: The Sickles Gryphons are looking to improve on last year's 5-5 season but face heavy losses to graduation. After traveling to Pasco County to face the Mustangs tonight, the Gryphons open the regular season with a tough stretch, playing three of its first four games on the road.

JESUIT at WHARTON: After ending a 2-8 season with five straight losses (and being shutout in two of those), Wharton just wants to get back on the field and play - anybody.

We'll quickly see how far enthusiasm goes as the Wildcats line up against one of the county's best in Jesuit.

[Last modified August 18, 2005, 11:46:08]