Who will be Pinellas County's player of the year?

The high school football season begins this week. Leading to Friday's games, staff writers will answer 10 pressing questions facing Pinellas schools.

By Times staff writers
Published August 24, 2005

Bob Putnam says: L.D. Crow

Normally, quarterbacks fail spectacularly at the start of their high school varsity careers.

Countryside's L.D. Crow appears to be the exception. Teammates and opponents have been blown away by his calm demeanor, ability to shake off adversity and knack for making plays outside the pocket.

Playing more like a seasoned veteran than a first-year signal caller, Crow completed all nine passes for 140 yards and two scores in a 28-7 victory over Tarpon Springs in last week's preseason jamboree.

The new kid is tall (6-foot-2), with a rifle for a right arm and leadership qualities that remind many of Countryside's previous quarterback, Harrison Beck.

Beck led the Cougars to two straight district titles and is battling for the starting quarterback job at Nebraska. That put a ton of pressure on Crow, who was thrust into the team's most high-profile position.

But the transition should be seamless. Countryside has a multitude of backs it can use to set up the pass. The team also has a solid line and plenty of options at receiver.

All of which means Crow does not have to be savior. But the Cougars' superior depth gives him the chance to put up good numbers and win games.

And that pretty much sums up the criteria when measuring who will be the player of the year.

All the recruiting Web sites tell us Riley Cooper is the best player in Pinellas County, and that alone is enough to pick him as the preseason player of the year. But that's too easy. And it doesn't always work.

Take last year, for example. We thought the county's best would come from a group featuring Countryside's Harrison Beck, Northeast's Jerrel Lamb and Dunedin's Theo Wilson.

We even said Lamb was "as sure a bet for 1,000 yards as there is." Ummm ...

Turns out, the player of the year was Bogie quarterback Terrell Skinner. So with that mind, let's skip past Clearwater Central Catholic's Cooper, St. Petersburg Catholic's Jock Sanders, Gibbs' Jerrel Young and St. Petersburg's Donald Bowens - all guys we see as having huuuuge years - and go right to Dexter McCluster of Largo.

Granted, that's not as big a reach as Skinner would have been last year. Last year McCluster had games of 182 and 223 yards, and finished third in the county with 1,151 yards. He scored 11 touchdowns. And he was a force returning kicks and playing defensive back.

This year, if he stays healthy - he left numerous games last year with injuries and cramps - and is fully recovered from a spring track injury, the Packers will make sure he touches the ball a lot.

The more he touches it, the more we'll be right.

[Last modified August 24, 2005, 01:37:59]