Now the real fun begins

By Times Staff Writer
Published September 14, 2005

They count on the record, but not in the standings.

That changes for most teams Friday, when the stakes of high school football are raised as district play kicks off.

You can almost treat the first three weeks as a mini-exhibition season. Yes, the coaches and players want to win. Yes, no one wants to start 0-3, or 1-2.

But at least one coach was willing to bench a wealth of his returning talent to make a point, as long as that point was made before the start of district play.

Take a team such as St. Petersburg or Clearwater Central Catholic. Awful starts for both teams, thanks to some untimely injuries and suspensions. A win on Friday vs. Gibbs puts the Green Devils on top in the district and makes everyone forget their 0-3 start. CCC still has another week or so to iron out any issues, starting district play Sept.30.

But a team's start - whether the games are nondistrict or not - generally portend the rest of the season. If you are 2-0 or 3-0 heading into districts, you can start printing playoff tickets.

Almost.

If you currently are winless, forget the postseason. Last season, Admiral Farragut, Lakewood, Palm Harbor University and Pinellas Park started 0-3 and failed to make the playoffs.

East Lake started 0-3, too, but "earned" a spot despite a 4-6 record. District alignment has made a similar task almost impossible. A 2-1 record isn't too bad of a place to be. Last year, 11 teams started 2-1 and five made the playoffs.

To recap: 3-0 very good, 0-3 very bad, 2-1 just about perfect.

Here are some other things we've learned through three weeks of pre(district) season football:

Always someone new

It was hard to imagine Boca Ciega replacing the superb backfield of Terrell Skinner, Lequerio Nesbitt and Myron Dillard. Not so much anymore.

Josh Bellamy and Andre Leshore quickly are looking like the county's best running back tandem, and fullback Rickie Stephens isn't so bad either. Bellamy had 275 yards the past two weeks, and Leshore had 279. And while the skills of player of the year Skinner are impossible to replace, don't tell that to receiver Jamar Newsome.

In three games, he has two kickoff returns for scores, three touchdown catches and 193 yards receiving.

It's all enough to convince one the Pirates will not let Class 4A-9 be an all-Bradenton affair.

Always someone old

Largo running back Dexter McCluster put up preseason-type numbers, rolling up more than 200 yards and playing a little over a half against Clearwater and Lakewood. Just about what we expected from the senior. Now the competition gets a little stiffer with district foes Dixie, Dunedin and Gibbs the next three weeks.

Higher expectations

Bogie will be better than we thought. East Lake looks good. Keswick is a legitimate state title contender. Lakewood will upset a team or two. Largo is more of a contender in a tough district than we thought, and PHU will ruin someone's season as coaches say the 'Canes look much more physical than in recent years. Dunedin is close to being back.

Lower expectations

Clearwater Central Catholic is still a good bet for the postseason, but our enthusiasm for the Marauders has waned after a rocky start. Talent will only take you so far. Same goes for Gibbs, which we think will have a tougher road than anticipated. Injuries have placed Northeast at a disadvantage. St. Petersburg is getting healthy, but we expected a better start. We briefly had some upset hopes for Pinellas Park, but those are wavering.

Happy 100th ... or not

It appears to be a race to 100 losses for Gibbs coach Al Davis (98, 15th season), Clearwater coach Tom Bostic (97, 23rd season) and Northeast's Jerry Austin (97, 27th season).

We think they'll all get there this season.

But don't feel too bad for the veteran coaches. Austin has 185 wins, and Bostic has 140. Davis picked up his 50th on opening night.

[Last modified September 14, 2005, 02:15:34]