A Pasco win was good for a tie with Weightman for the middle school title.
By STEVE LEE, Times Staff Writer
Published October 23, 2005
DADE CITY - As the last middle school football game played on either side of the county, Pasco controlled its own fate.
Beat Stewart to tie Weightman for the east-side championship. Lose and the Wildcats would take sole possession.
A 25-8 win over the Bulldogs on Oct. 18 gave the Pirates a share of the crown with Weightman (both went 5-1) for a second straight season.
Pasco's Avery Clemmons, Ben Williams, Antwon Story and Willie Jackson had touchdown runs in that contest with Marcus Hicks, Jamie Byrd and Story each coming up with an interception.
Two weeks before, Hudson won the west in the second season of a Pasco County Middle School Athletic Conference split.
"It would have been nice to have it outright, but we'll take it," said coach Danny Wade, 15-3 in three seasons at Pasco.
Added Weightman coach Ricky Thomas, who this season began his second stint with the Wildcats (see accompanying box), "We set out to win the doggone championship, or at least tie for it. If I had to share it with somebody I might as well share it with Pasco. I've got a lot of history with that school."
Weightman capped the season with its most lopsided win, 66-16 over Centennial on Oct. 11. Rashied Melvin ran for three touchdowns in that contest with Thomas singling out J.D. Clower, C.J. West, Terry Page and Hunter Joyer for stellar play.
Pasco's lone loss came in the second game, 18-12 against Centennial in triple-overtime. In the next game, the Pirates got back on the winning track by handing Weightman its only loss, 35-6.
"It was huge, an emotional victory for us," Wade said of his team defeating Thomas', for whom he played at Pasco Jr. High. "To go in under those circumstances and beat him and his squad was something else."
Hudson (6-0), which last season split with Seven Springs in the west, had its second unbeaten season. The Cougars, who also were undefeated in 2001, have won three titles and shared two others.
"To be honest with you, I think it's execution, and the kids worked hard from the first day of practice," Hudson coach Tony Qualtiere said of his team's recent string of success. "The programs, all the way up, are starting to believe in themselves."
Hudson's senior-laden varsity team headed into Friday's game at Lecanto with a 6-2 mark. Qualtiere said that long-downtrodden program's turnaround is due, in part, to several players from the middle school's 2001 team.
Leading the Cougars' offense this season were quarterback Zack Wynn, tailback Dylan Luke and wideout Robert Sullivan.
Wynn passed for 339 yards and a school-record eight TDs (Shannon Eva passed for seven in 2000).
Luke rushed for 710 yards and had 11 touchdowns (10 rushing, one receiving). And of Sullivan's eight catches for 276 yards, seven went for touchdowns.
Middle linebacker Vance Lizama had a team-best 34 tackles (24 solos) and nose guard Mike Lizama, his brother, had 21 (17 solos) and two sacks.
Luke, who also plays cornerback, had a school-record five interceptions (Kenny Eva, Shannon's brother, had four in 1998).
