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Tuesday Morning Quarterback

Every Tuesday we take a look at the previous Friday's action in the newspaper and on our blog at blogs.tampabay.com/preps Why? Because we like football. And blogs are cool!

By DAVID MURPHY
Published October 31, 2006

Foxx News

Cliff Lohrey wasn't planning on getting DuJuan "Foxx" Harris 20 carries, but when a freak rainstorm blew in from the Gulf of Mexico Friday night, his goal of diversifying his offense against a winless River Ridge squad washed away. So instead of a glorified exhibition game in which quarterback Chase Walker and the Central passing game got plenty of work, the Bears instead got more Foxx: 22 carries, 223 yards, two rushing touchdowns and a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Now, heading into Central's season finale against Nature Coast, we get to talk about the "R" word.

Records. Entering Friday's regular-season finale, Harris, a Division I prospect with blazing speed and a powerful burst off the cut, has rushed for 1,313 yards through nine games.

That figure ranks sixth on the all-time Hernando County list behind Hernando's Dwayne Mobley 2,044 yards in 1991, Central's Tim Gaynor (1,769 yards in 2001 and 1,351 in 2002), Hernando's Jermaine Green (1,747 yards in 1992) and Hernando's Lester Brown (1,586 yards in 1973).

Harris needs 38 yards to move into a tie for fifth place, 273 yards to move into fourth, 434 yards to move into third, 456 to move into second and 731 to equal Mobley at the top of the list.

So, what's realistic?

Depends on how many games you want to count. Mobley's stats include a bowl game, meaning he played 11 games in his record-breaking season. The others set their marks in 10-game seasons, though Gaynor missed one game in 2001.

If Harris' stats from the season finale against Nature Coast and the playoff opener count (the Bears face Dayton Beach Seabreeze at home in the first round of the playoffs), he'll have a decent shot at passing Brown. But it would take a couple of monumental efforts (or one gargantuan effort) to vault ahead of Green or Gaynor and into third or second all time.

Still, when the player in question has rushed for a county-record 363 yards in a game this year, nothing is out of the question.

From the Meaningless Stat Department ...

With wins over Hernando and River Ridge on Friday, Nature Coast and Central moved their win streaks to eight and seven games, respectively. For those wondering, two Hernando County teams have never enjoyed concurrent win streaks of seven games or longer over a single season.

In fact, only once have two teams had win streaks of six games or longer. In 1996, Central won six in a row while Springstead won seven.

Somebody's win streak will come to an end this week though: the teams play each other Friday night. If Nature Coast wins, it will match the longest single-season win streak in county history (Hernando won nine straight in 1980).

Both teams are hoping their winning continues into the postseason. Nature Coast found out Friday it will face Williston, which finished second in Class 3A, District 5 after losing to North Marion. Central, meanwhile, will play Daytona Beach Seabreeze, which finished second to Merritt Island in Class 4A, District 7. This year will mark the first time in county history that two teams host playoff games in the same year. Central has only hosted one playoff game in its history (in 1995). Nature Coast will be appearing in its first playoff game.

David Murphy can be reached at dmurphy@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1407.

[Last modified October 31, 2006, 01:03:10]