Sickles: Round the County in 30 days

A team-by-team look at Hillsborough County spring football:

By Bryan Burns, Times Correspondent
Published June 1, 2007

Coach: Pat O'Brien (second season, 0-10)

2006 record: 0-10

District opponents: Alonso, Chamberlain, King

Jamboree result: Defeated Alonso 10-0.

Who's gone: TE Matt Johnson, K Daniel Winsey, LB Ricky Farias, DB Daniel Johns

Who's back: QB Cullen O'Brien, RB Josh Mendez, WR A.J. Bose, DB/K Corey Page, OL/DL Mike Mastermaker, OL/DL Taylor Drane, OL/DL Kyle Blum

What's new: O'Brien and Bose split time at quarterback last season, but O'Brien will assume full-time starting duties in the fall. Bose will line up at receiver where he can utilize his height (6-foot-2) and speed (4.7, 40-yard) to stretch the field. ...Mendez returns at running back, he had close to 600 yards as a junior, and will run behind an experienced offensive line that returns four senior starters in Blum, Mastermaker, Chris Calvo and Doug Blake. Blum and Mastermaker, along with Drane, a junior defensive end standout, likely will play both ways for Sickles. Drane has been starting since his freshman year. ...RB/CB James Harrell III moved in from Georgia and will play "anywhere we can put him on the field, " Coach O'Brien said. Harrell, son of Plant defensive coach James Harrell, runs a 4.59 and jumps vertically over 33 inches. ...Sickles will switch to the pistol offense, made popular by the University of Nevada, which lines the tailback behind the quarterback in the shotgun. It employs elements of the spread with read and zone options. The Gryphons will continue playing an over-under package on defense, which O'Brien termed as a high school hybrid of the Buccaneers defense.

Audible: "It was an exciting thing for our players after going through the drought we had last year. It was nice to defeat the defending district champions. We reminded (the team) we won our spring jamboree last year though. They're not taking it lightly." - O'Brien on his team's 10-0 spring game defeat of Alonso

Did you know?: O'Brien's father Dick, who spent the past 11 years as an assistant at Western Carolina, takes over this season as offensive coordinator. Pat's son Cullen, a junior, will quarterback the team.

Schedule: Aug. 31: Leto; Sept. 7: Lennard; Sept. 14: at Tampa Bay Tech; Sept. 21: Wharton; Sept. 28: at Bloomingdale; Oct. 5: Chamberlain; Oct. 12: at Spoto; Oct. 18: at King; Oct. 26: at Blake; Nov. 2: Alonso

Bryan Burns, Times correspondent

[Last modified May 31, 2007, 21:18:05]