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Catch them if you can

Jefferson has no need for a red-zone offense thanks to an abundance of team speed that leads to long scoring plays.

By SCOTT PURKS
© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 29, 2001

TAMPA -- You can feel it when you watch Jefferson play. It's like water against a weakening dam. At some point, the Dragons' speed is going to break the opponent down, and then ... well, then it's on.

It happened last week in a third-round playoff game against Lake Gibson. At halftime, Jefferson led 7-3. But in the next 24 minutes, the Dragons scored touchdowns on plays of 37, 35, 57 and 40 yards. They also had runs of 73, 30 and 32 yards.

Add it up and it was a Dragons blowout, 37-17, a victory that put them in Friday night's Class 4A semifinal against unbeaten St. Thomas Aquinas.

Could it be more of the same? Why not?

Twenty-seven times this season, the Dragons scored on plays of 25 yards or longer: runs, passes, kick returns, punt returns, interceptions and fumble recoveries.

"Yep, they have a lot of weapons to choose from," Lake Gibson coach Dane Damron said. "Their speed, well, you can just say they have a lot of speed."

The players' 40-yard dash times haven't been documented, but Jefferson coaches say the fastest is wideout Andre Caldwell, followed by running back Rashaun Grant, then Josh Balloon, Jeremy Burnett, Jeff Duncan, Javan Williams, Kevin Peoples, and ...

"You could make a pretty long list," Jefferson quarterbacks/speed and conditioning coach Brian Woods said. "But the thing is our speed isn't just with those really fast guys, but with our entire team.

"Our lineman are pretty darned quick. I'd say we have great speed across the board."

Part of the reason is natural talent, but part must also be attributed to hard work.

During the summer, Jefferson players, including linemen, voluntarily followed a speed-improvement regimen. It involved about two months of pulling sleds, running down hills, plyometrics (jumping and bounding), running stadium steps, sprint workouts and lifting weights.

Grant came away from it a devout believer.

"I can feel it during a game sometimes, that little extra burst of speed," Grant said. "I'm definitely faster than I was last year, and I have more endurance. I can keep that speed up the whole game."

Then he noted that speed alone isn't enough.

"Sure, it gives you a little confidence knowing that your team is faster than the other one," he said. "But you still have to play hard and execute. You can't just win games because you're fast.

"This is football, not track."

Speaking of track, it might be worth taking note of the Dragons' sprinters. Some of them are likely to show up in this week's football scoring summary with big numbers next to their names.

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