SMQ Player of the Week: Dillon O’Toole, River Ridge
Since getting hired at his alma mater in 2011, River Ridge coach Ryan Benjamin has spent a lot of time thinking about beating Land O’Lakes. He even bought a trophy — a gator mouth embedded on a black marble plaque — to give to the game MVP the day that victory came.
By the time it did Friday night, the trophy had accumulated some age. In fact, when he finally was able to hand it to O’Toole, it still had dust and cobwebs on it. That didn’t seem to bother the senior linebacker, who registered three sacks (he had two all of last year) in the 21-14 victory over Land O’Lakes.
“Dillon, he’s a beast, he’s an animal,’’ said Benjamin, who as a player was 3-0 against the Gators and played on the last River Ridge team to beat them back in 1996. “He looks intimidating, he plays intimidating. We’re glad he’s on our defense.”
Team of the Week: Lennard
When coach Keith Chattin told us in the spring that C.C. Culpepper, who performed a miracle at Tampa Bay Tech as head coach, was his new defensive coordinator, we thought hmmmmm.
When we were told that freshman quarterback Devin Black was going to be an impact player his first year in high school, we scratched our chins.
And when Lennard dominated St. Petersburg Catholic in the preseason classic, we were intrigued.
Friday night, we were just impressed.
Coach of the Week: Blake Engelhardt, Keswick Christian
Engelhardt had to wait 17 months after being hired to get his first career win. A former Crusader quarterback — he holds the school record for passing yards in a season with 2,058 — Engelhardt had to make due with a small roster in a rebuilding year in 2013, with the team suffering through an 0-10 season and getting outscored 450-121. Friday night, though, the Crusaders snapped a 15-game losing streak with a 22-20 win over Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic.
Chasing history
Sickles running back Ray Ray McCloud III scored on a pair of long touchdown runs and unofficially ran for 174 yards in the season-opening win over Robinson, passing 4,000 yards for his career.
McCloud entered Friday night with 3,832 career yards, 1,744 yards shy of the record held by Carrollwood Day’s Robert Smith, who finished his career with 5,576.
In his performance against Robinson, McCloud passed former Jesuit and Georgia Tech standout Will Glover (3,865, eighth on the county’s all-time list).
Next up: No. 7 Zain Gilmore, who rushed for 4,158 yards at Robinson.
1. Robert Davis, Carrollwood Day, 5576 yards
2. Avious Steadman, Riverview, 5,320
3. Lydell Ross, Gaither, 5,120
4. Kalvin Bailey Armwood, 4,841
5. Kwane Doster, Robinson, 4,617
6. Earl Reeves, Tampa Catholic, 4,591
7. Zain Gilmore, Robinson, 4158
8. Ray Ray McCloud, Sickles 4,006
9. Will Glover, Jesuit, 3,865
Streaking
Sunlake beat Pasco in the season opener for the second straight year. Last season’s victory snapped the Pirates’ 44-game win streak against Pasco County opponents that dated to 2007. Friday’s win marked the first time Pasco had lost to the same opponent in consecutive seasons since it fell to rival Zephyrhills in 2006 and ‘07.
On a roll
Countryside’s Dante Satcher finished last season by rushing for more than 100 yards in each of his last two games. That momentum has carried over with 147 yards in last week’s preseason game against Clearwater Central Catholic, followed by a career-best 287 yards in Friday’s season-opening 25-20 victory over Lakewood.
Five teams better than we thought
1. Sunlake
2. Gulf
3. Clearwater
4. Gaither
5. St. Petersburg
Numbers to know
2 Teams that were 1-19 the past two seasons that won Friday: Lennard and Keswick Christian
4 Touchdowns for St. Petersburg quarterback Austyn Causey in his varsity debut
10 Receptions by Lakewood wide receiver Adrian Adams, who had 111 yards a touchdown in Lakewood’s loss
11 Passes dropped that were thrown by Robinson quarterback Malik Tyson, according to coaches. Still, in his varsity debut, Davis was 16-for-39 for 210 yards, with two touchdowns called back
15 Straight times Land O’Lakes had beaten River Ridge coming into the 2014 season. There aren’t many series more lopsided than this one. The Royal Knights hadn’t beaten the Gators since a 30-21 win in 1996.
19 Combined passes in 21 attempts completed in the first half by quarterbacks Jeff Smith of Clearwater Central Catholic and Brad Mayes or Berkeley Prep
100 Percentage of Dunedin receiver Janiero Crankfield’s two receptions that went for touchdowns ...and also the yards he finished with ..and also the percentage of his blocks that wowed his coaches
149 Yards rushing by Jesuit sophomore running back Malik Davis, to go with four touchdowns
313 Total yards, of Countryside’s 484, gained by running back Dante Satcher