Not much has changed since the last time Lakewood and St. Petersburg met. In fact, it was exactly a year ago when the Spartans defeated the Green Devils 28-3.
Last year, both teams had played two games prior to facing each other. Lakewood lost a close game to Countryside and rebounded with a narrow win over Palmetto. St. Petersburg won both games convincingly over Gibbs and Clearwater.
This year, Lakewood lost a close game to Countryside and rebounded with a narrow win over Palmetto. St. Petersburg won both games over Gibbs and Clearwater.
The Spartans still have quarterback Ryan Davis, who has run and thrown all over the field so far. Receivers Adrian Adams and Sekendric Biddines have also been impressive.
The Green Devils have …well …they have a bunch of players not many people know about. There are no Division I prospects. No players with gaudy offensive or defensive stats. Just a bunch of blue-collar players.
“If you look at our history, we’ve hardly ever had Division I kids here,” St. Petersburg coach Joe Fabrizio said. “We always preach to the kids that we don’t have to worry about getting our name in the headlines. We don’t have those kind of kids. We just do our thing. We’ve beaten some teams with some really good players just by playing together.
“I like being under the radar. You don’t have to worry about the jealousies of kids getting in the paper or the parents. We just do our thing.”
After defeating St. Petersburg, Lakewood went on to play in the Class 5A state semifinals. St. Petersburg went on to win four of its next five games but missed out on the Class 7A playoffs.
Will this year be any different?
St. Petersburg again brings a trio of impressive running backs. Junior Jacquel Waller has 22 carries for 119 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Jarrett O’Connell, more of a power back, and junior Darius Miller have also contributed.
“I was patient last year because I was behind a senior (1,000-yard rusher Deangelo Reaves),” Waller said. “All I could do was work hard behind the scenes and when it came time to perform for my team I had to do it. It’s great this year because we have a really good O-line. They hardly ever miss assignments. They aren’t the biggest offensive line but they fight for us.’’
And then there is sophomore Austyn Causey. A junior varsity quarterback last season, Causey has stepped in ably this season, throwing for 218 yards and three touchdowns in St. Petersburg’s run oriented offense.
“He gets it,” Fabrizio said. “He’s been a quarterback his whole football career. He doesn’t get flustered. He made some mistakes against Clearwater in the beginning, but he settled himself down and did what he had to do.’’
Speaking of quarterbacks, it appears Davis has saved his best season for last. He has already run for 296 yards in two games and has thrown for 263. Last season he threw for 145 yards and two touchdowns against the Green Devils and led the team with 79 yards rushing.
Davis will be a point of emphasis in this game as well.
“You have to keep him contained,” senior free safety Jake Moore said. “They always have athletes, so it’s not like you only have to stop (Davis). But you do have to contain him and be more responsible about what we do.”
Fabrizio isn’t sure it’s possible to completely stop Davis.
“You have to try to force them to win with somebody else,” he said. “Can we match up with Ryan Davis? I don’t know. Not many people have. He’ll get his yards. Just like Michael Jordan is going to get his points. Ryan is going to get his yards.”
There is no Ryan Davis at St. Petersburg, but the team chemistry is on point.
“I think it’s a closer group than we’ve had in the past, and that isn’t to say we’ve had fragmented groups in the past,” Fabrizio said. “But this group has really bought into the ‘All In’ slogan. They do things together outside of football. There’s nobody looking for glory. Let’s just win a football game. Let’s just get to the playoffs.”
Contact Rodney Page at page@tampabay.com. Follow @RodneyHomeTeam.