Welcome to the Midweek Grab Bag. We suggest you pour yourself a nice cool beverage, find a comfortable place to sit, and enjoy a nice bowl of numbers soup.
Grab Bag power rankings
Here are the 20 hottest things in high school football right now.
1. (1) Pinellas County football: Three teams — 2A Indian Rocks Christian, 3A Clearwater Central Catholic and 7A East Lake — ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press state poll? Wow. You know what that means. Right, fellas? STATE TITLE!
2. (2) Armwood’s defense: After 10 straight quarters of scoreless ball, we’re starting to wonder if anyone will score on the Hawks again. Ever.
3. (7) Jeff Smith, Clearwater Central Catholic: If I were picking Tampa Bay’s Player of the Year today, I’d probably pick this guy.
4. (5) Daniel Davis, Tarpon Springs: Davis came back to earth last week, and by earth, we mean he only averaged 14.4 yards every time he touched the ball on offense.
5. (9) Stephon Williams, Calvary Christian: Picking his most ridiculous stat (13.7 yards a carry? 270 yards last week? 30 tackles and a sack? 662 total yards?), is no easy task.
6. (4) Ryan Davis, Lakewood: His passing numbers were down, but he posted his third straight 100-yard game where he averaged more than 10 yards a carry.
7. (11) Malik Davis, Jesuit: The sophomore already has 100 more yards and twice as many touchdowns as he did all of last year.
8. (3) Dwayne Lawson, Hillsborough: Only Armwood has made the Miami commitment look human in two seasons.
9. (8) Garrett Young, Cambridge Christian: Six more total touchdowns. What else is there to say?
10. (13) Jaylen Pickett, Zephyrhills: One week, it’s 260 yards rushing. The next, it’s two interceptions and an 85-yard touchdown reception. Can’t wait to see what Pickett has in store Friday vs. South Sumter.
11. (NR) Tyrie Adams, Dixie Hollins
12. (12) Carson Lydon, East Lake
13. (6) Theo Anderson, Indian Rocks Christian
14. (14) Sunlake defense
15. (18) Dante Satcher, Countryside
16. (NR) Chris Schwarz, River Ridge
17. (15) Todd Sims, Spoto
18. (NR) Erick Davis, Durant
19. (NR) Patrick Brooks, Plant
T20. (NR) Roosevelt Lawrence, Alonso
T20. (16) Diontae Johnson, Lennard
5 things that blow my mind
1. Dunedin coach Matt LePain has a reputation for being a pretty smart defensive coach, and he’s certainly lived up to that reputation this year. He inherited a team that gave up 43 points a game last season, and so far his defense has held Dixie Hollins’ Tyrie Adams — who has passed for 505 and 448 yards since — to 83 yards passing in the season opener, and last week held East Lake to its worst rushing total since 2010. Mind. Blown.
2. Tampa Bay Tech has zero touchdown passes — with Deon Cain playing quarterback and receiver, and receiver Daquon Green out there, too. Just saying.
3. Brandon is averaging 1.9 yards rushing on 80 carries, yet is 2-1 and if not for an overtime loss to Bloomingdale, could be 3-0. The Eagles have recovered eight fumbles and have five interceptions, so that’s one heckuva defense. Derek Cromartie, John Preyer and Dakota Trice are averaging 10-plus tackles a game over there.
4. East Lake only had 57 yards rushing last week on 22 carries. The Eagles have had one of Tampa Bay’s most consistent rushing attacks, but they haven’t been held to such a low total since 2010, when they ran for 31 yards against Nature Coast. But the Eagles won that game, and won last week, and are 10-1 in games in which they rushed for 100 yards or fewer since 2009.
5. Durant. St. Petersburg. Lennard. Sunlake. Combined record: 11-1
Absolutely the craziest stat of the week
Robert Davis of Carrollwood Day set the Hillsborough County career rushing mark two years ago, and Sickles’ Ray Ray McCloud III could break it this season.
But after three games of their sophomore seasons, Davis’ career total was 407 yards while McCloud was at 493.
Jesuit sophomore Malik Davis is at 1,091.
200 club
Maybe all these weather delays are leading to fresher running backs, but check out how many running backs ran for 200-plus last week:
1. Chris Schwarz, River Ridge: 29 carries, 302 yards
2. Billy Werner, Hudson: 27, 282
3. Malik Davis, Jesuit: 36, 273
4. Stephon Williams, Calvary Christian: 15, 270
5. Corey Bennett, Blake: 20, 255
6. Jeff Smith, CCC: 13, 223
7. Willie Parker, Carrollwood Day: 16, 212
8. Shawn O’Gorman, Weeki Wachee: 17, 209
9. Travis Wateska, Seminole: 12, 200 yards
Numbers
13 Solo tackles last week for Mitchell defensive back William Breitfeller, with five of those for a loss of yards. It was an excellent performance for the Mustang senior.
5 Touchdown catches for Land O’Lakes Ethan Weilant on his last eight receptions covering the past two weeks.
3 Ways Zephyrhills’ Jaylen Pickett has scored a TD this season: Rushing, receiving and interception return.
Unsung guys worth noting
Demetrius Powell, Blake: Yeah, we’re not surprised the sacks leader in Tampa Bay is a Yellow Jacket. But we are surprised it’s Powell, with seven, and not Shavar Manuel.
Clay Cullins, Strawberry Crest: He has 22 catches already, for 165 yards.
Keisean Young, Riverview: The Sharks don’t have a single pass completion, but Young, their quarterback, is a very good athlete who ran for 120 yards last week.
Dean Brooks, Weeki Wachee: A 6-3, 270-pound defensive tackle with 17 solo tackles and 35 overall? “A beast,’’ said one Weeki Wachee assistant coach. And consider: 16 of those solo tackles have come the past two weeks against two of the North Suncoast’s better offensive lines at Springstead and Hudson.
Jalynn Williams, Northeast: Looks like one of the most exciting freshmen coming up, already with two interceptions and 164 yards receiving.
Numbers
2 Consecutive 100-yard rushing games for Erick Davis, the first time a Durant quarterback has done that since Je’twan Smith in 2010.
335 Yards rushing this season by Davis, more than the quarterback total from the past two seasons (203) combined.
Young blood
Cambridge has a nice trio of productive freshmen through three weeks — Derrick Powell (two interceptions), Jaylin Jackson (one interception) and Andrew Cunningham (24 rushes, 282 yards, two touchdowns).
Five crazy things about the East Bay Rabbit Feet
1. The Indians beat Alonso 16-15 last week, their second straight one-point win.
2. Four of the last five regular-season wins for East Bay have been by one point.
3. The last eight wins by East Bay over the past two seasons have been by six, eight, six, one, one, three, one and one point. That’s eight wins by a total of 27 points. That’s amazing.
4. East Bay’s regular-season losses in that same span have been by 21, 21, 3 and 32 points.
5. Coach Frank LaRosa was 3-4 in games decided by a touchdown or fewer his first two seasons; he is 8-1 in those games his past two seasons.
Numbers
4 Players on the Berkeley Prep defense who have as many or more tackles for loss than regular tackles — defensive ends Joe Schiano (14 tackles, eight for loss) and Jon Turkel (16 tackles, eight for loss) and defensive tackles Grant Watson (10 tackles, six for loss) and Bo Peek (nine tackles, five for loss).
5 things about the Hudson rushing attack
1. Grayson Stover, Chris Campos, Corey Molina, Matt Shoun and Kameron Dewitt do the blocking. I will now stand and applaud them for last week’s effort.
2. The Cobras ran for 470 yards against Weeki Wachee, which we think is a school record.
3. The Cobras rushed the ball 55 times last week, which we also think is a school record.
4. Billy Werner had only two carries last season, but Friday night ran 27 times for 282 yards to lead the Cobras, while quarterback Joey Caruso added 106 yards.
5. The last time the Cobras ran for at least 350 yards? Last year against Weeki Wachee, giving Hudson 822 yards on 101 carries in two games against the Hornets.
Patience is a virtue
Alonso’s Chris Oladokun is off to a slow start, which is not good news for the Ravens.
Or is it?
Through three games this season, Oladokun is only 27-for-77 (35 percent) for 413 yards and two touchdowns.
But last year, Oladokun was 18-for-52 (34.6 percent) for 251 yards and one touchdown, and how did that end?
Like this: last seven games, 87-for-167 (52 percent) for 1,752 yards (250 yards a game) and 19 touchdowns.
Numbers
194.7 NCAA quarterback rating for Plant’s Rex Culpepper the past two weeks.
History lesson
St. Petersburg’s Darius Miller had three catches for 114 yards, the first time a Green Devil receiver went over 100 yards since David Jones vs. Seminole on Oct. 21, 2011.
Contact John C. Cotey at cotey@tampabay.com. Follow @JohnnyHomeTeam.