Prep football: No plans yet to televise Bosco-Manatee game

It doesn't appear that Manatee's game against New Jersey powerhouse Don Bosco Prep, scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16 as part of the Manatee Memorial Hospital Suncoast Challenge at Hawkins Stadium, will be shown on television.

"We had ESPN for both games, but the problem was they wanted to televise it at 5 and 8:30 (p.m.)," said Ken Halloy, president of Halloy Boy Sports Marketing, which is running the event. "Five was too early, and it was non-negotiable."

Halloy said there is a possibility of switching the Manatee-Bosco game to 8:30 p.m., and televising it.

But as of now, the times appear to be static, with Tampa Plant and Bergen Catholic, another Jersey team, set to follow Manatee-Bosco at 8:30 p.m.

"We're just so tight on crunch time right now," Halloy said following Thursday morning's press conference at Manatee Memorial Hospital. "We've got all these people traveling from New Jersey, and you don't want to disrupt their schedule. I think we're going to hold pat right now."

Halloy said Bright House Sports Network has expressed interest in broadcasting the games locally.

"We'll sit down and go over all the options. Manatee was going to be on ESPN, the second game was going to be on ESPN 2," Halloy said. "We just thought 5 o'clock, for people to get to the stadium, was just too early."

Prep football: Sept. 16 doubleheader at Hawkins has a name

(nj.com)

The doubeleader scheduled for Friday, Sept. 16 at Hawkins Stadium has a name - The Manatee Memorial Hospital Suncoast Challenge.

Manatee faces Don Bosco Prep (N.J.) and its coach, Greg Toal (above), at 6 p.m.

Another Jersey team, Bergen Catholic, faces Tampa Plant at 8:30 p.m.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 the day of the game, and discount opportunities will be announced soon.

All four coaches will be together for a press conference 11 a.m. Thursday in the Tower Lobby of Manatee Memorial Hospital, 206 Second St. East in Bradenton.

Prep football: Times set for doubleheader at Hawkins Stadium

The times for the Sept. 16 doubleheader at Hawkins Stadium have been set.

Manatee will play New Jersey's Don Bosco Prep at 6 p.m. and Tampa Plant will face another Jersey team, Bergen Catholic, at 8:30 p.m.

Why are the homestanding Hurriances playing first?

"8:30 is past my bedtime," Canes coach Joe Kinnan said with a laugh.

The times may slide to later slots if the games land on television, Kinnan said.

That end of it is being handled by Halloy Boy Sports Marketing, which helped coordinate last year's Rally at The Wolvarena, a four-game showcase in Pennsylvania that featured Manatee.

Based out of Ramsey, the Bosco Prep Ironmen will begin the season ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps. They have won 35 straight games, 80 of 84 and five straight state titles.

"And with all that, this should be their crowning jewel," writes MaxPreps' Stephen Spiewak, "quite possibly their best team ever."

Spiewak writes the Ironmen, who return 14 starters, will be "next to impossible to pass on," so it will be interesting to watch them go up against Canes' quarterback Cord Sandberg.

Bosco's defense is anchored by cornerback Yuri Wright, ranked 40th on ESPNU's list of the top 150 players for the Class of 2012, and defensive end Darius Hamilton, who ESPNU ranks 67th.

Prep football: Doubleheader heading to Hawkins Stadium

A year after playing out of state for the first time in program history, Manatee's football team is playing host to a similar event this fall.
The Hurricanes host Don Bosco Prep, a national powerhouse out of New Jersey, on Friday, Sept. 16. After that game winds down, another Jersey heavyweight, Bergen Catholic, will face either Tampa Plant or Cocoa.
Kickoff is tentatively slated for 6 p.m. for the first game and around 9:15 p.m. for the second one, said Hurricanes head coach Joe Kinnan.
"If you want to be nationally ranked, you've got to play teams outside the state," Kinnan said. "That's what it comes down to."
Halloy Boy Sports Marketing is running the event, and the plan for is for the four teams to meet again in New York City in 2012.
Manatee became acquainted with Halloy Boy last fall, when the Canes' opened the 2010 season during a four-game, one-day affair in Woodland Hills, Pa.
Kinnan said whatever money made this season will be rolled over to finance next year's doubleheader, meaning none of the teams involved will make or lose any money.
"But it will be a great experience for the kids," Kinnan said.
The Bosco Prep Ironmen went 12-0 last season - defeating Bergen Catholic to win their fifth straight state title - and have won 35 straight games. They finished the year ranked seventh in the USA Today Super 25 and sixth in the RivalsHigh top 100.
The Canes were ranked 32nd by Rivals.
Bergen Catholic went 10-2 last year, losing both games to Bosco, and finished 59th in Rivals' rankings.
Cocoa won the Class 2A state title and finished 29th last year, while Tampa Plant reached the Class 5A state final.
As for the Hurricanes, their schedule will be full of challenges. The Canes open the season in Olney, Md. against Our Lady of Good Counsel, ranked 83rd by Rivals. Then comes Riverview, Bosco and Southeast.
"We're going to have a muderous first four games," Kinnan said, adding this schedule may be the team's most difficult.
In Week 7, the Canes host Class 6A state semifinalist Cypress Bay.
"We're going to see a lot of new people on our schedule, people we haven't seen before," said Kinnan, whose Canes have reached the state semifinals in four of the past six seasons. "It's going to be exciting."

Manatee plummets in ESPNRise

Manatee's loss to Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday dropped the Hurricanes 30 spots in the ESPNRise rankings.

Slotted at No.2 for most of the fall, the Hurricanes are now 32. The Raiders, who defeated Manatee 31-7 in a Class 5A state semifinal and play for the state title Friday against defending champion Tampa Plant, are second, jetting up three spots.

Plant, which lost to Manatee in a preseason Kickoff Classic broadcast live on ESPN, is 47th after entering the week unranked. The Panthers rolled through Lakeland, 48-6, in Friday's other semifinal and are looking for their third straight state championship and fourth in five years.