Prep football: Manatee, Southeast again part of Rivalry Series

photo by John Lembo

Manatee and Southeast's game Friday will again be featured in the Great American Rivalry Series presented by the United States Marine Corps.
The 2007 game was also a part of the series.
The winning team will receive the Series championship trophy, and a MVP award will be presnted on a player after the game.
The Series will also award a scholarship to the most deserving student-athlete from each school.
This isn't the first time this season the Hurricanes have had an involvement with the military - Manatee's Week 1 game against Miramar went to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, which is why the Hurricanes wore a sticker pictured above.
Friday's game is schedued for 7:30 p.m. Friday at John Kiker Memorial Stadium.

Prep football: Palmetto's Cory Crawford out for Friday's game

photo by Tim Wolfrum

Palmetto will try to keep its perfect season intact Friday without its best offensive player.
Cory Crawford, who paces the area in rushing, will not play against county rival Lakewood Ranch, coach Dave Marino told Herald sports writer Jason Dill following Tuesday's practice.
A wide receiver, Crawford became the team's top running back after Josh Hicks sustained an ankle injury Week 1 against Riverview. Crawford played the position so well Marino decided to keep Crawford in the backfield and moved Hicks, who rushed for over 1,000 yards last year, to defensive back.
Hicks will see some time at running back Friday, Marino said, but Quincy Washington is expected to get a brunt of the carries.
Crawford rushed for 68 yards on 20 attempts during last week's 9-7 win over Arcadia DeSoto. He has totaled 604 yards on the ground, averaging 11 yards per carry, and has scored four touchdowns.
Palmetto is 4-0 and ranked first in the state in Class 5A.
Lakewood Ranch is 3-1.

Prep football: Week off helps Manatee hop a spot in RivalsHigh 100

photo by John Lembo
Cord Sandberg and the Canes head to Southeast on Friday

Manatee is now the second-best team in the nation, according to the latest RivalsHigh100, which was released this morning.
The Hurricanes were idle last week but hopped from No. 3 to No.2.  River Ridge Louisiana's John Curtis held firm to the poll's top spot.
That means Manatee is ranked no lower than second in four major polls - MaxPreps and USA Today, which rank the Canes first, and ESPN and Rivals, which has them second.
The Hurricanes (3-0) are at Southeast on Friday for the 31st edition of the their rivalry. Manatee hasn't lost to a county team since losing to the Seminoles during the first week of the 2006 season.

Prep football: Blake Keller good to go for Friday

photo by Tom O'Neill

Manatee's bye week came at a good time for Blake Keller.
The senior defensive end suffered bruised ribs after taking hit while playing special teams during Manatee's 44-34 win over Miami Central on Sept. 14.
Keller is back to contact this week and will play Friday when the Hurricanes head to Southeast.
"The bye week, I didn't do anything," he said. "And it just got better with time."
Keller sustained the hit during the third quarter against the Rockets. He left the game and was brought to Blake Medical Center for precautionary reasons.
Keller, who has committed to UCF, leads the team in sacks (2 1/2) and is tied for first in quarterback hurries (three). He also has 16 tackles, second on the team.

Prep football: Manatee, Palmetto still top AP polls

photo by Tiffany Tompkns-Condie

Chris Tuten and the Palmetto Tigers remained undefeated Friday thanks to a 9-7 win over Arcadia DeSoto.


They remained the top-ranked team in Class 5A, too.

Palmetto owns the No.1 spot for the third consecutive week after garnering 16 of a possible 17 first-place votes. Wakulla, ranked third, received the other.

The Tigers are 4-0 and 1-0 in Class 5A-Distrct 10 play. They head to East Manatee county Friday for a non-district game with Lakewood Ranch.

Southeast received seven votes but did not crack the top 10 in 5A.

Manatee, which was idle, is still the top team in Class 7A. The Hurricanes have been on top since beating Jacksonville First Coast last season for the state title.

The Hurricanes were first on 15 ballots. Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer, which  lost to Manatee last year in a state semifinal, received two first-place votes.

Manatee meets host Southeast Friday in the 31st edition of their rivalry.

Prep football: Changes aplenty at Palmetto

photo by John Lembo

Leading the area in rushing after three games, Cory Crawford will remain Palmetto's top tailback.
But that isn't the only change the Tigers have made heading into tonight's district opener against Arcadia DeSoto.
With Crawford at running back, Josh Hicks moves to cornerback. Hicks rushed for over 1,000 yards last season, but has been out since twisting an ankle Week 1 against Riverview.
Crawford, a wide receiver, has rushed for 518 yards in his absence.
"(Hicks) actually brought it to my attention first," coach Dave Marino said of the switch. "He's a great kid, he's an unselfish kid.. I was willing to just have more firepower, but he realizes what it's going to take because it's what I teach them - defense wins championships."
The Tigers lost eight starters on defense from last year's team and moved Stevon Saunders from wide receiver to defensive back prior to the start of this season. They are now doing the same thing with the athletic Hicks.
"Our defense is getting better," Marino said. "And it just got a lot better with him there."
This week also makes the return of backup running back Leon Gilbert, who has been out all year with a hamstring injury, giving Palmetto another weapon on offense.
Marino also said that Chris Tuten has become the team's starting quarterback and Spencer Atkins, who won the job over Tuten over the summer, will move to linebacker.
"He wants to help the team, and we're hurting at linebacker now," Marino said of Atkins. "Spencer said, 'Coach, I've played linebacker before.' So he made the move, so he got all the reps this week at linebacker."
DeSoto runs a Wing-T offense, so Atkins won't start tonight, but he will play, Marino said.
"It's just a tough situation to be in this week, but he'll be on all our special teams and he will play at linebacker (tonight)," Marino said.
Atkins suffered a shoulder injury in Week 1 and Tuten, a sophomore, has started ever since. Atkins came back last week against Braden River, but the job is now Tuten's, Marino said.
"It was tight competition in the spring. Spencer had an edge because he was a senior, he was just an older kid," Marino said. "But Chris has been in our system, so as the composure came, as the experience came when the bullets were flying, he matured very quickly."

Prep baseball: How some of the area's draft picks fared in 2012

photo by Grant Jefferies

ZACK LARSON (Minnesota Twins) - The Lakewood Ranch alum played 15 games with the Twins' Gulf Coast League team in Fort Myers after signing with organization just before the deadline. He hit .250 with two RBIs and three steals and played 11 games in left field, two in right and one in center.




CORRELLE PRIME (Colorado Rockies) - After choosing the Rockies over State College of Florida, Prime was sent to the team's Pioneer League team in Grand Junction, Colo, where he batted .283 in 36 games. Prime, who graduated from Manatee in May, drove in 11 runs, homered once and had an on-base percentage of .377. The ace of the rotation during his days at Manatee, Prime stuck to first base (26 games) and designated hitter (10 games).



J.R. MURPHY (New York Yankees) – The IMG product and Bradenton native hit .231 in 43 games after he was promoted to the Yankees’ Double-A team in Trenton, N.J. Despite his struggles offensively, Murphy showed improvement behind the plate, throwing out 10 of 26 runners (38 percent) at the Double-A level. Murphy, pictured above during a spring training game at McKechnie Field, began the year in Single-A Tampa and hit .257 in 67 games.



SEAN MCADAMS (Baltimore Orioles) – McAdams didn’t venture too far from home while pitching for the Orioles’ GCL team in Sarasota. The Cardinal Mooney grad went 3-0 with a 6.27 ERA in 13 games while striking out 20 and walking 12 in 18 2/3 innings. All of McAdams’ work came in relief.