Prep football: Manatee's Willie Smith done for the year

photo by Grant Jefferies

Manatee defensive back Willie Smith is done for the season after being diagnosed with a torn ligament in a knee.
A senior who has committed to Florida International, Smith suffered the injury Friday against Venice and had an MRI taken Wednesday.
"All I can do is just stay here and be here for my team off the field," Smith said Wednesday after watching his teammates prepare for Friday's Class 7A-Region 3 title game againt Fort Pierce Central. "Just do what I can for my team from the sideline."
Smith, who will undergo surgery next week, hopes to report to FIU at 100 percent.
"If not, redshirt," he said, "or do whatever I've got to do."
Smith leads the Hurricanes with four interceptions this season. He also missed two games during the regular season with a hamstring injury.

Prep football: Manatee's Trevon Walters ready for Friday

photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie

Manatee's leading rusher will be back for Friday's regional final.
Trevon Walters, who twisted his ankle during the first round of the Class 7A playoffs and didn't play last week against Venice, will be in the backfield when the Hurricanens head to Fort Pierce Central for the Region 3 championship game.
"He's good," coach Joe Kinnan said. "He practiced (Tuesday)...looks good. He'll be 100 percent by Friday."
A junior, Walters has rushed for 945 yards and has scored 16 touchdowns this year for Manatee. He was in uniform Friday but didn't play in Manatee's 56-7 win.
In his place was freshman Johnnie Lang, who rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, a performance that may have earned him more playing time this postseason.
"It's good to have two guys that, right now, we have a lot of confidence in," Kinnan said. "(Lang)'s gotten better and better, and that makes both of them better. Competition. Nothing wrong with competition."

Prep football: Who's having more fun than Joe Kinnan?

photo by John Lembo
Joe Kinnan's Hurricanes look to run their winning streak to 24 Friday night against Venice in a Region 3 semifinal

If you think Joe Kinnan is enjoying Manatee's recent golden age, you're right.
Yes, that was Manatee's head coach arguing vehemently during last Friday's Class 7A-Region 3 playoff opener when his Hurricanes were flagged with a procedure penalty during a win over St. Petersburg Northeast.
But Manatee's venerable head coach doesn't have much to complain about these days. And it shows.
This is a kindler, gentler Joe Kinnan, one who routinely cracks a smile during practice and encouraged his team to stay for the girls soccer match following Tuesday's workout.
"We're undefeated. How can you not enjoy (it)?", said Kinnan, whose Canes host Venice on Friday in a Region 3 semifinal. "We've got great leadership, we've got a great group of kids. They're fun to be around, they have a good time, they enjoy playing and practicing...so that's good."
Good enough for Kinnan to return next season?
"I always go year to year," he said. "I always evaluate at the end of the year."
Not that this season isn't worth his attention. Manatee is 11-0 and has won 23 straight games. The Hurricanes have scored 567 points this season and are ranked No.1 nationally by ESPN, MaxPreps and USA Today.
Friday they meet the Indians, they're District 10 foes, in the second round of the playoffs for the third straight year. Manatee won the last two postseason games and has won the teams' last five meetings overall.
"I'm sure they're going to onside kick and run every trick they play they've got in their back pocket, and run their options, which they did a good job of before and we didn't defend real well," Kinnan said. "Defensively, they're going to give us a few different looks...they've showed several different fronts in the last two game films.
"So we'll just have to wait and see. We'll just have to recognize what they do, go out and go get 'em."
The winner meets either Fort Pierce Central or Stuart Martin County on Nov. 30 for the Region 3 championship and a berth in the final four.

Prep soccer: Nike Thanksgiving High School Soccer Tournament begins Monday

photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie

The 2012 Nike Thanksgiving High School Soccer Tournament runs Monday through Wednesday at the Premier Sports Complex in Lakewood Ranch.
Braden River and Palmetto will compete in the boys and girls divisions and Lakewood Ranch and Manatee will send boys teams.
Listed below are the groups, as well as pairings involving area teams.

GIRLS
GROUP A - Braden River, Clearwater Central Catholic, Clearwater, Tampa Wharton; GROUP B - Palmetto, Tampa Catholic, East Lake, Flagler Palm Coast; GROUP C - Seminole, Tampa Plant, Tampa Leto, Auburndale.
BOYS
GROUP A - Tampa Jesuit, Seminole, Riverview, Tampa Leto; GROUP B - Lakewood Ranch, Clearwater Central Catholic, East Lake, Tampa King; GROUP C - Manatee, Cape Coral Mariner, Palm Harbor, Auburndale; GROUP D - Braden River, Palmetto, Clearwater, Countryside.

LOCAL PAIRINGS
MONDAY
GIRLSEast Lake vs. Palmetto, 9 a.m. Field 1
Clearwater vs. Braden River, 4 p.m., Field 1
BOYS
Braden River vs. Countryside, 9 a.m., Field 2
East Lake vs. Lakewood Ranch, 2 p.m., Field 2
Clearwater vs. Palmetto, 2 p.m., Field 3
Cape Coral Mariner vs. Manatee, 6 p.m., Field 3

TUESDAY
GIRLS
Flagler Palm Coast vs. Palmetto, 2 p.m., Field 2
Braden River vs. Clearwater Central Catholic, 6 p.m., Field 1
Tampa Catholic vs. Palmetto, 6 p.m., Field 2
Tampa Wharton vs. Braden  River, 2 p.m., Field 1
BOYS
Manatee vs. Auburndale, 9 a.m., Field 1
Palmetto vs. Coutryside, 9 a.m., Field 2
Clearwater vs. Braden River, 11 a.m., Field 2
Lakewood Ranch vs. Tampa King, 11 a.m., Field 3
Manatee vs. Palm Harbor, 2 p.m., Field 3
Braden River vs. Palmetto, 8 p.m., Field 1

WEDNESDAY
GIRLS
Group A winner vs. Group C winner, 2 p.m., Field 1
Group B winner vs. Wild card (based on points), 4 p.m., Field 1
BOYS
Group A runner-up vs. Group C runner-up, 2 p.m., Field 2
Group B runner-up vs. Group D runner-up, 2 p.m., Field 3
Group A winner vs. Group B winner, 4 p.m., Field 2
Group C winner vs. Group D winner, 4 p.m., Field 3

Prep football: Looking back on Manatee's perfect regular seasons

Manatee opens the Class 7A-Region 3 playoffs at home tonight against St. Petersburg Northeast, and the Hurricanes will be doing so on the heels of a perfect regular season, their fifth under coach Joe Kinnan.
Will it result in a state title?
Time will tell.
Here is a rundown of Manatee's other undefeated teams and how some of them fared in the postseason.
(A big thank you for to Herald assistant sports editor Tad Reeve and his incredibly well-researched book, 1989's Manatee Magic.)

1915, 9-0: Long before Kinnan roamed the sideline and the likes of Tommie Frazier and Cord Sandberg ran the offense, there were the Manatee Maroons, and they were good. Crazy good. Coached by Julian C. Howard, a science teacher who brought football to Manatee in 1914, the Maroons not only won every game, they didn't allow a point. The Maroons featured 13 players and played six teams - Plant City, St. Petersburg and Tampa appeared on the schedule twice - including Palmetto. Manatee closed the season with a 10-0 win over Gainesville in what was considered the mythical state championship game - the Florida High School Athletic Association didn't start officially crowning state champs until 1963.
1955, 9-0-1: Consider this Manatee's first real golden age. Led by Wheeler Leeth, Manatee won the last two games of the '54 season before winning the Western Conference championship in '55. The season began with a 13-0 win over Tampa Plant, which had defeated the Canes in 13 of the previous 14 games. It was key win - Plant went 6-1 in the conference, Manatee went 7-0 to clinch the title. Leading the way was  halfback George Henderson, who needed just 104 carries to total 907 yards and score 15 touchdowns, while Donald "Duck" Lewis, who weighed 225 pounds, anchored the offensive line. Manatee's only stumble was a 19-19 tie against Fort Myers in Week 7.
1956, 8-0-2: Leeth and his boys continued their roll, splitting the conference championship with Tampa Hillsborough after the teams played to 6-6 tie. Henderson had another big year, rushing for more yards in '56 (945) despite having fewer attempts (96) than he did the year before. He scored 18 touchdowns and added 10 extra points, giving him 118 points on the season. Manatee, which also played Tampa Plant to a draw, ran its winning streak to 24 before losing to Plant during the third game of the '57 season.
1983, 14-0: With all due respect to the 1915 Maroons, the '83 edition may be the best in school history. What's undisputed is these Hurricanes brought the school its first official state championship after scoring a 27-21 over Miami Southride in the Class 4A title game. With Kinnan on the sideline for the third year, the Hurricanes scored four shutouts, including three straight against Seminole, Orlando Park Ridge and Northeast, and were quarterbacked by Tracy Sanders, who now coaches Manatee's defensive backs. Of Kinnan's five undefeated regular seasons, this was the only one that resulted in a state championship.
1984, 12-0: The Hurricanes' defense of their first official state championship got off to a promising start. Manatee rolled in the regular season, scoring blowouts over everyone but Riverview (21-17), winning by an average of 33 points and climbing to No.1 in the state and No.3 in the country. The Canes opened the playoffs with a 42-14 Tampa Chamberlain, but were stunned in the sectional playoffs to Lakeland, which scored a 19-14 win. The game was later awarded to Manatee via a forfeit, but it didn't prevent Hurricanes fans from wondering what might have been.
1990, 12-1: A year after winning the program's third state title in seven years, the Hurricanes looked unstoppable heading into the Class 5A playoffs and were ranked ninth by USA Today prior to a state semifinal at Fort Walton Beach Choctawhatchee. But the Indians were too much for the Hurricanes, scoring a 35-14 win and putting an abrupt end to the Canes' 20-game winning streak. Manatee ran up 406 yards of offense but trailed 21-0 at the half, as the Indians needed 39 carries to run for 252 yards. The Hurricanes won another state title two years later, but wouldn't have another defeated season for 20 years.
2010, 13-1: Manatee jumped back into the national conversation in 2009 after beating Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, considered the best team in the nation, in a Class 5A state semifinal, and the Hurricanes kept the momentum flowing the following fall. Led by Sandberg, then a sophomore, Manatee rolled to its first district title in four years and its fourth regional title in six years. But this team was hit hard with injuries. Running back Mike Blakely struggled with ankle injuries during most of the second half of the season, and defensive linemen Drakkar Wilson and Quinton Pompey suffered knee injuries on consecutive series during a first-round playoff game against Northeast. Both underwent surgery, but Pompey never returned. The Hurricanes met Aquinas again in the semifinals, but things didn't go as well as they did the year before - the Raiders cruised, 31-7, and beat Tampa Plant the following week to win the 5A title. Manatee hasn't lost to a Florida school since.

Prep wrestling: Williford is first Palmetto Tiger to earn scholarship



photo by John Lembo
Tyler Williford made history Wednesday inside Palmetto's auditorium

 Chalk up another first for Palmetto's wrestling team.
Senior Tyler Williford signed a letter-of-intent Wednesday with the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, making him the first Tigers wrestler to earn a scholarship.
Williford said he will earn a major scholarship from the Divsion II school.
The Tigers began fielding a wrestling team in 2005.
"It's pretty exciting," Williford said Wednesday before signing his letter inside Palmetto's auditorium while about two dozen relatives, friends and teammates watched.
Williford caught the Braves attention while Palmetto was competing in the Disney Duals over the summer.
"This all happened in about three months," said Bryan Wilkes, who has coached Palmetto's program since it began. "We're hoping this starts a good relationship with UNC Pembroke."
An Ellenton resident, Williford began wrestling eight years ago with the Manatee Kids Wrestling Club and has been on Palmetto's varsity team since freshman year.
He was 25-9 last season wrestling at 152 and 160 pounds and came within a victory of reaching the Class 2A state tournament.
The Braves finished third last season at the NCAA Division II national championships and began this season ranked 12th in the nation.
"We were talking to a lot of people and getting my name out there and stuff," Williford said. "But this is the one where we actually made full contact and talked. It's real nice - me and my coach talked about getting this done early so I could focus on school and wrestling and stuff, and didn't have to worry about where I was going."
While Wednesday was a big day for Williford, it served as another step in the right direction for Palmetto's wrestling program.
"The other kids see there is opportunity now," Wilkes said. "This is the first time that I have kids asking me, 'Hey coach, do you think I can get a scholarship?'"

Prep basketball: Smaller field set for Willie Clemons Classic

photo by Grant Jefferies
Southeast coach John Harder hosts the 9th Annual Wille Clemons Classic, beginning Dec. 26.

The 9th Annual Willie Clemons Classic will be smaller than in years past, with eight teams slated to take part in the three-day girls basketball tournament that runs from Dec. 26-28 at Southeast.
The field used to feature 16 teams.
Listed below are the first-round pairings. Local teams are listed in bold.

Venice vs. Gulfport Boca Ciega, 2 p.m.
Riverview vs. Seminole, 3:30 p.m.
Lakewood Ranch vs. Tampa Sickles, 5 p.m.
Lakeland Kathleen vs. Southeast, 6:30 p.m.

The semifinals are scheduled for 5 p.m. and 6:30 on Dec. 27, and the championship game will be played 6:30 on Dec. 28.
The consolation final will be played 3:30 p.m. on the 28th.