At face value, Strawberry Crest’s latest football season hasn’t been one to write home about. The 0-8 record is on everyone’s mind and, with just two chances left to get a win in 2016, the sense of urgency may be greater than ever.
But that doesn’t mean the Chargers have no reason to smile.
The coaching staff and players are taking whatever positives they can get out of this season. Although many of them apply more to the future than the present, no one can accuse this program of not counting its blessings.
“I think we established a process for how we’re doing things,” head coach Ron Hawn says.
Although there have been roster cuts since the season began, the Chargers are dressing more players now than they have before with junior varsity call-ups.
“We dressed 32, 31 (players) the whole year on varsity,” Hawn says. “We tried to keep kids down on JV where we could. We brought kids up at the end of the year, and we’re dressing 59 now. I’m very happy with it.”
Some of these players are producing. Perhaps most notable among the JV call-ups is freshman running back Jaquell Narine, whose play against East Bay Friday, Oct. 21, helped spark the offense for a big second half. Narine, called “Boosie” by his teammates and coaches, says the winless season hasn’t hurt the relationships between himself and his remaining teammates.
“There’s a connection with me and my linemen and my other teammates,” Narine says. “There’s brotherhood. It’s trust, and you’ve got to have trust on a team. If there’s no trust, if you don’t trust your teammates, then you have no team.”
Hawn is pleased with the way some of his year-long varsity players have developed, such as wide receiver Frank Murphy, who caught two touchdown passes against East Bay.
“He’s come from being a kid that caught a couple of passes and didn’t really do anything with it to now being a kid that’s really making a lot of plays,” Hawn says.
Murphy says the biggest positive he’s taken from this season is he and others have learned not to quit.
“We had a lot of people that slacked off or left the team just because we’re not winning,” Murphy says. “Or, they said we’re not good. Really, coach Hawn is putting together a work in progress.”
The head coach is also glad the Chargers have been able to adapt to a big mid-season change. The offensive scheme was switched from a gap scheme to a spread zone, with which Hawn found success while at Tarpon Springs High. The proof is in the details: in just one half against East Bay, Crest scored 21 points — 10 shy of its current season total. Hawn made the switch during the Chargers’ bye week and, while it’s not yet working to perfection, the new offense is working.
“These are things that we’re going to continue to do for the rest of my time here,” Hawn says.
Perhaps most importantly, and most immediately, the culture Hawn wanted to inject into the program seems to be in full effect now. This team may not be the most successful, but the players say they know they’re there because they’re willing to work hard to turn things around.
“I’ve personally improved a lot,” Josh Young says. “I’ve seen that the team morale has improved since Coach Hawn came in … he brings the fire. He’s got a hard work ethic. He inspires all of us.”
VS. BLOOMINGDALE
The Chargers are treating last week’s 34-21 loss as something more than just a loss.
“If there is such a thing as a ‘moral victory,’ that was it,” Hawn says.
Crest’s switch to a spread zone offense seems to be just what the doctor ordered, and it will need the offense to recapture that second-half success against another team that also played its best offensive game against East Bay.
Two weeks ago, the Bloomingdale Bulls hosted the Indians and came away with a 40-34 win. It was the first time the Bulls had scored more than 23 points in 2016, but not the last. On Friday, Oct. 21, Bloomingdale traveled to Lennard and left with a 29-0 win.
The Bulls trampled the Longhorns, rushing for 285 yards and two touchdowns. Seniors D.J. Williams and Jadarrien Quails accounted for most of that total. The defense held Lennard to 28 yards rushing and 125 yards passing, though that came with a 43% completion rate.
Crest does have confidence going into this matchup, and players believe this could be the turning point everyone involved has spent much of the past two years seeking.
“It should happen, in this Bloomingdale game,” Murphy says.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.