Justin Kline identifies three area football players who could be crucial to their teams’ success in 2017.
With August just a few days away, national football coverage is getting back into full swing.
Everyone’s making their college and NFL predictions, crafting top-10 lists and crunching last year’s fantasy numbers to find out what could happen this year. On that last note, if you’re like me, you’ve probably set up your 2017 league(s) already and thought about your next round of office pool winnings.
It’s the perfect time to talk about high school football, too.
I’m not trying to go too deep on the topic this week because we have our annual Football Guide hitting the news racks in a few weeks — check it out on August 25 — and I don’t want to publish any spoilers regarding its contents. But I’m so glad to see football coming back that I want to write something about it.
Consider this a clip from the “extras” section of the DVD, if we can get hypothetical for a minute. There are three local football players out there that I think fans should keep an eye on in 2017, as I feel they’re in positions to be of great help their teams.
DURANT
I’ll save the longer explanation for the Football Guide but I think 2017 is going to be a good year for the Durant Cougars and their fans. That’s partly because of its ground attack, which you’ll certainly read much about during the season.
I think, by now, most folks who follow football around East Hillsborough know about Cam Myers. He’s going to lead Durant’s traditionally run-oriented offense and will likely be our area’s most sought-after college prospect. But because Durant’s offense likes to share touches, fans will also see a lot of David Tabakovic in the backfield.
Tabakovic, a fullback, averaged 4.5 yards per carry and scored five touchdowns — the most among Durant running backs outside of the Myers family — in 2016. A powerful runner, Tabakovic should see more touches in 2017 and be a big help to Myers, quarterback Carlton Potter and the rest of the offense as a blocker.
PLANT CITY
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but I’m interested to see how the Plant City Raiders fare under new management. As interested as I am in the offense, though, I’m looking at the Plant City defense this week.
The linebacker factory is still producing some of the best players at the position in Hillsborough County. One guy you should hear a lot about in 2017 is junior James Gordon IV, who led the Raiders with 74 tackles (team-high 33 solo, 41 assisted) and also recorded three sacks in 2016. Gordon has the size, athleticism and toughness to give opposing offenses fits on the field, and I expect him to be the anchor of the defensive unit.
As a bonus for Plant City, Gordon will work with another solid linebacker in fellow junior Ashton Mincey. I’m convinced the linebacker unit won’t be something Raider Nation will have to worry about for at least a few years.
STRAWBERRY CREST
I can’t guarantee that this is the year Ron Hawn’s Strawberry Crest Chargers will finally win a game, but I can tell you who will likely play a big part in the team’s quest to turn things around. That guy will probably be running back Jaquell Narine.
Narine, a sophomore, should be the workhorse of Crest’s offense. He’s a slick runner who, as a self-confessed linebacker at heart, doesn’t fear contact. He played well on the varsity unit after getting called up from junior varsity later in the 2016 season and was the highlight of the team’s offense in the spring jamboree game against Tampa Bay Tech.
The team will look totally different in 2017 — from the uniforms to the roster — and has nowhere to go but up. I wouldn’t be surprised if the offense goes as Narine goes.
