Florida: Volusia County Football Preview

The 2009 football season opens with a few Volusia County juggernauts looking to build on great 2008 campaigns. The best of the bunch appears to be Daytona Beach Mainland, the alma mater of pro basketball star Vince Carter. Mainland reached the Class 5A regional semifinals in 2008 before dropping a 21-20 game to Orange Park. This year the team moves to Class 6A-2, where it will face some of the county’s best big-school teams.

In their spring game, the Buccaneers defeated reigning 2008 Class 3A state champion Cocoa 53-39. Marlin Lane Jr. played a key role in the spring win. He ran for 168 yards and a trio of touchdowns on 15 carries against Cocoa. Lane has been playing varsity football since he was a freshman at Lighthouse Christian in DeLand. Senior O.J. Ross also figures into the Bucs’ offense. Ross scored four times against Cocoa. His touchdowns included an 80-yard pass reception from junior Austin Parker and a 54-yard punt return. Ross also runs the ball.

Mainland returns most of its starters on defense, and the team added some key pieces with the addition of junior Austin Parker, a quarterback who transferred to the school from Tampa Plant, and Brendan Glaze, a defensive back who also transferred from Plant. The team landed a kicker when Jonathan Linkenheimer transferred from Bartram Trail, and added depth with the addition of Telvin Hooks, a running back who played well as a freshman for New Smyrna Beach two years ago. Hooks suffered a season-ending knee injury prior to the 2008 season and missed the entire year. Other key returners include Ricardo Allen, who is receiving interest from Division I colleges, and seniors Markus Arline and Kenneth Kirksey.

South Daytona Warner Christian also looks to the 2009 season with high aspirations. The team returns most of its starters after reaching the Class 1B state finals during a 12-2 season in 2008. Warner lost that championship game 49-14. The team’s key offensive player is Breon Allen, a junior running back who rushed for 1,314 yards and 15 touchdowns last year. Allen, who also caught 14 passes for 403 yards and five touchdowns in 2008, works alongside Eagles’ quarterback Shelton Willis, who started as a freshman last season. The Orlando Sentinel reported on Aug. 11 that Willis bulked up, adding 20 more pounds to his 6-2 frame. Warner also added transfer LB Eric Baker and DE Mario Garcia. Both defenders played at Mainland last season. The Eagles also added a quarterback transfer from Spruce Creek.

Daytona Beach Seabreeze also enters camp this August with high hopes. The Sandcrabs reached the Class 4A state semifinals last season before falling to perennial power Tallahassee Lincoln in a 30-12 game. Seabreeze, which finished the 2008 season with an 8-5 mark, opens camp with senior quarterback Matt Thompson ready to make up for lost time. Thompson sat for most of the 2008 season with a broken ankle. In July he impressed other Central Florida coaches with a prolific passing day at the River City Shootout hosted by DeLand High School. Senior Dominique Roberts also returns for Seabreeze this fall. Roberts impressed many when he filled in for most of the season at quarterback and earned Class 4A all-state honors for his effort. This season, he’ll return to his usual role as a multi-purpose weapon on offense, but opponents must watch him in the passing game, too. He gives the Sandcrabs an opportunity to utilize the halfback pass and other unconventional plays. Joining the Seabreeze rally this fall is Devonte Mack, a talented receiver who transferred from Port Orange’s Spruce Creek High School. Mack showed the ability to catch the ball in all parts of the field last season for the Hawks, and he churns up plenty yards after the catch, too.

The DeLand Bulldogs also look to build on a successful 2008 season. After going winless in 2007, new head coach Kevin Pettis led DeLand back to the playoffs in 2008. The Bulldogs lost in the regional quarterfinals, but that 38-12 loss was to Sanford Seminole, a team that went onto claim the Class 6A state championship four weeks later.

The Bulldogs lost 49-21 to Apopka in their spring game, but most of the off-season talk was about Pettis, whose team violated an FHSAA rule because he had contact with Shontrelle Johnson, who played for Crescent City last season. Johnson, a senior, is a talented running back. Johnson transferred to DeLand in January 2009 after speaking with Pettis, and the Bulldogs remain eligible for the postseason.

Johnson, who committed to Northwestern University, joins a backfield already featuring Deante Saunders, who excelled at running back as a freshman and sophomore in 2007 and 2008. The Bulldogs also return Drammon Grady, who caught three passes for 71 yards in the team’s spring game, and most of the offensive line, which includes junior Trey Pettis. Grady committed in July to Memphis. Meanwhile, the defense features strong safety Mark Joyce, who committed to South Florida in July. Joyce mostly played on the defensive side of the ball in 2008, but Pettis plans to use him on offense, too.

Deltona Pine Ridge starts the fall with a lot of holes to fill following the school’s record-setting 9-2 season in 2008 season, which included a trip to the Class 5A regional quarterfinals. Head coach Robert Braucht left for a better-paying job in Georgia, and the team’s two leading rushers, including quarterback Ben DeLaCruz, graduated. Most definitely, there is work to be done in Panther country. After all, the team moves up to Class 6A this year, which puts it into a district with rivals DeLand and Deltona. The person under pressure is new head coach Thomas Balkcom. Meanwhile, cross-city rival Deltona High begins 2009 looking to improve on last year’s 5-5 season.

Private school Deltona Trinity Christian also begins the year with a big hole to fill. Senior Alex McGriff transferred to Sanford Seminole, leaving last year’s 6-5 regional semifinals team looking for offense. McGriff, who committed to Mississippi over the summer, rushed for 1,032 yards and 11 touchdowns last season for the Eagles. Another private 1B school, Calvary Christian, hopes to build on last year’s 7-3 record.

Spruce Creek, like Pine Ridge, has a new coach. Tommy Moody resigned in early July, and he was replaced by Bob Goebel, who has a limited coaching history. Goebel is 10-37 in five seasons. Volusia County’s other schools, Taylor, New Smyrna Beach, Lighthouse Christian, Father Lopez, Calvary and Port Orange Atlantic, are looking to improve on their losing records in 2008.