East Lake football is this week's winner of the Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.
Photo by Del Mecum
Under Bob Hudson, the Eagles of
East Lake (Tarpon Springs) have enjoyed great football success over the last decade.
But never had they gone undefeated in the regular season.
That all changed Friday when East Lake defeated host St. Petersburg 54-0 to finish 10-0 for the first time in the 27-year history of the program.
The Eagles, who have gone 45-13 since 2009, outgained their opponents 339-97 while recording their fourth shutout of the season, but first since starting the year with three consecutive shutouts.
They've outscored opponents 472-56.
"We set a mission earlier in the year at our summer camp and we are reminding them of that mission daily," said Hudson. "We know that we need to come prepared every week to face our opponent because there are some really good teams in our area. We know we need to come out with our 'A' game or someone could upset you."
For their historic season and defensive prowess, the Eagles are the MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.
Jake Hudson, East Lake
Photo by Del Mecum
"This team is special," senior defensive back
Devin Abraham told
tampabay.com. "We knew from the beginning of the season that we could go 10-0. It's a great feeling."
Senior
Weston Fordham rushed 11 times for 82 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Eagles' offensive attach. Junior quarterbacks
Jake Hudson (6-11-163) and
Brandon Swift each threw for touchdowns.
Artavis Scott had three catches for 83 yards and a score,
George Campbell added three catches for 80 yards and
Tristan Zullo added a TD catch.
Defensively, senior linebacker
Brendan Goettel led the way with 11 tackles, junior
Justin Strnad added 10 and junior
Carson Lydon had eight tackles, three for losses. Lydon,
Hunter Snyder and
Regis Steighner each had sacks and
Noah Vazquez added an interception return for a touchdown.
Hudson was doused with a water bath after the game. "I knew that one was coming," he told the newspaper. "They said ‘Coach, you got your phone?' Hey, it's school history."
The Eagles have been getting great contributions all around on offense all year. The leading rusher is Fordham with 893 yards and 17 touchdowns. Senior Scott (514) and
Drew Couto (425) have also added key yardage.
Hudson has passed for 899 yards and eight touchdowns and just two interceptions. Scott is the leading receiver with 26 catches for 434 yards and four scores.
Campbell is a great deep threat with 18 catches for 473 yards and four touchdowns.
"They prepare really well each week and they practice hard for their opponents," said Hudson. "The defense has been doing a really great job of executing. They take pride in keeping the other team away from the end zone. We felt like we had to get better from last year and our guys are causing big turnovers, which gives our offense more opportunities to score points."
Defensively, Lydon and Goettel lead the way with 95 tackles apiece. Abraham leads the secondary with six interceptions.
East Lake opens regional 7A playoff action Friday against
Palmetto, which is 5-5 after coming off 9-4 and 12-2 seasons.
"We set three goals at the beginning of the season and so far we have reached two," said Hudson. "One — to win a league championship, two — to go undefeated in regular season, which is the first time in our school's history to do that. And three — to win a state championship, and that's what we are shooting for right now."
MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.
