Pace football is this week's winner of the Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.
Photo by Tina Lovett
It was a rough start of the football season for coach Mickey Lindsey and his
Pace Patriots.
They lost their first three and four out of five, but have rallied nicely to win four straight, including a wild 56-42 triumph over visiting Escambia on Friday.
Led by the state's leading rusher
Quaide Weimerskirch, the Patriots piled up 601 yards of offense while improving to 5-4. Pace outscored Excambia 35-7 in the middle quarters to take control.
For the victory and its perseverance throughout the season, Pace has been selected the MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.
"We knew that it was a big district game and that if the other team won, they would clinch," said Lindsey. "The players knew what was at stake and knew that they needed to fight. We had the best week of practice we've had all year leading up to that game. I could see the intensity and concentration in their eyes. They were focused the whole week."
Weimerskirch broke loose for a remarkable 451 yards on 42 carries and seven touchdowns. He now has a state-leading 1,958 yards on a state-most 301 carries and 24 touchdowns.
He had four other games of more than 200 yards, including a 292-yard, five-touchdown game in a 46-0 win over Washington.
"Quaide is a great character kid. He has this tremendous work ethic and God-given talent," said Lindsey. "His teammates look up to him and respect him, so they are willing to fight for him on the field. He is the total package."
Jon Jon Martin also had a nice game against Excambia with 13 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback
Daniel Smyers was efficient, completing 4 of 5 passes for 75 yards.
Defensively, junior
Dillon Draughn had a whopping 18 tackles while senior
Seth Forehand added nine tackles and an interception.
Martin has 599 yards rushing on the season and six touchdowns.
Lindsey has guided his team to eight winning seasons in nine years heading into 2013. His teams went 13-1 in both 2005 and 2007 and 11-3 in 2011.
"We are more positive now as coaches and as a team. We learned to have
fun and love each other," said Lindsey. "We know that we need to take one game at a time
and to never quit believing in ourselves. We learned to never give up on
each other and we built a strong team bond, which taught us to trust
one another."
The Patriots close out the regular season at home against Milton (2-7).
MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.
