Spring football lets area teams test new players, schemes

Spring football is an interesting beast.

The seniors from last year’s teams are still hanging around, but can’t play anymore. Returning starters are showing off moves they’ve learned in the offseason and former underclassmen and benchwarmers attempt to prove themselves worthy of key roles.

Then another scenario involves surprise players. Perhaps someone unexpected comes into the program, or perhaps a player comes back from rehabilitation of a serious injury.

For the Lakewood Ranch High School Mustangs, running back Jay Turner is back after missing all but three games of the 2016 season due to a knee injury. The Lakewood Ranch offense suffered without him and scored single-digit points in seven of nine games.

“Very happy,” Mustangs coach Mick Koczersut said of his running back’s spring performance. “He looked good. He showed the ability to take hits and keep his balance.”

Turner ran for 131 yards and a touchdown in the spring game against Booker, which beat the Mustangs 19-14. Turner’s re-emergence is but one piece of Lakewood Ranch’s offensive plan. The other piece is the development of quarterback Justin Curtis.

The 2017 season will be Curtis’ third as a starter and the Mustangs need him to keep developing as a leader. Koczersut said that means cutting down on turnovers, something Curtis did not do in the spring game. He threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a Booker touchdown.

Defensively, Lakewood Ranch is counting on younger players to continue the success of the departing seniors. Even though the Mustangs won two games last fall, the defense kept games close. Koczersut pointed at junior defensive back Mark Davis as a player to watch.

“He didn’t even really show up on film (last season), because no balls were thrown toward him,” Koczersut said. “He was always where he was supposed to be.”

Braden River has a deep pool of returning players, but during spring football, the quarterback position was of the most interest, in particular because of a new player coming into the program.

The coaching staff hadn’t announced a starter before the spring game. Returning junior Jacob Hepler is competing with junior transfer Bryan Gagg, a two-year starter at Sarasota High.

Gagg started the Pirates’ spring game against Lakewood and was efficient, throwing two touchdown passes, one each to junior Knowledge McDaniel and senior Craivon Koonce.

Hepler, meanwhile, played defensive back for most of the game, before getting a few snaps at quarterback in the fourth quarter. Braden River won 42-13.

After the spring game, Pirates head coach Curt Bradley said Gagg had emerged as the top contender for the starting position.

“We learned a lot,” Bradley said of Gagg. “We played against him for two years, and now he comes over here. He’s a competitor. He will get after it. He does not shy away. Stood in the pocket, took a couple of hits, made a couple big-time throws. I think you’ll see, as the summer goes on, and we get more acclimated with receivers, those things will continue to improve.”

At The Out-of-Door Academy, things look different offensively than they did last season. The Thunder graduated nine seniors from last year’s 3-7 team. The offensive line in particular is inexperienced. Head coach Ken Sommers was thinking of a way to combat that problem when he had an epiphany.

He decided to try the triple option offense, using a “pistol spread” variation, where the quarterback lines up in a mini-shotgun position, and the running back stands behind him.

That quarterback for ODA will be senior Dakota Dickerson, who Sommers said appears comfortable in the scheme despite the limited practice window.

“He looks fantastic,” Sommers said. “Dakota has had a great spring. He bought into the triple option attack. He is a one-man wrecking crew. It’s great having the ball in his hands every single play.”