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Seahawks Prepare For Next Season

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By CHRIS ERRINGTON Tribune correspondent

Published: November 11, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - Bill Browning knew all along that Sunlake's inaugural football season would be difficult at best and one offseason conditioning day was all he needed to confirm his fears.

"When you come into a situation like this, you know you're going to go through some growing pains," Browning said, "But when we realized we had only one kid that could bench press 200 pounds during the summer, we knew exactly where we needed to get better in a hurry."

With a roster devoid of seniors, sporting only a few players who even had junior varsity playing experience and lacking any chemistry thanks to being transferred in from a pair of high schools, the results were predictable: An 0-10 record, an average losing score of 48-6 and five shutouts. What the coach wasn't sure of was just how well his players would react.

"It may not show it on the scoreboard, but we definitely progressed as the season went on," Browning said. "What people have to remember is we've got 165-pounders going up against 265-pounders, so we don't match up well up front. But these kids never quit, even when it would have been easy to do so and they're going to be better football players for it next year."

While Friday's 56-6 loss at Mitchell ended an always difficult and often trying inaugural season, Browning said preparations for the 2008 campaign will being next week. For the players, it may need to begin just as quickly to take advantage of their unique situation, for 2007's disadvantage can become 2008's advantage.

Playing without seniors this season affords Browning the knowledge that his team won't lose a single player entering 2008. Each will have a year of varsity experience to their credit and a full season in Browning's system. The result, if taken advantage of properly, could result in a much better second season for the Seahawks.

And there's one area the coach knows his team must improve upon immediately to have any chance of success.

"We've got to get bigger, stronger, faster," Browning said. "It's an absolute must. Our kids were thrown into the fire this year, without any senior leadership. Now, we just have to get to that next level physically.

"It's a slow process, but we've got to have our kids conditioning in order to be able to compete at the varsity level."

Junior running back Mike Shaver led Sunlake with 237 yards on 59 carries, while sophomore Joe Connoly gained all of his team-high 56 yards on just four fourth-quarter carries, including a 20-yard touchdown run for the Seahawks' lone score. Throw in a defense that should further limit the number of big plays it's allowed and the makings of a solid foundation are there. For confirmation, Browning only needed to listen to Coach Scott Schmitz, a 30-year coaching veteran who's started programs at both Mitchell and River Ridge.

"The one thing you always know when starting a new program is the last game is the best one and it showed for Sunlake," Schmitz said. "Their kids played right with us for a while. They threw the ball on us, they ran the ball on us. Now you just go out and try to take the next step and build off that. I'm sure Bill's going to do a good job for them."

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