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Cabral An Unexpected Rushing Leader

Prep Notebook

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Nick Williams

Published: November 12, 2007

Cambridge Christian coach Rick Shears knew Taylor Cabral was a special player. But special enough to lead the county in rushing?

"I guess you can say I never would have thought that," Shears said. "I mean, this was a guy we stuck at running back for the final three games of the regular season last year. I never thought he would have the season he had."

Cabral, a senior, finished the regular season as Hillsborough County's leading rusher thanks to a school record 373-yard performance against Bradenton Christian in a 41-37 Lancers loss. The big game gave Cabral 1,568 yards this season, 142 more than Riverview senior Jahleel Addae.

"The kid's got vision; just unbelievable vision," Shears said.

Cabral, only the second Lancers running back to eclipse 1,000 yards in a season, ran himself into the record books in his final prep campaign, finishing as the program's all-time leading scorer and rusher while setting single-season marks for rushing yards in a game and season.

Cabral might have had one more game to add to his total, but Shears said the Lancers turned down an offer to play in a postseason bowl game against Davie Westlake Prep, a second-year varsity program which played as an independent this season. The decision was made because many of the Lancers' football players are multisport athletes and are needed in the school's other sports programs, Shears said.

"Taylor and Josh [Lockwood] and a couple others play soccer, and soccer season already started. Dixon Phillips and a couple others go to basketball. If we'd made the playoffs, then all those teams would understand," Shears said. "But us looking for a bowl game, with being such a small school, it's kind of unfair to all the other programs."

SURGERY FOR GALLON : Plant wide receiver Cornelius Gallon is scheduled to undergo surgery today for the torn ACL he suffered in the Oct. 26 game against Chamberlain.

Gallon injured his left knee in the third quarter of the Panthers 29-22 victory over the Chiefs. Doctors told him he should be able to return to football after six to eight months of rehabilitation. The senior receiver took his official visit to Temple this past weekend.

COMMITMENTS: Bloomingdale softball players Katelyn Molkenthin and Kristen Kelly have chosen their college destinations, as have Plant City's Kendall Dawson, Plant's Hannah Ojeda and Durant's Kristen Jones.

Molkenthin has verbally committed to the University of South Carolina Upstate, Kelly has verbally committed to Saint Leo, Dawson has committed to Alabama, Jones has committed to Augusta State and Ojeda has committed to N.C. State.

Molkenthin, an outfielder and a Tribune All-Hillsborough County first-team selection as a junior, was the Bulls top hitter last season, recording a .522 average with seven doubles, five triples and 32 RBIs. Kelly was one of the Bulls' top pitchers, going 12-8 with a 2.59 ERA, striking out 80 in 116 innings pitched. She also did well as the plate, hitting .351 with five doubles and 11 RBIs.

Dawson, a catcher, was a Tribune All-Hillsborough County first-team selection as a junior after hitting .559 with two home runs, 33 RBIs and 16 runs scored and leading the Raiders to the region playoffs. Ojeda, a Tribune All-Hillsborough County honorable-mention selection as a junior, hit .492 with five doubles, five triples, 17 RBIs and 21 runs scored last season.

Jones, a catcher, was a Tribune All-Hillsborough honorable-mention selection as a junior last season. Jones also received interest from Florida Southern, Georgia Tech, Francis Marion University and UCF.

Molkenthin, Kelly and Ojeda are scheduled to sign with their college programs during Wednesday morning ceremonies at their respective schools, while Dawson is scheduled to sign Thursday morning during a ceremony at Plant City. Jones is expected to sign Nov. 20 at Durant.

YOUNG NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Berkeley Prep sophomore volleyball player Lindsay Young has been named the MaxPreps/American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Week for the state of Florida. The 6-foot middle hitter, who was selected to The Tampa Tribune All-Hillsborough County Volleyball first-team as a freshman, was given the award for leading the Buccaneers through the Class 3A region playoffs and into the state tournament, which begins Wednesday. So far this season, Young has 282 kills, 80 blocks and 199 digs.

WDAE GOW: The WDAE Game of the Week on Friday night will be the East Lake at Largo Class 5A regional quarterfinal matchup, though the station has been changed from WDAE 620 AM because of a conflict.

The game, which will be called by Jason Dixon (play-by-play), Darek Sharp (color analyst) and Justin Pawlowski (sideline/color), can be heard on WHNZ 1250 AM.

WDAE will not carry a high school game of the week during regional semifinal action (Nov. 23) because of scheduling conflicts. High school football playoff action will return the following week (Nov. 30).

ALL-AMERICAN CEREMONY: The official announcement of Armwood senior Matt Patchan being selected for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl will take place today during a 9 a.m. ceremony at the school, when the two-way lineman will be presented with his official game jersey.

6-MAN CHAMPS: Carrollwood Day School Prep won the 6-on-6 state football championship with its 51-36 victory against Winter Haven on Friday night.

Quarterback Billy Embody threw five touchdown passes, three to receiver Matt Monteihl and two to tight end David Walker. Tailback Darrius Bing rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns and also collected two interceptions. Free safety Chris Tufts led the defense with 10 tackles.

CDS Prep will convert to 11-man football next season, playing in the FHSAA Class 1B.

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