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For Pasco, Everything Comes Together

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By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 16, 2007

DADE CITY - While waiting to find out which of the three teams involved in a tiebreaker would be Pasco's opponent in the first round of the playoffs, Pirates junior defensive end Zack Faza sent a text message to one of his teammates.

"It matters not to a Spartan."

The Pirates see in themselves much of the legendary warriors of ancient Greece, including strength in numbers that stretches from the huddle at W.F. Edwards to the outermost corners of Dade City.

For the first time since 1998, the Pirates will host a playoff game (Eustis), and for the first time in a long time, the stands are likely to be packed with fans who had lost patience in the descent of what was the county's most illustrious program.

"It's amazing," Faza said. "Since 1998, the football program has been in a decline and this is a spike straight upwards so it's really good."

Soon after Pasco hired Tom McHugh as its head coach this year, the Dade City community was willing to give the Pirates another chance. There was hope in his approach of reasonable discipline.

With a young team, the wins were here and there but it wasn't until the end of the season that, thanks to patience on the road of development, the Pirates started to get things right consistently instead of sparingly.

"The two weeks when we played Wiregrass and Sunlake things started to work better," senior lineman Chris Burgos said. "Then we played Gulf and it showed that everything had come together. Our spread package started to work better and we ran more. And whenever we switch to I formation everything seems to work. Like it's not a big deal when we switch."

This season, Pasco is getting more gate proceeds than it has in years. Season ticket sales have more than tripled since last season and sponsor banners line the visitors' side fence that was bare a year ago.

The stands are painted in red and black and the seats are painted with numbers because people actually care to be in their reserve seats. The scoreboard received a sponsored sprucing up.

"It great for the program and Coach McHugh. It's his first year coaching here and they won the district title," Pasco assistant coach Jim Ward said. "He has an awesome group of young men who are hardworking and an excellent group of coaches that all get along. There's no attitudes, there's no me, me, me."

With the confidence and an understanding of the basics, the Pirates - who had four straight wins to close the regular season - plan to put on a show for their faithful.

"We're incorporating many different schemes to keep them guessing as to where we're going to go," Faza said. "I was talking with Coach Brad Starling yesterday and he said it's probably going to be more of a head game. We can match up with them as far as athleticism goes, but as far as schemes go, that's where the game is going to be played."

They also only have nine seniors, four of which are consistent starters, so if this season is the starting point of what is to come, the Pirates have much to look forward to.

But before that is the biggest game in Dade City in almost a decade.

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