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Down Year For Clewiston? Not Really

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 22, 2007

Clewiston enters Friday's regional final contest against Tampa Catholic sporting a 5-6 record.

Does that indicate that Clewiston is having a down season? Not necessarily, Tampa Catholic coach Bob Henriquez said.

"They played a high level of competition, and they lost a lot from last year," Henriquez said. "They've improved throughout the year. They got on a roll in the second half of the season, and their only loss late was to a strong Okeechobee team and they're 4A. So they're still Clewiston - big up front and great skill players."

Clewiston lost its first five games this season before tearing through Class 2A-District 6 action with a 4-0 record before that 48-20 loss to Okeechobee two weeks ago.

AGUILA OUT: Tampa Catholic DT Michael Aguila will miss the rest of the postseason with a separated shoulder and ligament damage, Henriquez said Tuesday.

David Gamble took most of Aguila's reps at nose tackle during last Friday's opening-round playoff win.

Henriquez hopes senior starting C Alex Espinosa can return from a hamstring and tendon strain for Friday night's regional semifinal game against Clewiston. If he can't, sophomore Kevin White will start again, something Henriquez is comfortable with.

"Alex's injury has been a year-long thing, and Kevin has played well," Henriquez said. "Without Alex, we lose veteran experience and leadership. We ask our center to make line calls and things like that, and Kevin's doing a good job of that."

Also, LB Blair Harvey could be back after suffering a concussion that forced him to miss last week's game.

GIDDINS TWEAKS QUAD: Armwood junior DE Ryne Giddins tweaked a quad muscle during running drills at Monday's practice, an injury that kept him out of pads and on a stationary bike for Tuesday's workout.

While Armwood coach Sean Callahan said Tuesday that Giddins' status is still up in the air, the standout end, who leads the Hawks with 16 sacks, is expected to play Friday night.

So, barring any unforeseen setbacks, the Hawks will be at full strength for this first time this season Friday when they host Hillsborough in a Class 4A region semifinal. Injuries and suspensions have prevented Armwood from fielding its entire team this season.

EASTMAN BACK TO 100 PERCENT: Callahan said Tuesday he thinks FB Matt Eastman has fully recovered from a shoulder injury, and he thinks the junior is poised for a breakout game against Hillsborough.

Eastman turned in an impressive performance in the season opener against Plant with 89 rushing yards and a touchdown, but he was relatively quiet soon after. He suffered a shoulder injury in the first month of the season, one that caused him to miss four games.

However, Eastman has been very productive in Armwood's last two games. He turned in his only 100-yard effort and scored a touchdown in the regular-season finale against Middleton (132 yards on season-high 23 carries) and he had 56 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries last week against Eagle Lake Lake Region.

BOYS BASKETBALL: Seffner Christian will be hosting a four-team Thanksgiving Classic on Friday and Saturday. Springstead will play Armwood at 6 p.m. on Friday, followed by Freedom and Seffner. The championship game will be played Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The consolation game will be played before the championship at 1 p.m.

Matthew Postins, Adam Adkins, Nick Williams

Keyword: Prep Sports too view the Hillsborough County boys basketball 1,000-point scorers list.

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