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Football Notebook: Memorable Runs Keep Coming For Riverview's Addae

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 26, 2007

There have been so many memorable runs in his high school career, Riverview High's Jahleel Addae couldn't quite peg his favorite. After thinking for a few minutes, maybe, he said, it came in the first home game of his sophomore season.

"It was against East Bay. I don't know what the score was, but we were down at halftime. We came out, we were on our own 30, I think it was. I was in the I-formation and I took the ball off tackle and went all the way to the crib. And I think that's what sparked us to the win against East Bay for the Cherry's Cup," Addae said.

As memorable as that run may be, there's a good chance one tonight may replace it.
Addae enters tonight's nondistrict matchup at Wharton needing only 31 yards to reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season, a milestone in its own right but one that carries a little more weight for the senior tailback.

Should Addae eclipse the mark, he will become just the second Riverview running back in program history to post three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons, joining 2001 grad Avious Steadman. Steadman eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in each of his last three seasons and ended his career as Hillsborough County's all-time leading rusher with 5,333 yards.

Addae also will be the first county back to rush for more than 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons since former Armwood standout and 2004 grad Kalvin Bailey, who did it in his final three prep seasons.

"It will be a great feeling," said Addae, who rushed for 1,276 yards as a sophomore and 1,051 yards as a junior. "Obviously it means I've had a good line three years in a row."

Riverview coach Dan O'Regan has been on the sidelines for almost every one of Addae's runs, and he believes the standout running back, who has committed to West Virginia, should be strongly considered for the Guy Toph Award, given annually to the county's top football player at the conclusion of the season.
"He's definitely one of the special ones," O'Regan said. "He's a good kid, a good leader. This kid is going to be good at the next level."

O'Regan said he is most amazed by Addae's career yards-per-carry average, which stands at 7.1 (3,315 yards on 464 carries).

"His vision is uncanny," O'Regan said.

Addae said he would gladly trade all those yards for a few more wins on the record this season. Riverview, the Tribune's No. 7 team in the preseason poll, has struggled to a 2-5 record and enters tonight's game at Wharton having lost four of its last five games. Riverview is in danger of its first losing season since 1998, when the team went 0-9 in the program's first year. That was the only losing season in program history.

The Sharks, who still have a shot at the playoffs, must win their final three regular-season games to finish at .500.

"We had a nice little talk earlier this week about some of the things we still want to accomplish," O'Regan said.

SHORT-HANDED AGAIN: The scenario is nothing new, but this time the player is. Armwood, which has yet to play a game at full strength this season due to injuries and suspensions, will play tonight at home against Freedom without the services of standout senior tailback Eric Smith, who will be held out after suffering a foot injury in last week's win against Hillsborough.

Smith, who was injured late in the first quarter against the Terriers but was able to contribute in a limited role the rest of the game, had an MRI on his right foot earlier this week but the results won't be ready until today, Armwood coach Sean Callahan said. Callahan doesn't feel the injury is too severe, with the coach saying had it been the playoffs, Smith would play.

Sophomore Sherman Jessie will get his first career start at tailback in place of Smith as Armwood looks to clinch the Class 4A-District 11 title, which the Hawks can do with a victory. Callahan thinks Jessie is more than capable of carrying the load.

"He's a guy we've been dying to break out, so we're going to break him out," Callahan said.

This game also has an interesting subplot: two-way lineman Matt Patchan, who transferred from Freedom after last season, will be going against his former teammates. Callahan said his senior standout, one of the nation's most highly touted prospects, is looking forward to the game, to put it lightly.

"He's cranked up to a whole new end," Callahan said of Patchan.

FLYIN' HIGH: There's reason for excitement at Brandon, but Coach John Lima is doing his best to keep his players level-headed.

The Eagles (5-2) can clinch a playoff berth for the third consecutive season with a win tonight against rival Bloomingdale. Brandon is 14-2 all-time against the Bulls and have never lost at Charley Harris Stadium, site of tonight's game.

A win tonight also will give added fuel to next week's showdown with Class 5A-District 7 foe Plant City, which will decide the district title. But Lima is doing his best to downplay all the scenarios.

"We're kind of low-key on that," Lima said. "But the kids are excited about the fact they can do something no football team here has done in a while."
Brandon has never been to the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, and Lima can become the first coach in program history to lead the team to consecutive playoff berths. Brandon made the playoffs in 2005 under Jim Wilt, now the coach at Lennard.

One of the main reasons Brandon is in this position is because of the attitude and leadership of the players, Lima said. Lima pointed to the example set during the Eagles' bye week - players were willing to continue to work hard rather than trying to find a way out of practice considering Brandon wasn't scheduled to play.

Whether the bye week came at the right time remains to be seen. Brandon had been one of the county's hottest teams before the bye week, winning its last four games. During the last two victories - against Newsome and Blake - the defense posted shutouts. The Eagles' Thunder and Lightning backfield tandem of Marquel Gilmore and Samir Baker each eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in three consecutive games.

"I don't know if it's [the bye] any better one week or the next," Lima said. "On one hand, we've been playing well and you don't like to disrupt what you're doing when things are going well. On the other hand, it gave the kids a chance to recharge."

BACK ON THE SIDELINE: King coach Earl Garcia III will be back on the sidelines tonight when the Lions travel to face Leto in a nondistrict matchup.
King administrators suspended Garcia from all team activities for five weeks following an altercation with game officials following the Lions' loss to Bloomingdale on Sept. 14. The Lions (2-5) went 1-3 under interim coach Alex Gonzalez.

ONE OF THE GUYS: Freedom senior Sarah Cardozo hadn't planned on being the field-goal kicker for the football team this season. A standout soccer player and quarterback for the school's flag football team, Cardozo became interested in the position when she heard the previous kicker had left the team.

"I went to Coach [Marquel] Blackwell like, 'Hey I heard you lost your kicker,' and he told me to come out and see if I liked it."

On Friday, Cardozo kicked the game-deciding extra point in triple overtime to give the Patriots their first win of the season against Middleton 49-48. She finished 5-for-6 on extra points.

"I was completely speechless," Cardozo said. "After the game, I got water poured on me."

At the beginning of the season, Cardozo would practice kicking on the game field while the rest of the team played on the practice field behind the stadium. Because soccer practice has begun, Cardozo only has time to practice the day before games. Cardozo has only attempted extra points this season, but said her longest kick during practice has been 43 yards.

As a junior, Cardozo was named a Tribune All-Hillsborough County honorable mention soccer player and was a Tribune All-Hillsborough County first-team flag football selection. During the flag football season, Cardozo led the Patriots to the District 9 championship and ended the season with 21 passing touchdowns and 12 rushing touchdowns.

Although Blackwell is a former USF quarterback, Cardozo said she has never volunteered to participate in the quarterbacks drills.

"I never thought about it," she laughed.

MR. SOUNDBITE: Hillsborough coach Earl Garcia has said many quirky and entertaining things to the media during his career. After his team's loss to Plant in Week 7, Garcia uttered probably the best soundbite of the season with a comment on Plant receiver/defensive back Cornelius Gallon - "I want Gallon to put us on his income tax return because if he didn't have a D-I scholarship before tonight, we got him one … trust me."

Other eye-catching quotes from Garcia this season included, "He's going to be a great quarterback if I don't mess him up," regarding sophomore quarterback Tarean Austin.

"When I retire I want a job at Bright House," Garcia joked. "That's just my personality. You have to have fun in what you're doing. Most of the good stuff you guys can't print."

Garcia will, however, take his team's game against Gaither tonight very seriously.

"It's no coincidence they are 6-2," he said. "The thing about Gaither, they are so sound in what they do. They try to go with the old Buccaneers, Tony Dungy idea of holding the ball. It's fun to play against guys like that. It's going to be a little bit of a civil war because two of their coordinators used to be coaches over here."

ROAD TRIP POSTPONED: Jefferson standout linebacker Gorby Loreus has rescheduled his official visit to Kentucky. Loreus will visit the campus when the Wildcats play Tennessee on Nov. 24. He was scheduled to visit Kentucky this weekend when it plays Mississippi State, but the Kentucky coach changed the date.

"They've had some back-to-back big games and he didn't want there to be any distractions for the recruits," Loreus said.

If Loreus likes what he sees when he visits, he's prepared to commit on the spot. Loreus is also prepared to enroll in January. He's been talking to Jefferson coach Mike Fenton about filing the necessary paperwork for early enrollment.

Adam Adkins, Nick Williams, Katherine Smith

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