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Hudson Linebackers Rising To The Challenge

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By BART O'CONNELL, Tribune correspondent

Published: September 20, 2007

HUDSON - There are many qualities that make a great football player, and Hudson coach Mark Nash sees many of them in linebackers Vance Lizama and Hunter Newton.

What both lacked in size, speed and strength on the field in 2006, they made up for with attitude, drive and a will to win that Nash looks for in his players.

That's why he provided both with the challenge of being varsity starters last season, when they could have been playing on the junior varsity. And that's why, in their second seasons as full-time players, Hudson's defense is showing vast improvement.

The Cobras surprised many by holding the Hernando rushing attack to negative yards in a 35-6 blowout victory. Even Hudson's 26-7 opening week loss to Ridgewood was encouraging to Nash, as the Cobras were a couple of slips on the wet field from shutting down Rams running back Byronell Arline.

Those efforts wouldn't have happened without the strides Lizama and Newton have made.

'To this point, we've gotten two years of maturity from those two players in one year,' Nash said. 'And we needed it if we want to be contenders and be a playoff team.'

Lizama, who played middle linebacker as a freshman in 2006, had to deal with the same challenges another hyped Hudson sophomore - quarterback Zack Wynn - endured in his first year.

Both were overwhelmed on the field last season, not just by the opposition, but by the play-calling and complexities of Hudson's schemes. But the ups and downs have done little to discourage Lizama, who remains as focused and motivated as ever two games into his sophomore year.

Lizama enters Friday's game against Pasco - the first Class 3A-District 8 game for both squads - with one bitter memory from last season's 33-24 loss to the Pirates. He missed a tackle on a 6-yard touchdown run before halftime that he believes was the difference in the game. It put any hope for a late rally out of reach.

He expects a different outcome this week.

'This is the best game I'm ever going to play in my life - the biggest one for me,' Lizama said. 'I still have two more years, but this is the year I think we're going to do it.

'Everybody expects so much from Pasco, and I know they're not that great of a team. We're going to try to prove them wrong.'

Newton, son of Cobras defensive coordinator Keith Newton, has had an extra year in the system, and as a result he has taken on more of a leadership role along with senior linebacker Paul James and lineman Travis Tindell.

He also cites experience as the biggest reason Hudson's defense is better now. That was hardly the case last year, especially against the Pirates.

'We were young and we didn't know what to do,' Newton said. 'We've made those mistakes, and we've learned from them.'

Nash attended Pasco's game against Wesley Chapel on Friday, which the Pirates lost 24-10, and he was pleased to discover Pasco runs an offense similar to that of Hernando. Then again, he believes the Pirates have a few players who can change a game quickly if the Cobras make mistakes defensively - the kind of mistakes they haven't made too often thus far.

'A lot of the players are the same, but they're not,' Nash said of the teams. 'A year older, a ton stronger, a ton faster. We're not the same team we were last year.'

Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampatrib.com.

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