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Zephyrhills Has Plenty Of RB Candidates

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By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 21, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - If the regular season began on Wednesday night, Tom Fisher may have had to flip a coin to pick his starting running back.

Then again, when you have four viable candidates for the position, a coin doesn't have enough sides.

Junior Ryan Commodore, sophomore Al Sampson, and seniors Donterrell Parker and Michael Peterman are all vying for the starting tailback position vacated by departed senior Chris Henry, an every-down back who proved to be the Bulldogs' only offensive constant in 2007.

Someone has to line up in the backfield for the first play of next Friday's kickoff classic against Freedom, but at this point, it's unlikely any of the four would stay in the game for long.

"Right now, we're going with a rotation," Fisher said. "I'd like to have one starter before the end of the year, but they all play defense. They're all starters on defense."

Making the situation even trickier is the sheer amount of talent Fisher has to choose from, as all four players would be contenders to start on just about any team in the county.

Sampson and Commodore are probably the quickest and most agile, accounting for most of Zephyrhills' rushing yards in the Orange and Black spring game. But Commodore was almost exclusively a defensive starter last year as a cornerback, while Sampson did not play on the team.

While they appear to be the front-runners, it's Parker and Peterman who have the most varsity experience as tailbacks. Peterman had 113 yards on 20 carries in 2007, while Parker gained just 20 yards, missing seven games due to an elbow injury.

"It's tough right now," Commodore said. "I just really do what I can, and whatever Coach asks of me, I give 110 percent. Right now nobody has a guaranteed spot yet, so we're all still working hard."

Commodore transferred from Wharton during his freshman year, in part because his family was not comfortable living in the more hectic confines of Tampa.

He's a self-described "country boy" who likes the "quiet, laid-back lifestyle." On the field he is anything but: a talkative, flashy runner who averaged more than 10 yards per carry in the spring game.

Nevertheless, he is aware of how much competition there is, especially from Sampson, a shorter, but quicker runner who is making up for a lack of experience quickly.

"He's got the speed that any coach would want at running back, speed and quickness," Commodore said of Sampson. "I look at him as a challenge to me to improve in all phases that he's good in. Get my speed up, quickness. I can use him as my barometer to where I want to be."

While it would clearly mean a lot to win the starting job, Commodore and the rest of the backs know they will see plenty of time somewhere on the field. And as is usually the case in Zephyrhills, if they make the contribution Fisher expects from them, success is bound to follow.

"What would make me happy this year is to win, get to the playoffs and making it far," Commodore said. "Like Fisher tells us all the time, some person might be third string on one side of the ball, and first string on the other side. So wherever I can get in at, and be a help, that's where I want to be."

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

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