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Bishop McLaughlin Waking Up Echoes

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By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 23, 2008

SHADY HILLS - There might not be a narrow staircase leading from Bishop McLaughlin's locker room to the field, but the players will look like they are ready to knock on Notre Dame's famous "Play Like a Champion Today" sign before heading to the field.

That's because Hurricanes coach Marty Williams changed the team uniforms from bright blue-and-white with yellow helmets to navy-and-white with gold helmets and pants, just like those the Indiana Catholic university's players have worn for decades. The uniforms arrived in time for Thursday's team pictures.

"We like them," said senior WR/DB Ryan Beeble. "Going back to Coach Z former athletic director Mike Zelenka, he was from Notre Dame so we followed them."

The home uniform is navy with white numbers, and the road uniform is white with navy numbers. The only difference from Notre Dame's look is the stacked "BM" logo at shoulder level.

PLAYOFF DATE ANNOUNCED: The newly-formed Sunshine State Athletic Conference, which includes Bishop McLaughlin, will conduct its first annual playoff games on Nov. 15, a Saturday, in The Villages, according to Hurricanes AD Eddie Kenny. The games will be played in the afternoon and evening.

The Hurricanes are in the four-team South Division, which includes Bradenton Christian, Canterbury and Carrollwood Day. The North Division includes Leesburg First Academy, Winter Garden Foundation Academy, Hernando Christian, Mount Dora Bible School and Ocala St. John Lutheran. The teams will match up according to where they finish in the standings, with the first-place squads playing for the SSAC championship.

Kenny added that the seven schools that attended the recent meeting to finalize playoff plans agreed to post standings and statistics on maxpreps.com, which is again working in partnership with tbo.com.

Bishop McLaughlin will play Ocala St. John Lutheran in a kickoff classic at home Friday. The game will not count toward the conference standings.

FERGUSON, MORRELL OUT: Zephyrhills coach Tom Fisher said the Bulldogs would be without senior P/K Louis Ferguson and senior OL/DL Ty Morrell for the early part of the season.

Ferguson, who made three field goals and 18 extra points last season, will miss "three or four weeks" after accumulating too many absences at the end of his junior year, Fisher said. QB Tyler Guy is working out as a punter and kicker, but the Bulldogs are still looking for someone to handle kickoffs.

Morrell is recovering from shoulder surgery, and it is unclear when he will return, though Fisher expects him to see playing time on offense and defense this year.

Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampa-

trib.com.

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