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Berkeley Has No Foe Tonight

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 14, 2008

What a way to end the season.

The Berkeley Prep football team was looking forward to playing its final game of the season tonight against South Florida Prep, but it has been forced to find another way to celebrate Senior Night.

Wednesday, South Florida Prep canceled, athletic director Bobby Reinhart said.

"It is very disappointing, to say the least, as Friday was to be our Senior Night and our last game of the season," Reinhart said. "We searched the FHSAA Web site for a possible replacement to no avail."

The South Florida Prep football coach told Berkeley Prep his team had numerous players suspended as a result of an incident that occurred last Thursday, and he had to cancel, Reinhart said.
Reinhart said the administration won't let the cancellation ruin the season finale for the team, and it has decided to have a cookout, followed by the senior ceremony and a flag football game.

"It's not ideal, but we'll have some fun and make the night a memorable one for our seniors," Reinhart said.

Berkeley Prep (5-4) did not make the playoffs.

Spoto's Byres Suspended

Spoto senior DB/WR Alex Byres, who leads the team in interceptions and receiving yards, is suspended for tonight's regular-season finale against East Bay for being ejected from last week's game at Robinson.

Spoto coach Dale Caparaso said Byres will be back for the team's Class 3A region quarterfinal game against Arcadia DeSoto County.

Aycock's Rushing Made A Mark

Although he has been the starting quarterback at Chamberlain the past three years, senior Dontae Aycock could be remembered as one of the best rushers in Hillsborough County.
Aycock has 50 rushing touchdowns and has posted back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Depending on how far the Chiefs go in the postseason, he may join and surpass some of the top running backs in county history like Lydell Ross (Gaither), Kwane Doster (Robinson), Kalvin Bailey (Armwood), Avious Steadman (Riverview) and Larry Smith (Robinson) in career rushing touchdowns. According to Tribune archives, Ross had roughly 45 career TDs while Doster had 50.

Georgia Tech is the only school not recruiting Aycock as a running back.

Giles Gearing Up For Chamberlain

Gaither's Jarvis Giles will be taking it easy this weekend - sort of.

The senior tailback, who recently rescinded a commitment to the University of Tennessee, doesn't plan to take any visits this weekend. Instead, he'll prepare for the Cowboys' playoff game against Chamberlain.

"I'm taking a week off from recruiting this week," Giles said.

Giles had committed to Tennessee this summer, wanting to get the decision out the way so he could focus on his senior season. That all changed when it was announced Vols coach Phil Fulmer would not return.

That sent Giles reeling, and he tried to reconnect with other schools that had offered scholarships. He had a good visit with Coach Steve Spurrier at South Carolina last weekend and would like to take a look at Ole Miss.

But for this week, Giles is concentrating on the Chiefs.

Hawks D One For The Books
Armwood has had dominant defenses through the better part of this decade, but the 2008 unit now stands as the best in program history.

Only 42 points were scored against the Hawks in 10 regular-season games, which is eight fewer than the previous program-best of 50 during the 2005 regular season. Led by the likes of senior standouts Ryne Giddins, Petey Smith, Casey Callahan and Angelo Hadley, the Hawks posted four shutouts and allowed 10 or more points just twice - against Wharton (10) and Freedom (14).

As staggering an accomplishment as it seems, the defense's proficiency this season didn't come as a surprise to Armwood coach Sean Callahan, who knew entering this season the unit had the capability of being one of the area's best.

"We knew if we could stay healthy we were going to stop a lot of people," Callahan said. "The 11 guys we started at the beginning of the season are the 11 guys we've got right now. We're a little dinged up, but everybody has been able to play."

Here's the interesting part. If you take away the two points Armwood allowed against Plant, a safety that came via a bad snap on offense, and the touchdown the Hawks surrendered against Hillsborough, which came on a fumble return by the Terriers defense, the Hawks' defense allowed only 33 points, which is only eight more than the defense scored (25) this season - counting all the extra points converted each way. Hadley scored three touchdowns on interception returns, also a school record, and the Hawks recorded safeties against Plant and Freedom.

The defense is a big reason why the Hawks produced their second consecutive undefeated regular season and the the Hawks are recognized as a consensus top 10 team in the nation.

In this week's national high school football polls, Armwood (10-0) is ranked No. 3 in the RivalsHigh 100, No. 4 in the USA Today Super 25, No. 6 in the ESPNRISE FAB 50 and No. 7 in the PrepNation.com National Prep Poll.

Nick Williams, Adam Adkins,

Katherine Smith

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