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Tough Road To Hoe

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By MARTY MILLER

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: September 4, 2008

Last year, the Central Bears finished the year with a 6-4 record, but came up short in their goal to achieve the state playoffs.

Despite back-to-back winning seasons, this year CHS Head Coach Cliff Lohrey has a task of rebuilding his team after losing almost all of his skill position players from last year.

Who departed?

With the graduation of Chase and Chad Walker, Jeff Wright, Duane Marks, Nathan Brazeau and Cody Grey, the Bears lose a vast majority of the people who led the team last year.

With graduation, Central lost four of its top five rushers, its top passer, top four receivers, top five scorers and its top five tacklers from last year.

Now with the Bears in a rebuilding mode and in a very difficult Class 4A, District 8 schedule, Lohrey must find a way to replace the talent and forge ahead.

The Bears now go with unproven senior Dallas Waugh at quarterback to replace Chase Walker and he will need to count on the running of senior Austin Forte at running back.

Last year, Waugh threw no passes and carried the ball one time while Forte gained 76 yards on just nine carries. Along with Forte, A.J. Torres is the only other returning running back who had any experience last year. Torres carried the ball a total of 29 times.

For targets, the Bears lost their top four receivers and will try to replace them with Steven Read and Torres, who each caught one pass last year.

Who is back?

On the offensive line, Lohrey does have some help returning as Kevin Grier, Jesse Flowers, Sam Robinson and Dan May all return. Grier is the anchor to the line as the 6-foot-3, 305-pound guard is a leading senior lineman who has been looked at by schools such as South Florida, Western Michigan and Florida International.

Having those people back may prove to be an important part of the Bears having any chance to improve on their record.

In the past, Central has turned out great running backs in Tim Gaynor, DuJuan Harris and Duane Marks. This year Lohrey will count on Forte to carry the load until Waugh settles in as the signal caller.

The graduation losses that hurt the Bears on offense did the same thing to their defense.

Last year Central gave up a total of 187 points and held opponents to under 14 points or less five times.

But with loss of the top five tacklers from last year, Central will need some players to step up this year.

On the defensive line, Alex Jang, Brooks Reid, Broderick Fisher and Sam Robinson will lead the way while linebackers Steven Read, Nick Colaiacomo, Zach Rice and Anthony Hamrick should start.

In the backfield, Guan Whitsett, Waugh, Matt Radford and Nick Rosario should be the starters.

All in all, the Bears face a tough challenge this year. Along with losing so much of last year's scoring punch, Central also faces the challenge of being in a very tough district.

Last year, Land O' Lakes and Ridgewood were both 9-1 and finished 1-2 in the district. But Central also has to face Tarpon Springs and Springstead, making the chances of earning a place in the state playoffs a tough road to hoe.

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