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Lattimore Likes Blocking For Giles

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By KATHERINE SMITH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 4, 2008

TAMPA - There are few schools that enter the field like the Gaither Cowboys.

Players walk through a makeshift blue barn surrounded by smoke as the theme from "The Magnificent Seven" blares in the background. It sets the tone for one of the more unique high school football atmospheres.

As far as running back Jarvis Giles and tight end Justin Lattimore are concerned, there's just one thing missing: a giant video scoreboard to watch replays.

Then Gaither players wouldn't have to wait until Saturday to review plays on a television screen.

"Saturdays are the best days because we look to see who got the most crackbacks," Giles said. "It's a competition. A video scoreboard would be beautiful.

"We'd be yelling replay, replay."

As one of Hillsborough County's top rushers, Giles is a walking highlight film. And a lot of times, his friend Lattimore is laying out one of those crackback blocks to open up some running room.

"It pumps me up a lot when he breaks a run and I made a block," Lattimore said.

Both seniors should highlight a somewhat new-look Gaither offense this season.

"You're going to see some different things," Coach Mark Kantor said. "We're still going to run the ball as always, but we should be able to throw the ball more and get our receivers some touches and everything."

Airing the ball out should open up more things for Giles and the ground attack, not that he needs much help. Giles, who verbally committed to Tennessee, has produced back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and looks to make it three in a row.

Lattimore, a Division I prospect, expects to be a big part of an increased passing game.

"They're two fine football players that go 110 miles per hour," Kantor said. "We're excited to be able to coach them for one more year, but once they're gone, they're going to be sadly missed.

"They have a lot of speed and a lot of size and we expect great things for them."

And not just from Giles and Lattimore. Kantor expects great things from his entire team.

"The team chemistry's got to be there," Lattimore said. "Everybody's got to be on the same page.

"We've got to just be focused and take it play by play and win every quarter and that will lead to winning games."

That's a lesson Gaither learned last season when the team got off to an 0-2 start. A heart-to-heart meeting with Kantor and his players resulted in the Cowboys reeling off six consecutive victories.

The bar was set high last year, and with Giles and Lattimore playing in their final high school season, the duo would like to go out on top.

"Expectations are very high," Lattimore said. "We want to leave it all out on the field and have no regrets. I don't want to say, 'I wish I had done that.'"

"We just want to take every opportunity when we have them."

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