Wake-Up Call: Dragons take long road to state semifinals

The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.

Good morning!

For the Jefferson Dragons (11-1), two victories away from the first state football championship in school history, it's time for a geography lesson.

Friday night, they play in the Class 3A state semifinals at rugged Pensacola High School (12-1) - a mere 472 miles from home.

"I know it's about three hours from New Orleans,'' Dragons junior quarterback Quentin Williams said.

"It's up there in the corner of the state, just below Alabama,'' Dragons junior wide receiver Andre Davis said.

"We've got some guys who have hardly been out of the city of Tampa, so this will be different," Dragons coach Mike Fenton said.

Or maybe it will be more of the same.

The Dragons were supposed to be a year away from this type of playoff run. So far, they have been unaffected by their relative inexperience and their opponents. How hard is it to ride the bus a few more hours?

"It's just a game we've got to go a long way to play," Davis said.

"If I didn't tell them we were losing an hour and going to the Central Time Zone, they might not even realize it," Fenton said. "It's a trip a high school football team from this area doesn't have to make very often. But it's still a business trip for us."

Fenton said the Dragons will leave campus Thursday morning. They will stop for lunch, then have a walk-through at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Then it's on to Pensacola, some dinner and meetings. Everyone in their hotel room at 10. Lights out at 10:30.

Friday morning, to avoid idle time, the Dragons will take a field trip to Pensacola's Naval Air Station. Then it's back to normal preparation. After the game, it's back on the buses for the long ride home, which should put them back on campus shortly after dawn on Saturday.

Hopefully with a victory.

"I knew next year we would be good, based on the people we had coming back," Fenton said. "I was hoping we could make a playoff run, but they have exceeded my expectations.

"I know they're believing we can win a state championship. It doesn't matter where we play. We could be playing on Mars and they'd feel the same way. It's just the way these kids are. That's our team."

The Dragons put the hammer down in Friday's region final, defeating North Marion 35-6 on the road. It's easy to get caught up in the overall offensive numbers. Williams has passed for 3,186 yards, along with 34 touchdowns and just six interceptions. Davis has 63 receptions for 1,146 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Fenton is most impressed by the subtle moments.

"We were trying to run clock, and Quentin got loose" against North Marion, Fenton said. "He could've gotten a few more yards, gotten some more stats. But he just went down, stayed in bounds, because he was aware of the situation. That's pretty savvy.

"But those are the kind of things we've been seeing from these kids. They know how to play, and they know how to win."

Williams and Davis said they believe the 2010 season will be special.

That's for the future.

For now, there's a trip to make and a game to play.

The Tigers, who suffered their only loss against Pensacola Pine Forest 6-3, have surrendered only 88 points all season. They have five shutouts. Friday night, they went on the road to blank top-ranked St. Augustine 9-0.

"They're a great team," Williams said. "So are we."

"I don't think all that other stuff, like the long trip, is going to get us distracted," Davis said. "We've just been playing the game in front of us and not worrying about anything else. That's worked so far."

What a long, strange trip this season has been.

"From where we are at the start to where we are now, there's no comparison," Williams said. "We're not ready to stop now. This is fun."

Arenas named permanent captain

University of Alabama senior cornerback Javier Arenas (Robinson), who had a key end-zone interception against Florida's Tim Tebow in Saturday's 32-13 victory against the Gators at the SEC Championship Game, was named one of three permanent captains for the 2009 season by Coach Nick Saban.

Arenas, senior left guard Mike Johnson and junior middle linebacker Rolando McClain will have their hand- and footprints cemented at the Denny Chimes tower on campus prior to the A-Day Game next spring.

Arenas also received the Outstanding Defensive Performer Award, the Special Teams Award and the Commitment to Academic Excellence Award during Alabama's team banquet on Sunday night.

The Crimson Tide (13-0) will face the Texas Longhorns (13-0) in the Jan. 7 BCS Championship Game at Pasadena, Calif.

Something else to watch in Pasadena: Arenas needs 29 yards to become the NCAA's all-time career leader in punt-return yardage.

What's the point?

The University of South Florida (7-5), after a heartbreaking 29-27 loss in the snow of Connecticut, are going bowling, but the matchup and setting couldn't be more obscure.

The Bulls will face Northern Illinois (7-5) in Toronto's International Bowl on Jan. 2.

Here's the fine print on bowl games: The Bulls are on the hook for about $400,000 worth of tickets. With that and travel expenses, it could be a money-losing proposition.

USF said it will provide free International Bowl tickets to interested students. The catch: Students must finance the cost of a plane ticket to Toronto, lodging, meals and (probably) a passport.

In these tight economic times, it would have made more sense to keep USF closer to home (either the St. Petersburg Bowl or the Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.). That way, loyal USF fans would have a much more realistic chance of attending the game. Send a northern team such as Rutgers or Connecticut to Toronto.

The Big East Conference must have its reasons for this arrangement. But it's not like there's much difference between the bowls in St. Petersburg, Birmingham and Toronto.

Big yardage, small results

The Buccaneers gained 469 yards - the fifth-highest total in franchise history - Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

One common denominator between that game and the four higher-yardage performances - they all occurred in defeats.

The top five all-time yardage games:

1. 573 (Vikings 38, Bucs 30) on Nov. 16, 1980.

2. 483 (Colts 35, Bucs 31) on Oct. 16, 1988.

3. 476 (Dolphins 41, Bucs 38) on Oct. 20, 1985.

4. 475 (Bengals 56, Bucs 23) on Oct. 29, 1989.

5. 469 (Panthers 16, Bucs 6) on Dec. 6, 2009.

The most yardage by the Bucs in a victory was 466 (Bucs 27, Saints 23) on Dec. 2, 2007.

The Bucs are 20-22 all-time when gaining 400 or more yards.

Lots and lots of flags

Monday night's NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens included 310 yards of penalties (the Ravens had 12 flags for 135 yards; the Packers had 11 flags for 175 yards).

It tied a 1976 game between the expansion Bucs and expansion Seattle Seahawks for second all-time in most penalty yards for one game.

Bucs-Seahawks was known as "Flag Day," when 35 penalties were assessed (20 for the Bucs, 15 for the Seahawks).

The Bucs were penalized on the opening kickoff (offsides).

Trailing 13-0 with 42 seconds remaining, Tampa Bay place-kicker Dave Green attempted a game-tying 35-yard field goal, but it was blocked.

The Bucs were actually flagged for a personal foul on the play.

It was declined.

Like father, like son

The Outback Bowl between the Auburn Tigers and Northwestern Wildcats on New Year's Day will feature a father-son broadcasting tandem - Bob and Brian Griese - but they will be working in different booths.

Bob Griese will handle game analysis for ESPN. Brian Griese, the former Bucs' quarterback, is working for ESPN Radio.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to former Bucs center Tony Mayberry, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who made a clean break from the game after 10 NFL seasons. His final appearance was the 1999 NFC Championship Game, a bitter 11-6 loss to the St. Louis Rams. Today, Mayberry turns 42.

The Answer Man

Here's the answer to Monday's trivia question:

Six products of Tampa Bay area high schools finished in the top 10 of Heisman Trophy balloting:

• Tennessee linebacker Steve Kiner (1969, ninth) of Hillsborough High.

• Florida State quarterback Gary Huff (1972, 10th) of Leto High.

• Florida running back Jimmy DuBose (1975, sixth) of Sarasota High.

• Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier (1995, second) of Manatee High.

• Tulane quarterback Shaun King (1998, 10th) of Gibbs High.

• Southern California wide receiver Mike Williams (2003, eighth) of Plant High.

Tuesday trivia

Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.

The Jefferson Dragons have twice won a state playoff semifinal game in football (2002, 2004). Who were the opponents in those seasons?

Check for the answer in Wednesday's Wake-Up Call.