FHSAA Season Preview – District 2
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
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Palm Beach, Florida.
This Tallahassee district is back to the old four team district of past years now that the Pensacola area teams have reached the critical mass required for their own district. This cuts down on the number of required district games for Maclay and allows the Marauders to get out of the district and play some other teams. Last season they played 10 regular season games against district opponents. That has been reduced to only six for the 2016 campaign.
Maclay had a great 2015 season only losing four games. Each of those losses came at the hands of top shelf competition. Ponte Vedra, Vero Beach, IMG Academy, and Lake Mary (in the State Quarterfinals round.) While they have lost some serious offensive fire power with the graduation of Stephen Chase (Notre Dame) and solid, speedy LSM Teddy Transou (Duke) they still have plenty left to repeat as District Champs.
Lewis Langford (Colgate) and Garritt Schwarz offensively on the midfield should get plenty of possessions from the face off work of Chad Minter (Jacksonville). Jimmy Wheeler is a standout defenseman playing along side Bailey Cook. Those two will give the other Districte 2 teams problems. Austin Cook returns looking for another excellent year in the goal.
With the big graduating class of 2015 Coach Hardy expects the gap to close between Maclay and the other Tallahassee schools. “We expect the district to be more competitive than last year, especially since we lost quite a few players to graduation.” But he still expects his team to be successful. His goals for the team? “Win the district. Get more quality wins as we’ve upgraded our schedule this year.” Sounds simple enough.
Chile was an impressive 9-3 in district play last season with all three losses coming at the hands of Maclay. Head Coach Chris Anders knows to get out of Tallahassee the Timberwolves have got to take care of Maclay. “Maclay is our biggest game…rivalry and a game that is significant to my team…bigger than the PV game.”
He’ll be looking for senior leadership on offense from Ray Spaulding and Ganzon Limcango. A pair of senior midfielders, Keaton Cotes and Mathew Ellison will need to get it done between the boxes. Defensively, senior Sam Johnson along with junior Caleb Hunter will be working in front of junior goalie Zeke Joiner. This team’s goal is to be the best team in Tally. That is a title they’ll have to take away from Maclay.
Lincoln has a mix of youth and experience this season. “We will need to have players step up on the defensive end and in goal,” said Head Coach Mark Williams. The Trojans graduated the meat of the defensive unit last year. Because they are young on the defensive end the team is going to need scoring and leadership from seniors Alex Bynum (middie) and Andrew Meyere (attack.)
Leon is looking to improve on a 2-15 season a year ago. Returning some experience is the first step. “We have 13 returning varsity players and will be looking for a few players from last years JV roster, as well as a few new athletes, to step up and contribute this season,” commented Head Coach Marco White. He is looking for leadership from seniors Trey Schulte and Trevor McCall at attack. Look for senior Danny Manausa and sophomore Quentin Parker to key the midfield. The Lions are a little young at defense. Expect sophomore Shane Shively and junior Hugh Merryday to get the tough assignments this year. Coach White also thinks we could see some big things from a newcomer and speedster, junior Michael Zhu. Zhu, a mulit-sport athlete, is expected to handle some of the face off duties and make a big impact.
Although Coach White acknowledges the district runs though Maclay, who has not lost to a district opponent since 2011, he knows you have to get to the big game to have a chance. His goal for the season, “…beat Lincoln, beat Chiles, reach the district 1 championship game, and have fun.”
It sounds like fun is in the near future as they start the season hot with a trip to Jacksonville for the Moe’s Classic. “We will be playing a string of 3 games in 4 days, with games against Stanton Prep, Paxon, and Providence.” The follow that up with a spring break trip to Pensacola to play Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Catholic looking to avenge some bad losses. One big test on the schedule is a home game against Episcopal on March 24.
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Palm Beach, Florida.
This Tallahassee district is back to the old four team district of past years now that the Pensacola area teams have reached the critical mass required for their own district. This cuts down on the number of required district games for Maclay and allows the Marauders to get out of the district and play some other teams. Last season they played 10 regular season games against district opponents. That has been reduced to only six for the 2016 campaign.
Maclay had a great 2015 season only losing four games. Each of those losses came at the hands of top shelf competition. Ponte Vedra, Vero Beach, IMG Academy, and Lake Mary (in the State Quarterfinals round.) While they have lost some serious offensive fire power with the graduation of Stephen Chase (Notre Dame) and solid, speedy LSM Teddy Transou (Duke) they still have plenty left to repeat as District Champs.
Lewis Langford (Colgate) and Garritt Schwarz offensively on the midfield should get plenty of possessions from the face off work of Chad Minter (Jacksonville). Jimmy Wheeler is a standout defenseman playing along side Bailey Cook. Those two will give the other Districte 2 teams problems. Austin Cook returns looking for another excellent year in the goal.
With the big graduating class of 2015 Coach Hardy expects the gap to close between Maclay and the other Tallahassee schools. “We expect the district to be more competitive than last year, especially since we lost quite a few players to graduation.” But he still expects his team to be successful. His goals for the team? “Win the district. Get more quality wins as we’ve upgraded our schedule this year.” Sounds simple enough.
Chile was an impressive 9-3 in district play last season with all three losses coming at the hands of Maclay. Head Coach Chris Anders knows to get out of Tallahassee the Timberwolves have got to take care of Maclay. “Maclay is our biggest game…rivalry and a game that is significant to my team…bigger than the PV game.”
He’ll be looking for senior leadership on offense from Ray Spaulding and Ganzon Limcango. A pair of senior midfielders, Keaton Cotes and Mathew Ellison will need to get it done between the boxes. Defensively, senior Sam Johnson along with junior Caleb Hunter will be working in front of junior goalie Zeke Joiner. This team’s goal is to be the best team in Tally. That is a title they’ll have to take away from Maclay.
Lincoln has a mix of youth and experience this season. “We will need to have players step up on the defensive end and in goal,” said Head Coach Mark Williams. The Trojans graduated the meat of the defensive unit last year. Because they are young on the defensive end the team is going to need scoring and leadership from seniors Alex Bynum (middie) and Andrew Meyere (attack.)
Leon is looking to improve on a 2-15 season a year ago. Returning some experience is the first step. “We have 13 returning varsity players and will be looking for a few players from last years JV roster, as well as a few new athletes, to step up and contribute this season,” commented Head Coach Marco White. He is looking for leadership from seniors Trey Schulte and Trevor McCall at attack. Look for senior Danny Manausa and sophomore Quentin Parker to key the midfield. The Lions are a little young at defense. Expect sophomore Shane Shively and junior Hugh Merryday to get the tough assignments this year. Coach White also thinks we could see some big things from a newcomer and speedster, junior Michael Zhu. Zhu, a mulit-sport athlete, is expected to handle some of the face off duties and make a big impact.
Although Coach White acknowledges the district runs though Maclay, who has not lost to a district opponent since 2011, he knows you have to get to the big game to have a chance. His goal for the season, “…beat Lincoln, beat Chiles, reach the district 1 championship game, and have fun.”
It sounds like fun is in the near future as they start the season hot with a trip to Jacksonville for the Moe’s Classic. “We will be playing a string of 3 games in 4 days, with games against Stanton Prep, Paxon, and Providence.” The follow that up with a spring break trip to Pensacola to play Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Catholic looking to avenge some bad losses. One big test on the schedule is a home game against Episcopal on March 24.
Back to the main preview page
