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Hernando Today

War Hawks Prep for Eagles Swooping In

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By MARTY MILLER

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: May 30, 2008

Updated:

Tonight in Pinellas County, Springstead High Head Football Coach Bill Vonada will unveil the 2008 edition of his team beginning at 7 p.m. in a spring classic game at Seminole Osceola High School.

And while a fan of the Eagles would probably not be able to tell anyone the score of that game in a few months, to Vonada and his coaching staff, the game does mean something.

"We certainly don't go into as deep in detail preparing for this game like we would in the fall," said the Eagles mentor. "We look for situations that we need to practice for."

For the second straight year Springstead finished at 5-5 and failed to make the state high school playoffs. But this year, the Eagles return many of last year's standouts.

Quarterback James Mahla will again run the team while leading rusher Mike Greco, all-purpose playing Ben Noury and eight of the top 10 leading tacklers from last year will play tonight.

What to expect

But to Vonada, the result of the game Friday isn't as important as the chance to see what his players will do against another team during a game.

"You can find out who the guys are and who can perform under pressure," Vonada said. "You can start to evaluate that.

"But it's not to the full extent because as much as you can talk about how we're taking the field against another colored jersey, it's not the fall."

Vonda, who begins his 10th season as the Eagles head coach, says he wants to see certain things Friday.

"You're going to see some guys step up that you might not have noticed before," said Vonada. "Some do that more in a game situation than in practice."

Last week the Eagles held a scrimmage, but Vonada believes that you find out more about your team when you put on the pads against someone else.

"The scrimmage last week went pretty well, certainly we would like to see some improvement from last week to this week."

The game will mostly feature varsity players, but Vonada said he and his coaches plan to substitute a lot.

"We're going to substitute at will," said Vonada. "We're going to play our front-line guys, and there is a big mix of them, until we see enough."

The Eagle coach also says that while many positions have leaders, a spring game like tonight's game could change maters before next fall.

"The great thing is that we've had a lot of great competition for spots this spring," he said. "That's the one great thing about this. If the guy is a front-runner (for a position), he knows the guy behind him will push him and that he has to pick it up.

"I think that's one thing we're going to be able to evaluate Friday, we'll see who really gets it done on the field when the clock is running."

Going to the game?

Directions to the Springstead-Seminole Osceola spring football game which starts at 7 p.m. tonight.

Take State Road 50 to U. S. 19 and go south past Clearwater. Turn right on Bryan Dairy Road and travel four miles, and then turn left on 98th Street North and the school is three miles on the left.

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