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Hernando Today

Tough Road to Hoe

Photo by JOE DiCRISTOFALO

Central High’s third-year Head Coach Cliff Lohrey has produced back-to-back County Championships, plus a district title in 2006.

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By MARTY MILLER

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: September 4, 2008

Updated: 09/04/2008 08:22 am

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 left?

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 has 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 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, 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.

2008 Central Bears Varsity Football Schedule
Date Opponent Site Time
09-05 Hernando* Away 7:30 p.m.
09-12 Leesburg Away 7:30 p.m.
09-19 Citrus Away 7:30 p.m.
09-26 Ridgewood# Home 7:30 p.m.
10-03 Lecanto Home 7:30 p.m.
10-10 Springstead*# Away 7:30 p.m.
10-17 Bye
10-24 Land O'Lakes# Home 7:30 p.m.
10-31 Tarpon Springs# Home 7:30 p.m.
11-07 NPR-River Ridge Away 7:30 p.m.
11-14 Nature Coast Technical* Home 7:30 p.m.
11-12 1st Round FHSAA Playoffs TBA 7:30 p.m.
* Denotes Hernando County game
# Denotes Class 4A, District 8 game

2008 BROOKSVILLE-CENTRAL BEARS VARSITY FOOTBALL ROSTER

NO. NAME HGT WGT POSITIONS YR
04 Dan LaValle 5'10" 150 WR/DB 12
05 Zach Rice 5'11" 190 FB/DE 11
06 Travis Tyson 6'0" 190 RB/LB 12
07 Steven Read 6'0" 170 WR/SF 11
08 Anthony Hamrick 5'11" 160 OLB 12
10 Dallas Waugh 6'2" 205 QB 12
11 Artie Gartner 5'10" 150 WR/DB 11
12 Joe Farace 5'11" 175 OLB 11
14 Kevin Gibbemeyer 5'11" 175 WR/OLB 12
20 Nick Rosario 5'9" 155 DB 10
21 Matt Redford 6'0" 170 DB 12
22 Austin Forte 5'11" 188 RB/SS 12
29 Jeff Reynolds 5'11" 173 OLB 12
30 Jeff Cario 5'11" 195 DB 12
33 A.J. Torres 5'9" 190 RB/OLB 12
36 Corey French 6'0" 191 FB/DE 11
39 Guan Whitsett 5'8" 145 DB 11
40 Dan May 6'2" 205 FB/MLB 12
45 Shaqueal Frazier 5'11" 158 WR/SF 11
49 Alex Jang 5'7" 193 FB/DE 11
50 Nick Colaiacomo 5'6" 200 OT/MLB 12
54 Brooks Reid 6'2" 260 OG/DT 12
55 Brody Judd 5'9" 170 OLB 11
56 Jesse Flowers 6'2" 220 OT/DE 12
58 Sam Robinson 5'10" 195 CT/ILB 12
60 Adam Bowles 5'9" 222 DT 11
61 Broderick Fisher 5'9" 240 DT 10
62 Jordan D'Amato 5'8" 220 DT 12
70 Patrick Scott 6'1" 233 DT 11
72 Clifton Davis 6'2" 255 OG/DE 11
73 Conrad Kunisch 6'0" 230 DT 11
74 Steven Pearson 5'8" 235 OG/LB 10
75 Tyler Mincevich 6'0" 180 LB 11
76 Kevin Grier 6'3" 300 OG/DT 12
77 Daniel Keigans 6'1" 219 OL/DL 10
78 Aaron Kaltenbach 6'1" 243 DL 11
80 Marcus Kissam 5'10" 156 DE 11
82 Bobby Lepre 5'7" 170 RB/LB 11
84 Trevor Campbell 6'3" 170 WR/OLB 12
88 Paul Robinson 6'1" 150 WR/DB 11
89 Jose Morales 6'0" 150 WR/DB 10

Head Coach: Cliff Lohrey (3rd Year: 14-7 overall)
Assistant Coaches: Kevin Ballard, Damien Clark,
John Hill, Dustin Kupcik, Joe Nestor.
 

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