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All-Star Attendance Disappoints Coach

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By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 15, 2007

Updated: 12/13/2007 06:11 pm

PLANT CITY - Maybe it was the fact that Tampa Catholic was playing for a state title at the same time. Or maybe it was a lack of publicity.

The Nov. 8 Hillsborough County All-Star Football Game fell short of expectations for the man who was the East team's head coach, Durant High's Mike Gottman.

"It was ... OK," he said. "In my opinion, there needs to be better advertising of the game. Basically the players' families came to the game, and that's good, but not many other people were in the stands."

The contest, played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, was won by the Western All-Stars 21-13. Gottman's East team featured five players from Durant and three from Plant City High.

There certainly was talent on display worth the price of admission. Probably a little bit too much on the West side, from Gottman's point of view.

"Both of their quarterbacks Jefferson's Zack Grossi and Middleton's Deandre Pressley were hard to handle. Derek Winter, the receiver from Plant, he is a special player, and the offensive line was huge," he said.

The West gained players from Plant and Hillsborough, two of the county's best teams, when those squads were eliminated from the playoffs. The East did not get a similar benefit since Armwood and Tampa Catholic were still in the playoffs leading up to the all-star game.
Armwood was eliminated the night before the all-star game, losing 34-14 to Booker T. Washington in the Class 4A semifinals. Tampa Catholic fell 28-7 to Madison County Nov. 8 in the state 2A title game.

Gottman faced the frustration of trying to get his Durant players a lot of time but also making sure to take care of other schools' talented athletes.

Eric Councill made a few strong tackles on defense, and three Cougar offensive linemen, Grant Sizemore, Josh Piascik and David Zanato, got in for a good number of snaps.

Unfortunately, tight end Royce Rose did not catch a pass.

"We tried to get him a play but the West put on some good pressure and the ball was underthrown," Gottman said.

Plant City High's Mark Popek didn't play. He twisted his knee in practice and was held out as a precaution.

Arsenio Durant, another Raider senior, got in some snaps at defensive tackle, and running back Keith Dawson saw a handful of carries.

"It was tough for Keith. He didn't really have many creases to run through," Plant City High head coach Kevin Kelley said.

Most of the seniors who played in the all-star game hope to be announcing in February that they have been chosen to play football at the college level.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampa trib.com.

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