Tritons kick off spring classics
After nearly three weeks of practices, high school spring football enters the final phase of the spring “season” beginning Saturday night.
The Mariner Tritons are the first to play their spring classic game when they host Lemon Bay at Tony McKenna Field at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The rest of the Cape area teams are waiting until next week – Bishop Verot hosts Port Charlotte (Thursday); Lakewood Ranch at Island Coast, Ida Baker at Riverdale, Lehigh at North Fort Myers, and Cape Coral at Golden Gate all play Friday games.
“We’ll be the only game in town or around Lee County that night as far as I know,” said Tritons coach Chad O’Brien, who is focused on shaking last season’s 1-9 record.
“The kids who are staying I don’t want them to forget last year, I want it to motivate us,” O’Brien said. “We’ve changed the way we practice and the kids are changing they way they approach practice.”
O’Brien used the spring to strengthen the team’s fundamentals and understanding of what is expected of them.
“Our fundamentals are much better than the beginning,” O’Brien said. “We are seeing that they know how to line up correctly, not throwing a lot of fancy stuff at them and increasing their football IQ.”
O’Brien has been impressed with the work his offensive unit has done throughout the spring sessions.
“They have improved tremendously,” he said, “but we’ll still be relatively young in the fall with juniors.”
Two of those juniors-to-be who have stepped up are quarterback J.T. Etnoyer and runningback Donovan McAmis, both of whom started last season as sophomores.
“They are leading by example and have been vocal leaders on the practice field,” O’Brien said.
Defensive end Justin Emmons has two NCAA Division 1 scholarship offers in hand and he should receive more if he keeps raising his performance level.
“He has had a tremendous spring so far,” O’Brien said of Emmons. “More offers will come rolling in if he plays like he is capable.”
Lemon Bay will bring a whole new set of challenges for the Tritons Saturday night.
“This is a good game for us to have,” said O’Brien. “They are a tough program. They run the wing-T which is hard to match up against and use a 3-3 defense.”
The Tritons close out the “season” with final team meetings on Monday.