TAMPA — With red, moistened eyes, Mike DePue’s players carried their retiring 60-year-old coach off Jack Peters Field late Friday night. Ideally, they would have preferred to drive him off via charter bus, venturing a few exits past surreality, a stoplight or two down from euphoria, and smack into his ...
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Fri. Dec. 07, 2012 at 11:53 p.m. | Joey Knight
TAMPA — For some of Robinson High School’s football players, the current pitch will get no more feverish. If Friday night lights contain a dimmer switch, it’s this reality: When Robinson’s season concludes, so will some careers. “To see the kids who maybe struggle a little bit in life get ...
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Thu. Dec. 06, 2012 at 5:43 p.m. | Joey Knight
TAMPA — Mike DePue was already standing behind the podium and the presenter of the next award wasn’t even in the ballroom. So, as he’s told his players to do countless times over the years, DePue followed the script. “The winner of the Billy Turner 2012 Coach of the Year ...
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Thu. Dec. 06, 2012 at 5:07 p.m. | Joel Anderson
TAMPA — Like Bobby Bowden, to whom he delivered bus loads of five-star recruits as FSU’s recruiting coordinator, Tallahassee Godby coach Ronnie Cottrell is an Alabama native with the Southern twang and self-effacing nature to prove it. But even Cottrell, who spent eight years in Bowden’s employment, isn’t bashful about ...
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Thu. Dec. 06, 2012 at 12:06 p.m. | Joey Knight
TAMPA — A half-mile from the heavily guarded entrance to MacDill Air Force Base stands an equally sturdy five-man fortress. Robinson’s senior quintet of offensive linemen — last seen pushing Pasco’s defenders back across Dale Mabry — plays its 26th game as a starting unit in Friday’s state semifinals against ...
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Wed. Dec. 05, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. | Joey Knight
TAMPA — Bobby Knight had his chair. Steve Spurrier has his visor. Mike DePue has me. At the end of the day, you will remember Mike’s wins at Robinson High, and the state semifinals, and the crusty demeanor. But let’s be honest. You’ll remember me most: The ponytail. Listen, Mike ...
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Mon. Dec. 03, 2012 at 4:49 p.m. | John C. Cotey
Five things we learned Friday night1. No chinks in the armor: Robinson's 49-21 victory over Pasco showed it has no glaring holes that Tallahassee Godby, its state semifinal foe, can expose. We knew about the Knights' speed, assertiveness up front and opportunistic defense, but the kicking game caught us off ...
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Sat. Dec. 01, 2012 at 5:37 p.m. | Times Staff
Each week, our Home-Team staffers will nominate male and female Hot Shot athletes from each of the counties we cover, then we turn the voting over to our readers. These nominations span Saturday, Nov. 24 through Friday, Nov. 30. The winners get a free T-shirt and bragging rights over every ...
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Sat. Dec. 01, 2012 at 2:14 a.m. | Times Staff
photo gallery TAMPA — Even as the stragglers into Jack Peters Field were making their way to the last remaining bleacher spots, the Robinson defense that had scored a state-record 13 touchdowns watched Pasco pull the trick. Ninety-nine seconds had elapsed in this Class 5A region final, Brandon Ray had ...
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Sat. Dec. 01, 2012 at 12:10 a.m. | Joey Knight
One community could be described as rural countryside, the other urban waterside. One has an antique district, the other an Air Force base. Yet Dade City and Port Tampa — home to Pasco and Robinson, respectively — bear one striking similarity: Each has one high school around which the community ...
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Thu. Nov. 29, 2012 at 3:32 p.m. | Times Staff
Friday's region football finals 5A: Pasco (12-0) at Robinson (11-1), 7:30 TV: BHSN Winner faces: Tallahassee Godby/Jacksonville Bishop Kenny winner in Dec. 7 state semifinals. Pasco or Robinson would host. How they got here: Pasco d. Citra North Marion 34-10, d. Gainesville Eastside 52-0. Robinson d. Port Orange Atlantic 41-8, ...
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Thu. Nov. 29, 2012 at 2:02 p.m. | Times Staff
TAMPA — They will meet at some point Friday. They will crash into each other, helmet to shoulder pad, shoulder pad to chest. The earth may not move — or it might — but the play will, either straight into the collision or speedily around it, like a car navigating ...
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Thu. Nov. 29, 2012 at 12:58 p.m. | John C. Cotey
TAMPA — Even in the pubescent stages of his football career, the powerful, prolific tailback gave all the credit to his line. Never mind how corny the line was, even for an eighth-grader. Zain Gilmore had heard it in a movie and thought he’d try it out on the brown-eyed ...
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Wed. Nov. 28, 2012 at 9:21 p.m. | Joey Knight
Tampa Bay high school football fans have been clamoring for a Robinson-Pasco showdown in the Class 5A region final since the start of the season. They’ll get their wish Friday when the Pirates travel to Port Tampa. Here’s a look at how the teams match up: How they got here ...
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Wed. Nov. 28, 2012 at 7:57 p.m. | Times Staff
These are the high school football playoffs. They are designed to get tougher each week, designed to culminate in crowning the best team in each classification. But if any of Tampa Bay’s teams makes a state final this season, it probably won’t be the hardest game of the season. That ...
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Mon. Nov. 26, 2012 at 6:38 p.m. | John C. Cotey