Around the county in
30 days
A daily spring preview
of every football program
in the county.
Riverview
Coach: Bruce Gifford
(first season)
Last season: 5-5
District: 6A-6 (Durant, Sarasota, Sarasota
Riverview)
Key losses: RB Jahleel Addae, DL Quincy Barr,
OL Rashaun Byrd, TE Orson Charles, LB Tamaha
Halaufia
Who's back: OL Ryan Gascon, TE Reggie Jackson, RB Eric Lampe, QB/PK Alex O'Regan, LB Devin Ray
What's new: Gifford. After spending the past three seasons as a Sharks assistant (two as defensive coordinator), Gifford, 45, is taking over. This is his first head coaching position, but the Hillsborough County native has two decades of coaching experience. Riverview graduated a ton of talent, with more than 20 seniors departing. In the spring jamboree against East Bay, only nine of the Sharks' 22 starters were varsity players last year. The good news for the Sharks is that they have a strong core of seniors and, as usual, have no shortage of exceptional athletes. Ray (6 feet, 220 pounds), a three-year starter at middle linebacker, arguably is the team's top college prospect and has Division I-A potential. On offense, Riverview hopes a switch from the wing-T to the I-formation will spread things out a little bit and give the team's playmakers more space to make things happen. Lampe, a 5-11, 190-pound hard-nosed runner, and Armwood transfer Ronnie Johnson, one of the team's fastest players, give the Sharks a formidable running back combo. At quarterback, O'Regan and Jarid Heffers will battle for the starting spot. O'Regan is the team's placekicker as well — and a good one at that.
Audible: "Things are very promising. We have pretty good athletes, and we've got a pretty dang good chance to get in the playoffs with this bunch." — Gifford
Did you know?: Gifford played linebacker and special teams at Brandon, where he was a 1980 graduate.
Spring result
Riverview 13, East Bay 12
2008 schedule
Aug. 29 at
Bloomingdale (classic)
Sept. 5 vs. East Bay
Sept. 19 at Plant City
Sept. 26 vs. Plant
Oct. 03 at Hillsborough
Oct. 10 vs.
Sarasota Riverview
Oct. 16 at Newsome
Oct. 24 vs. Sarasota
Oct. 31 vs. Wharton
Nov. 7 at Durant
Nov. 14 vs. Brandon
Keith Niebuhr,
Times staff writer
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