Season of transition for Tiger Sharks

The Port St. Joe High School football season can be neatly divided into two chapters.

In the first, covering the opening month of the season, will see the Tiger Sharks facing a daunting schedule including several tough road contests as a much of a young team learns what varsity high school football is all about.

The second chapter will hinge on the first and how quickly the Tiger Sharks advance on the growth curve before facing a final two months spent primarily at home and against the teeth of the District 2-1A schedule.

“We have lost 30 seniors the last two years and that hurts a lot,” said Port St. Joe coach Vern Barth. “We are going to have to build on the little successes. We are going to stay positive, even if we take a few lumps early.

“We have stay healthy and grow in the first half of the season and if we do that when the second half comes we should be okay.”

A key to that good health is certainly senior Calvin Pryor, one of the top NCAA Division I prospects in Northwest Florida.

Pryor, a threat to score on offense, defense and special teams, will be critical to any chance Port St. Joe has to advance to the playoffs.

Barth said Pryor will play a variety of roles this year, though the coach wants to reduce the amount of time Pryor spends at quarterback since that is effectively holstering his most lethal weapon by having Pryor distributing the ball to others.

“Calvin and (lineman) Chris Foxworth, we looked at their work ethic and their leadership abilities and we have already appointed them captains, Calvin on the offensive side of the ball and Chris on the defensive side,” Barth said. “It is crucial for Calvin to stay healthy. But we need him not only to stay healthy but to stay positive.

“We’ll move Calvin around; give him different roles at wideout and running back. We will use him as a decoy because every defense we face will want to know where he is at all times.”

And while the Tiger Sharks have speed and experience at the skill positions, a callow line will need to grow in a hurry against stiff competition for Port St. Joe to succeed.

“We have good speed and it is nice having running backs with some experience,” Barth said. “I haven’t had to work with them a whole lot.

“We are just very young up front. We are young and not very big. Our defensive line is still by committee. We are still trying to figure it out. On both sides we are going to keep rotating guys in and keep fresh legs in there.”

The Tiger Shark roster lists six seniors, six juniors, 11 sophomores and six freshmen.

On offense, the front line will have Ricky Pennington and Foxworth at tackle, with Daniel May and Chase Galloway also getting time.

Dusty Richter and Dallas Burke will get the majority of snaps at guard, but May will also see rotate inside.

Arion Ward and the coach’s son, Vern Barth, will rotate at center.

Outside of Foxworth and Galloway, the rest of the line is underclassmen, with Barth a freshman.

The strength is in the backfield where senior Quincy Welch, Trevor Lang and Jacobie Chambers, all of whom saw significant playing time last year, join Pryor.

Coach Barth also raved about what he has seen from Dorian North and Ramello Zacarro will also tote the pigskin.

The quarterback battle has been fierce in practice between Trevor Lang and Jesse Hyman, with Lang taking a slight edge last week, Coach Barth said.

Burke could seem some time at wide receiver in addition to sophomore Bobby Kopinsky and freshman Natrone Lee.

Galloway and Foxworth will also anchor the defensive line which as Coach Barth noted, remains a work in progress, with his son, Jacobie Jones, another ninth-grader, and Ward also likely to see significant time on the defensive line.

Ramello Zacarro and Burke will man the inside linebacker spots with Richter, Joe Love, Lee and Kopinsky rotating on the outside.

The secondary will be manned by a combination of Pryor, Welch, Chambers, Lang, Hyman and North.

“We are very flexible this year,” Coach Barth said. “We have a bunch of young guys who have worked hard.

“I would say one of our strengths is we have a real good work ethic. The kids have worked hard in practice and are enthusiastic. Our theme this year is ‘do the right thing,’ not just on the football field but off of it as well. This is a very coachable group of kids.”

Kids who will face a brutal opening stretch after tonight’s Kickoff Classic against Bozeman and Arnold High at Bozeman.

The Tiger Sharks entertain Bay, a Class 3A school, on Sept. 3 before traveling to play Rutherford, another 3A school, and then returning home to face Interlachen, another larger school.

The Tiger Sharks went 7-3 overall last year, losing a playoff spot during a District 2-1A shootout.

“We’ll need a great October and November if we have any chance for the playoffs,” he said. “After watching everybody in the spring I think Liberty County looks the most solid all the way around. They’re young in terms of experience, but all juniors and seniors.

“Blountstown is very, very solid; those two stand out in my mind. We may surprise some people down the road, but I think the sleeper is going to be Franklin County. They definitely could surprise some people in this district.”

Please place in box:

2009 results (7-3, 4-1)

Port St. Joe 19, Bay 17

Rutherford 31, Port St. Joe 13

Port St. Joe 42, Interlachen 13

Port St. Joe 20, Liberty County 12

Port St. Joe 47, Franklin County 20

Port St. Joe 15, West Gadsden County 6

Blountstown 20, Port St. Joe 14

Port St. Joe 23, Marianna 22

Port St. Joe 28, Wewahitchka 0

Maclay 38, Port St. Joe 27

2010 schedule

Aug. 26: at Bozeman (jamboree includes Arnold)

Sept. 2: Bay

Sept. 9: at Rutherford

Sept. 17: Interlachen

Sept. 24: at Liberty County

Oct. 1: idle

Oct. 8: at Franklin County

Oct. 15: at West Gadsden

Oct. 22: Blountstown

Oct. 29: Marianna

Nov. 5: Wewahitchka

Nov. 12: Maclay