Bradenton Christian will take on a new look in coach Dan Fort’s first season

It was only the third day of practice — and really the second because rain washed away opening day for most teams around in Manatee County on Monday — and Dan Fort was already feeling better about his most uncertain spot on the field. His two quarterbacks competing for the starting job are a rising freshman and a soon-to-be sophomore with a grand total of nine varsity pass attempts between them. Expectations are naturally tempered.

But inside Bouwer Athletic Complex on Wednesday, Fort began to see progress. Both quarterbacks are traditional, in-the-pocket passers, and Bradenton Christian’s offense won’t ask them to do much at first. Before the end of the first week, Fort said, the Panther quarterbacks have already started to understand the offense.

“It came in, obviously, as a question mark because we have a lot of youth there,” Fort said Thursday as BCS was wrapping up a preseason photo day at Bradenton Christian School. “They’re beginning to understand their reads, so I actually feel a lot more comfortable than I did even when we started the fall.

“I’m pretty solid that we’re going to have somebody there who can be a game manager and make plays.”

The two-man competition, which should play out during the next few weeks before the Panthers travel to St. Petersburg Catholic for a preseason game Aug. 18, pits sophomore Zach Seagreaves against freshman Alec Lucas for the task of succeeding Dominick Otteni. Seagreaves was the varsity backup last year, completing four of his nine pass attempts for 22 yards. Lucas played with the middle school team.

This leaves BCS with all the hallmarks of a team on the verge of a rebuild. There’s a first-year head coach and the challenges that entails. There’s uncertainty under center, where a productive quarterback has departed via graduation. After reaching the postseason for the first time in school history a year ago, it could take some time for Bradenton Christian to return to the form it reached to qualify for the Sunshine State Athletic Conference’s playoffs.

It will start with maintaining some of the Panthers’ offensive production. BCS boasted one of the most productive passing attacks in Manatee County last year, averaging 216.7 yards per game and connecting for 22 passing touchdowns. Losing its starting quarterback and No. 1 wide receiver means Bradenton Christian will take a slightly different approach in 2017, leaning on an offensive line with three of five starters back and the top two running backs returning.

“With two experienced running backs,” Seagreaves said, “it makes my job a whole lot easier when they can get 5-10 yards a play.”

Junior Travis Windham and sophomore Jordan Miller will once again take on the bulk of the carries at running back, but neither led the team in yardage last year while Otteni crossed the 500-yard mark on 101 carries. The middle of the field is more experienced for the Panthers than it has been in a few years, so offensive balance could return after a couple pass-happy seasons.

Success will ultimately hinge on executing a simple game plan. Seagreaves said his primary focus has been on accuracy, getting short passes off to methodically push the ball down the field. There are question marks, but there are also reasons for optimism.

“Our big thing with that is, can we protect the quarterback?” Fort asked. “If we can protect whoever’s playing quarterback, and they can make correct reads and get the ball out, then I think we’ll be just fine.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 8:21 PM with the headline "Bradenton Christian will take on a new look in coach Dan Fort’s first season."