No easing into schedule as new era opens at Manatee

For many Manatee High football players, last week’s Kickoff Classic at Seffner Armwood was a new experience.

It also was a preseason matchup against a loaded Armwood squad that broke fall camp with expectations of competing for a state championship in December.

And that conversation – discussing the best teams in the state – usually includes the Hurricanes.

This season isn’t different, though, and it may take time for Manatee to work its way into that type of talk considering the difficult opening stretch that awaits the young Hurricanes.

“When you’re new on the block, you’ve got to speed it up,” first-year Manatee head coach Yusuf Shakir said. “You’ve got to pick up the tempo and go at a fast pace.”

Armwood defeated the Hurricanes 19-0, with the Hawks pulling away in the second half after leading 9-0 at the break.

“I’m really proud of the whole team by how physical we were,” Shakir said. “We didn’t back down from the physical challenge. And that’s always important. We played hard for four quarters. That’s one thing you always want to see as a coach, especially when you go to a new place: How hard do the kids play? And a school with this pride and tradition, that’s the expectation, to play hard.”

Upperclassmen gathered for a Saturday meeting after the loss to Armwood, with players such as Josh Booker, Sir Williams, Cedrick Waters, Mike Collins, Ryan O’Neill and Brandon Dossey discussing what happened against Armwood and how to rally the team together for this Friday’s home opener against another difficult opponent: perennial state power Lakeland.

“This is a tough team coming in,” Dossey said. “... We talked about how we need to push each other.”

To improve the physical brand of football, the Canes hit the sleds during early-week practices.

It’s also an adjustment period for players adapting to a new system on short notice.

Shakir didn’t have the luxury of spring football to implement a system after getting hired a week after the spring game. The summer doesn’t allow for contact drills, and fall camp doesn’t provide lots of contact-related practices before games start.

Still, the goal remains to continue to improve in hopes of becoming a title contender by the end of the season.

The Armwood game was the first time Shakir saw his team match up against an opponent, and he said he learned a lot about his players and what areas needed to be addressed.

“Offense always takes a little time to gel, longer than defense, so I knew that going in,” Shakir said. “(There’s) not too many defenses that we’re going to see as good as Armwood. Not that fast and big and that physical. So I liked how we stood in there.”

With some experienced players – linebacker Brett Gerber missed the Armwood game with a foot injury and isn’t expected back for a few weeks – and practically the entire team getting its first varsity taste, the youthful Canes received a trial by fire.

This week’s opponent, Lakeland, won’t be any easier.

“We have to match their physicality and they’re going to be big on both sides of the ball up front,” Shakir said. “So that’s the thing. If you get that, we’ve got a shot. That’s my thing every week. If you match people’s physicality, you’ve got a shot. You cannot not be physical and not be tough and expect to compete.”

This story was originally published August 23, 2017 at 2:53 PM with the headline "No easing into schedule as new era opens at Manatee."