Manatee hopes to unveil an explosive offense in its spring game

A year ago, Manatee High School’s offense was surrounded with question marks.

Now it is locked, loaded and ready to go.

The Hurricanes have the area’s most productive returning quarterback, A.J. Colagiovanni, who will be throwing to Tarique Milton, the area’s most coveted wide receiver. Throw in running back Josh Booker, a transfer from Sarasota and an athletic offensive line spearheaded by highly touted Seth Walter, and Manatee has a lot to feel good about.

The Canes will put that offense on display Friday night at home against Clearwater Countryside in a spring football game where everything is live. Manatee head coach John Booth is excited about a unit that has the potential to be explosive.

“We’ve had a very productive spring and have good speed on the offensive side of the ball. The level of execution has been been pretty high,” Booth said. “We are keeping everything live in this game because we want to keep it as real as possible. We want to see our players execute and see how some of our young kids at key positions react.”

Colagiovanni threw for 2,500 yards and 21 touchdowns with only seven interceptions last season as a junior and had a 107.8 quarterback rating. One of his favorite targets was Milton, who led the Canes with 855 receiving yards (17.1 per catch) and had eight touchdown catches.

The 5-foot-11, 160 pounder has been clocked at 4.39 seconds in the 40-yard dash on a track with hand-held time and 4.4 on grass. He recently received an offer from Louisville to go with those from Michigan State, Temple, Kentucky, USF, Central Florida and Kent State among others.

“The chemistry I have with A.J. has gotten better and I want that to continue. We have both matured in our relationship and I am working on my route running to get in and out of routes in a much smoother manner,” Milton said. “The goal for all of us is the same. We want to win a state championship.”

The Canes lost jack-of-all-trades Kavious Price and Reggie Carter from the receiving corps, but return Javarious Pollock, who is expected to put up big numbers. Milton, Pollock and Keyon Fordham are in the mix to return punts.

Booker can make everything easier for the offense. The 5-11, 215 pounder ran for 1,132 yards last year as a sophomore, averaging 6.86 yards per carry with 11 touchdowns. He replaces Lorenz Allen, a smaller back, who gained 1,200 yards on the ground with 15 TDs.

“We are excited about Josh and his ability. He is a physical back, who we clocked at 4.5 and brings speed and power,” Booth said. “We wanted to see how his game transfers to a spread offense. There was a little bit of a learning curve, but he has done a nice job. He is very coach-able.”

The 6-4, 240 pound Walter is the lone returning starter on the offensive line with George Lardas out this spring because of a concussion. The projected starting lineup has him and Zach Reeves (5-10, 235) at guard and Colton Deiser (5-9, 272) at center. Josh Muldoon and Jeremiah Barthalow are slated to man the tackle spots.

“I am the only returning starter so it makes me in charge. Everyone is asking me what to do on certain plays and I try to help them,” Walter said. “They are young, but I have confidence in them. Most of them know what they are doing. For me, I like to pull around fast and use my speed.”

The defense lacks experience, but there is talent with returning starters Garrett Ware (linebacker), Jake Main (safety) and Sir Williams (cornerback). Peyton Rosier and Keyvus Kendrick, who played about 50 percent of the snaps last year, return to the defensive line. Matt Mcaleer, who started at linebacker last year, is moving to defensive end.

“Our strength is the in the secondary with two starters returning and about five guys rotating back there,” defensive coordinator Chad Choate said. “Our linebackers are young, but they are flying around and learning the game. Our biggest concern is lack of experience, but skill wise we are fine.”

The Canes lost kicker/punter Nick Null and long snapper Andrew Zink, but special teams coach Dennis Stallard is confident he will find replacements. Daniel Reyna is vying for the kicking duties and Hamady Diallo for punting. Bathie Thiam, up from the JV team, could do both.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 12:54 AM with the headline "Manatee hopes to unveil an explosive offense in its spring game."