Spent the better part of a long afternoon in the county seat Wednesday, hoping to catch a serious case of old-fashioned small-town state-playoffs high-school-football fever. Came away without so much as a sniffle. ...more

December 5, 2008

Hours after his squad had knocked off Mulberry High, 10-0, in Friday's Class 2A regional final, the full impact of that result finally hit Tampa Catholic football coach Bob Henriquez: For the second straight year, the Crusaders (9-3) have reached the state semifinals. And with one more victory, they will return to the championship game. ...more

December 3, 2008

Plant City High's Duran Lowe, who is verbally committed to Wake Forest University, was the lone Raider named to the First Team when Western Conference all-star squads were announced last week. ...more

December 3, 2008

On Thanksgiving Day, Chamberlain High's football players gathered in their locker room before an early morning practice to share what they were thankful for. When it became his turn to speak, head coach Billy Turner had to fight back tears. As he looked into his players' faces, he told them that as he stood on the school's field that morning, his coaching career flashed before his eyes. Turner, 71, has 254 career wins, the winningest active football coach in Hillsborough County. He's in his 49th season, the past 30 at Chamberlain. Before this season, Turner said it was a strong possibility he would retire after this year. On Monday, he reaffirmed it. ...more

December 2, 2008

A football slipped from the Mulberry quarterback's hand, and as fate would have it, Tampa Catholic defensive lineman Michael Aguila snagged the floating ball and rumbled 25 yards for a touchdown: a touchdown with 2 minutes remaining that made it 10-0, which ended up the final score of the Class 2A state quarterfinal. ...more

November 29, 2008

The Avon Park and Sebring high school marching bands faced challenging conditions and formidable competition at Saturday's Florida Marching Band Coalition state semifinals. ...more

November 28, 2008

A day after downing their Thanksgiving meals, both the Central Bears and Nature Coast Sharks will take the court this weekend in a pair of holiday tournaments. ...more

November 28, 2008

The 12 state championship volleyball banners hanging in a blue-and-white gym in Tampa speak volumes. ...more

November 23, 2008

If Plant volleyball coach Leanna Taylor has one signature characteristic, it's being prepared. ...more

November 22, 2008

This has to be the year, right? Each of the past three seasons, the Berkeley Prep volleyball team has fallen short of a state title. Each year, the end came courtesy of four-time defending state champion Orlando Lake Highland Prep. ...more

November 22, 2008