Ravens Football Reloads With New Coach and Prospects

It was a spring of tumult for the Alonso High School football team. Many of their best players graduated, the head coach stepped down, the school vaulted from Class 5A to Class 8A, and half the teams in their district changed.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to look far for a new head coach.

Brian Emanuel, the former offensive coordinator, has stepped up as the Ravens head coach. Before coming to Alonso last year, he spent 11 years coaching throughout Hillsborough County.

Neither did they have to look far to replace some of the talent lost to transfer or graduation. Robert Davis and Marcus Neuman return for their senior years and will be team leaders on defense.

The class move and re-districting didn’t hurt Alonso too much. They get to keep Plant but Gaither and Chamberlain move out to be replaced by Wharton and Bloomingdale. The new Class 8A District 6 looks like this:

School:                        2010 record(district record)

Alonso                         4-7(2-1)

Plant                            12-3(3-0)

Wharton                      4-7(1-2)

Bloomingdale              2-9(1-3)

It’s basically the same district. Wharton and Bloomingdale had a combined record of 6-16, while Gaither and Chamberlain’s combined record was 5-16-1 last season.

Their biggest mountain to climb is still Plant. Since 2004, Alonso has played Plant five times and lost every game by a combined score of 194-62.

“It’s not really a rivalry until we win one,” said Emanuel. “But it’s a good aiming point.”

While the prospects of winning the district are dim, the prospects of making the playoffs are not so dim. Last year, the Ravens got in despite a 4-7 overall record. The two wins against Gaither and Chamberlain were just enough. This year, if they can get past Bloomingdale on October 6 and Wharton on November 4, they have a good chance to make the playoffs again.

They will play long-time rivals Gaither and Sickles in the season opener and finale but they will not be district games. Other teams on their schedule include: Durant, King, Freedom, Plant City, and Tampa Catholic.