COMMENTARY: To potentially finish with a winning season for the first time since 2016, Palm Harbor’s football team must win tonight. But it’s a task the Hurricanes can handle.
Tonight it’s Palm Harbor (4-3) traveling down to Seminole (3-5) to take on the Warhawks at their on-campus facility. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PHU has more all-time wins against Seminole (11) than any other school it has ever played.
NOTE: See the full statistical breakdown at the end of the story
This young PHU team has seen two top players go down with injuries (Jr. LB/RB Gunner Fodor and Jr./RB Mykehl Boebert), yet it is still in a position to get that first winning season in six years.
I’m not going to lie. Considering the graduation and transfers from last year’s 4-6 team, I thought this would be a rebuilding season, maybe a 2-8 type year. It certainly would have been understandable.
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Yet here the ‘Canes are, with a path to potentially do something great to set up next year — when the group looks like it really has the potential to turn a page this program has rarely turned in its 26 years.
But first things first: It must win two out of its last three games to accomplish that feat. Seminole (3-5), bitter rival East Lake (6-1) on the road, and Dunedin (0-7) at PHU remain on the schedule.
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It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what’s the most likely path to finishing with a 6-4 season or better. And you know the overachieving senior class wants that, and the underclassmen would love to spend the offseason in the weight room and during the camp circuit knowing they have the vast majority of the roster back in 2023 — with a winning 2022 record as motivation.
Nobody will question that PHU’s schedule was dotted with teams that are traditionally some of the weaker teams in the Tampa Bay area, or that some teams are rebuilding much in the same way we thought PHU would. But that doesn’t explain the ‘Canes’ 27-6 win over a now 5-2 St. Petersburg team that has proven to be a buzzsaw through the rest of its schedule, does it?
That was a completely legit job of stopping one of the better offenses in Pinellas County (averaging 24 ppg), holding the Green Devils to six points. It shows what this young PHU team has the ability to do on a good day.
There have been some mistakes made, as would be expected from a young team — but most of this team should probably be on JV (3-2 this year with a game to go). Instead, the sophomore and freshman classes have supplied this varsity team with some immediate talent.
Certainly, there’s no reason for anybody to rest on their laurels and expect a win tonight. Seminole and Palm Harbor actually look pretty even on paper (see “common opponents” in the chart below — they’ve had four of them). But this is a team PHU can certainly hang with.
It should be a good one. It’s pivotal. Honestly, if you’re a PHU fan, you don’t want to miss it.
INJURY NOTE: Justin Finley, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior WR/DB, is back for the ‘Canes after missing all year since suffering an injury at the Calvary scrimmage in late summer. The senior safety is ready to go Friday night.
TEAM HISTORY NOTE: Palm Harbor has played varsity football since 1997, as previously mentioned — meaning this is the 26th season of the varsity. Coming into this season, the ‘Canes have posted only five winning seasons (2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016) and two 5-5 seasons (2013 and 2019). The first 11 seasons at PHU were sub-.500 — though the ‘Canes have never had a winless season. They’ve made the state playoffs three times (2011, 2012, 2020), and the school record for wins in a season is 8 (2012’s 8-3 finish).
COACH NOTE: Head coach Mike Mullaney will pass defensive coordinator Matt Lepain as the all-time PHU wins leader as a coach when he gets his next one. It would give Mullaney his 21st (Lepain had 20 wins and two playoff appearances in three seasons). Mullaney served under Lepain when he coached PHU from 2011-13 — and the two of them have combined for 40 of the 100 all-time PHU wins since the varsity began playing in 1997.
THE GAME PREVIEW
THE RECORDS: Seminole is 3-5, PHU is 4-3, and has won four games in a row against Seminole.
COMMON OPPONENTS:
St. Petersburg — PHU beat 27-6, Seminole lost 31-6
Tarpon Springs — PHU beat 21-14, Seminole lost 21-14
Osceola — PHU lost 23-20, Seminole beat 14-0
Countryside — PHU lost 34-28, Seminole beat 14-12
SEMINOLE’S TOP PLAYERS:
PASSING: Colby Outlaw (Sr.) — 891 yards passing, 6 TDs, 10 INTs (NOTE: Outlaw also kicks and punts)
RUSHING: Adonis Hartsfield (Sr.) — 205 yards rushing (4.6 per carry), 2 TDs — nobody else over 200 yards
RECEIVING: Omarius Davis (Sr.) — 398 yards receiving, 21 receptions, 2 TDs
DEFENSIVE LEADERS: Letarrian Jones (Jr.) — 81 tackles, 6 TFLs, 3 fumble recoveries; Makai Davis (Jr.) — 70 tackles, 9 TFLs; Teddy Cotto (Sr.) — 32 tackles, 7 TFLs.
ALL-TIME SERIES — PHU vs. SEMINOLE:
Palm Harbor leads 11 wins to 5 losses (most wins PHU has against any one school)
First played in 1999, last played in 2019
PALM HARBOR STATISTICAL LEADERS:
