COMMENTARY: East Lake High School — as the crow flies — is about as far from Palm Harbor University High School as Tarpon Springs HS and Dunedin HS are. Actually, Dunedin is clearly closer, to be honest.
NOTE: See the full statistical breakdown at the end of this story
But there’s something ornery about those darned Eagles, at least in the eyes of PHU fans (and vice versa). It could be the age of the schools, with PHU coming into existence in the late 1990s and East Lake in the late 1980s — while Tarpon Springs and Dunedin go much farther back in Pinellas County football history. On Friday, PHU and East Lake will face off on the gridiron for the 23rd time — dating back to before these current players were born and many of the coaches involved were even in high school.
It’s Palm Harbor (5-3) at East Lake (7-1) in a 7:30 p.m. game that will settle the district title. With a win, East Lake will advance to the state playoffs automatically with a 3-0 record in league play. PHU would finish 2-1 in league play and a tiebreaker would be in place, but the Maxpreps/FHSAA computer tiebreaker would make it unlikely PHU would nab the district title.
Whatever triggered this rivalry, it’s nasty. The schools’ fans don’t like each other, and this is clearly the rivalry of all rivalries for PHU. And for the first and the last time in this piece, we’ll mention that PHU’s stud tailback from last year, Luke Yoder, will undoubtedly hit 1,000 yards rushing on the year this week against PHU (he has 970).
100TH ALL-TIME WIN AT PHU: The Hurricanes did it, with their win at Sickles
Yoder transferred to the Eagles earlier this year. There’s no reason to dig in beyond that with a young man, it is truly his and his family’s decision of what he does with his life, but undoubtedly that’s a source of motivation for the young PHU team. So, enough of that topic.
East Lake is senior-laden and an offensive juggernaut that has scored 344 points in eight games — 43 points per game, if you’re counting. PHU is much, much younger, but has overachieved in 2022 and will finish with its first winning season in six years if it can win in the next two weeks, with a home finale against Dunedin (1-7) the other game remaining.
PHU FOOTBALL HISTORY: Year-by-Year Look at the Hurricanes
There’s no question this is the toughest game on the schedule this year for the Hurricanes, but it’s a measure of pride, like with any rivalry game — and undoubtedly PHU has something cooking to attempt to give East Lake fits.
So fasten your safety belts, PHU fans, and plan to make the 20-minute drive up to neighboring East Lake, as the 23rd chapter of this bitter rivalry unfolds.
SEASON PREVIEW: I was WRONG – Palm Harbor Football 2022 Preview — worth a look
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THE GAME PREVIEW
THE RECORDS: East Lake is 7-1, PHU is 5-3
COMMON OPPONENTS:
Steinbrenner — PHU lost 42-0; East Lake won 55-54
Tarpon Springs — PHU won 21-14; East Lake won 48-13
Sickles— PHU won 10-0; East Lake won 49-7
EAST LAKE’S TOP PLAYERS:
PASSING: Caleb Coburn (Sr.) — 899 yards passing, 9 TDs, 1 INT
RUSHING: Luke Yoder (Sr.) — 970 yards rushing, 17 TDs; Caleb Coburn (Sr.) 662 yards rushing, 12 TDs
RECEIVING: Brock Couch (Sr.) — 304 yards receiving, 22 receptions, 7 TDs
DEFENSIVE LEADERS: Kaleb Rosiek (Sr.) 54 tackles, 3 TFLs; Caleb Coburn (Sr.) 42 tackles, 9 TFLs; Benjamin Padinske (Jr.) 37 tackles, 3 sacks, 6 TFLs, 11 hurries
ALL-TIME SERIES — PHU vs. EAST LAKE:
22 all-time meetings between the rivals
PHU last beat East Lake on the field in 2015 (also had a forfeit win over EL in 2017)
East Lake leads 18 wins to 4 PHU wins
First played in 2001, last played in 2021
PALM HARBOR STATISTICAL LEADERS (coming into East Lake):
