By Brian McLaughlin (follow on Twitter @BrianMacWriter)
Palm Harbor Sports
Palm Harbor University’s offense in 2023 should be in good shape, as long as the lack of depth along the offensive line isn’t interrupted by injury or other issues.
Head coach Mike Mullaney told PalmHarborSports.com that the six-man rotation up front is solid with last year’s starter — senior Hunter Hewitt being the jack of all trades and willing to be the key backup at any of the five positions, but also be that jumbo bulldog blocker at tight end if needed in certain situations.
PALM HARBOR SEASON PREVIEW: The story
DEFENSE: Palm Harbor’s Defensive Preview for 2023
And that, my friends, sums up this PHU team in 2023 — unselfish jack-of-all-trade types, as Hewitt will be. And that is one reason this program will be good. But like 90 percent of high school programs – who don’t recruit (yeah, that’s a jab at others – this program is old school and do that crap) — this program can’t afford injuries. If it avoids them, this rotational philosophy will work out, Mullaney said.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Junior center Courtland Stricker will lead the show, three-year senior OL tackle Walker Danneman is one of the team captains, junior Hayden Turley isn’t new to varsity play as a key backup last year, junior guard Zachary Horner. New lineman Emory Tipson, a sophomore, is thought of highly enough by the staff to play one of the guard positions after being mostly on junior varsity.
“The O-line has to move everybody for us to run the ball – there are a bunch of schemes, and it all starts with the O-line,” Danneman told PalmHarborSports.com this week. “As long as we get movement, we can run the ball … I think we can do a lot more advanced stuff.”
If the big guys up front perform? There’s no question this program will push the ceiling of what this program can do. And Hewitt can plug the holes and add a sixth man at TE like previously mentioned.
SKILL POSITIONS – RBs, WRs, QBs, TEs
Skill-wise? The Hurricanes are in really good shape.
Junior quarterback Will Seibert is a two-year starter at quarterback and is a three-year varsity starter thanks to his time as a massive contributor to the secondary as a starting freshman in 2021 (at safety). Combined last year, he was a plus 1,000-yard guy on offense, leading the team in passing and rushing – and that was with a hand injury in the first half of the season.
Seibert has some badass options to hand the ball off to in seniors Mykel Boebert and Gunner Fodor – who will also anchor the defense as the team’s lone four-year starter at linebacker. That puts the pressure more on Boebert. But junior Jaxon Wilson, sophomore Alex Malyszko, and fullback Tyler Somerfield will also be key in making this work – as the offense will play multiple formations and have a myriad of formations to prepare for – a true strength for PHU in 2023.
“This year, we will attempt to run the no huddle,” Seibert told PalmHarborSports.com. “We want everything to be by hand signal … It will speed up the process and work better, and gravitate more to the pass in the game. Last year? We played them and they have seven or eight people in the box. They knew what we’d do.
“This year, once we expand our playbook? And what we can do? That won’t happen.”
Let’s face it: PHU’s young men are intelligent, and this year they are experienced. Mixing things up on offense will be one of the team’s biggest strengths and one of the biggest reasons this program could see success.
When it comes to who will catch the ball, something the program hasn’t leaned on much in the past few years, there are some good options. Senior Alex Schmid has been a part of this for years, and Malyszko, Jason Ice, and Matt Gunn will be key, with sophomore Owen Kollar also being a part of the mix off the bench.
When it comes to tight end, which will be important, with senior co-captain Zavion Roberts, Sr. Logan Givens, and Hewitt being contributors in certain formations. Sophomore Andrew Eussen could be a key guy off the bench.
“We can do multiple things on offense this year because we have kids who are smart enough to handle it and pay attention in practice, which will make us better,” said Mullaney, who doubles as the offensive coordinator. “That’s a strong point of this team.”
The kicking game will come down to incumbent Mitch Stricker or Jett Jackson. Stricker hit a field goal last week in the preseason game, but Jackson is also valuable. One will handle field goals and PATs and one will handle kickoffs.
PALM HARBOR FOOTBALL HISTORY: A year-by-year breakdown of the program’s history
