ENGLEWOOD — There’s a point in the movie “Major League” when two Cleveland-area construction workers look at the Indians’ roster in the newspaper and one asks, “Who are these guys?”
Coming this fall to an Englewood construction site: Same question.
To be sure, there are a few familiar names on the Lemon Bay football team’s roster for this coming season, but there’s no denying just how much of the Manta Rays’ production is walking across the graduation stage this month.
Gone is 96 percent of Lemon Bay’s passing yards, 92 percent of its rushing yards, 93 percent of its receiving and 92 percent of its scoring.
Oh, yeah — and the coaches are gone, as well, as Don Southwell and his crew called it a career after a very successful seven-year run that ended with 2023’s 10-2 campaign.
So, yeah, that’s a lot to overcome. Yet on Friday at the Lemon Bay practice field something interesting was unfolding.
New question: Where did all these dudes come from?
Enter Jason Mensing, Lemon Bay’s first-year head coach who arrived from Michigan earlier this school year.
“They said to me that in the spring they usually have anywhere from 25 to 40, but we’re at 60,” Mensing said. “I think we probably have a few kids who are giving football a try, new coach, different things. Whether they stick with it or not, who knows, but I anticipate we’re starting a freshman team next year. That’s going to be a big thing.”
Mensing said the extreme turnover from last year to this one gives the appearance of a blank slate and that, folded in with an entirely new coaching staff can make an outsider think Lemon Bay is starting over.
Mensing said Southwell and his staff handed him the keys to a smooth-running program, turnover or no.
“The previous staff did such a wonderful job with the program,” Mensing said. “Obviously they are graduating a great senior class, so we’re just trying to maintain that standard that was set ahead of us. Although we’re doing things differently, it’s only because it’s what we know. If we had been able to keep more of the old staff, it would be different, but they were all retiring and getting out.”
When it comes to those differences, Mensing said the most obvious change from last year to next will be on the defensive side of the ball.
“Schematicially, both on offense and defense, it’s different, but I think it’s a bigger change defensively,” Mensing said. “We’re a spill defense and they were very much a contain front, so I think that piece is probably tough.”
Rising senior Caleb Hutcherson, one of Lemon Bay’s top linebackers a year ago, said the struggle was real.
“It has been a lot of work because it’s basically the opposite of last year,” he said. “Last year it was all outside contain and now it’s all inside contain.
“A lot of things are different and the whole scheme’s changing, so we’re out here working hard. We’re high-energy and excited to play. It’s tough but we’ve got to adapt.”
Offensively, Lemon Bay was a run-first team with the ratio being roughly 70-30 run over pass. Mensing doesn’t anticipate much change from that approach.
“We run a lot of power and misdirection stuff and that’s what they were doing before, as well,” he said. “So even though the system’s a lot different in our offense, I think the principles of what we’re teaching are very similar.”
The graduation losses show in stark fashion on the offensive side of the ball. Gone are starting quarterback Lorenzo Mauceri, running backs Joe Scott and Landon Spanninger, and a majority of the offensive line.
Mensing likes what he sees early on in the quarterback and backfield mix, but the Mantas will be spending their days leading up to the kickoff classic finding the right combination in the trenches.
“We’re going to have a lot of new guys there, but we have eight or nine guys and I’m excited about those. I feel like we’ve got potential there.”
Off the field, Mensing said he’ll continue to expand his knowledge regarding the vagaries of football in Florida. He said in moving from Detroit to Florida, a number of rules are different, but the overall environment of the sport is similar.
One way in which Detroit and Florida align is terms of transfer policies. There has been a lot of movement throughout the area this offseason, which Mensing said doesn’t bother him.
“I think that gets made out to be a little more than it is,” he said. “In the end, we want kids that want to be Lemon Bay kids. It’s pretty simple. We’re going to invest in those kids that have pride in our school.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0