No slowing down the Dunnellon (FL) football team in 2022

DUNNELLON, FL – When Price Harris left the Dunnellon Tigers football program back in April to return back to his roots at Madison County, the team didn’t have to look far for the next lead man.

Enter Tommy Sutton as the program’s new head coach and don’t expect the Tigers to be lowering their expectations just because of losing a bevy of talent to graduation. Dunnellon has reached the postseason seven straight times and two final four appearances and Sutton plans on keeping the Tigers’ standards high.

“Expectations are always the same here at Dunnellon,” Sutton said. “We are working hard to put a product on the field that can compete at the highest levels in the state year in and year out.

“How far we go will depend on how we work everyday. We are focused on the now and being our best. If we can continue to stack days then the rest will take care of itself.”

On both the offensive and defensive side of the football, the Tigers will have plenty of new faces because of the hard graduation hit they took. Quarterback Trent Townsend (1,144 yards in 2021) is out due to graduating along with top running back LJ Fitzgerald (510 yards in 2021).

Both were key players on offense that will need to be replaced. Sutton pointed out a couple of seniors that he’s expecting a great year from, including offensive/defensive lineman Jaylin Johnson, linebacker Gavyn Leinenbach (70 tackles in 2021), offensive lineman Gage Hiers and wide receiver Maxwell Valcius (123 yards receiving in 2021). Sutton also points to spring and summer workouts going well so far and pointing towards a good 2022 campaign.

“Coming out of spring leaders have started to emerge,” Sutton said. “Leading by example is great, but to get people to follow you, you have to open your mouth and speak. Being comfortable putting yourself out there and demanding more from your teammates is something we preach daily.

“Spring and off-season workouts have been very good to this point. Dunnellon is a tradition rich place, and the expectations will always be the same no matter who is in charge. The kids are buying into the process of focusing on ourselves and just getting better daily.”

Count Sutton as another central Florida head coach that likes the new metro-suburban reclassification, as Dunnellon will play out of 2-Suburban, District 9 with some neighboring teams like South Sumter, Crystal River and Hernando. Three of the four teams in the district went to the postseason in 2021, providing for an intriguing regular season at Dunnellon.

“I personally like the suburban-metro classifications,” Sutton added. “Regional rivalries brought back similar school structures in playoff match-ups. I believe it is we the right thing for the sport going forward.”

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.