Manatee, Palmetto face off in a winner-take-all district championship game at Joe Kinnan Field

BRADENTON, Fla.- When a losing season takes place at Manatee High School, it seems like an eternity for Hurricanes football if you know the program’s history of success. 

Five state championships have been won at Manatee, with the last one coming back in 2011 under the legendary head coach Joe Kinnan. Emulating that success since now head coach Jacquez Green has been tough, with the Hurricanes having to take their lumps. 

Manatee went 2-7 in 2021, which became the first losing season for the Hurricanes since 2004. Getting the Hurricanes back to their winning ways has been one of constant work for Green and his staff. The staff has tirelessly burnt the candles at both ends and its paid off, seeing a turnaround from last year. 

Green has the Hurricanes sitting at 5-2 with a shot to win a district championship and clinch an automatic berth into the Class 4A-Suburban playoffs when they face Palmetto at Joe Kinnan Field at Hawkins Stadium. 

The matchup between Manatee County schools is high stakes as the winner takes the Class 4A-Suburban, District title and assured a regional quarterfinal playoff berth. Whomever loses has to lay and wait to see if they will qualify for the postseason via the Florida High School Athletic Association‘s power rankings system. 

Palmetto has seen it’s fair share of adversity all throughout the season already as head coach Dave Marino and staff have had to change the team’s approach on the offensive side of the ball. Before Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida, the Tigers were a team very much reliant on the right arm of sophomore quarterback Zander Smith. 

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound signal caller had himself a solid freshman season under center for Palmetto, with the staff wanting to put more on his shoulders this 2022 campaign. The results were mixed as Palmetto found it difficult to produce consistency on offense. 

When Palmetto played its first game back after Hurricane Ian, the Tigers looked like a more balanced team that looked to run the ball and setup more play-action passes for Smith. Also another emphasis that was added to the offense was having Smith run it a little bit more and its paid dividends. 

Getting more of the lion’s share of the touches in the backfield is running back Kyrie Marshall, who leads the team with 339 yards and four touchdowns. Smith’s go-to-guy in the passing game is wide receivers Zymarrion Lang (27 catches, 453 yards) and Rok Lodge (23 catches, 361 yards). 

The proof is in the statistics for the Tigers, with Marino’s bunch averaging 39.3 points per game in the last three contests compared to the mere 16.6 average in the first five. Its been a major difference maker for Palmetto and they’ll need it against a feisty defense at Manatee. 

Manatee has been stingy all year long when it comes to points and the most they’ve yielded came in losses to Port Charlotte (29) and state powerhouse Cardinal Gibbons (31). Leading the Hurricanes’ defense in tackles are linebackers Damontez Mcdowell and Ladauris Thomas, whom both are tied for the team-high at 38. 

The 60 points in those two account for nearly half of what the Hurricanes have allowed defensively. If you go by the other five games, Manatee is giving up only 13.4 points per contest. 

Points may be hard to go by either way when you come down to the nitty gritty of everything X’s and O’s as both clubs will be scratching and clawing for every blade of grass when they take the field Friday night. 

For Manatee, a return to winning championships could be calling and for Palmetto, it’s taking the next step with a budding star in Smith looking to level up. County bragging rights, district title, playoff berth will all be on the line. 

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