Football players of the week
Offense
QB Joe Pesansky, Sr., Jesuit
The only offer Joe Pesansky had going into this season was a non-committable one from Marist. His status did not figure to change. After all, he was still in Virginia, where fall sports were postponed until the spring.
Then circumstances changed.
Pesansky’s father was offered a job in Tampa. The family made the move. And Pesansky enrolled at Jesuit.
“With no sports or school in Virginia we decided it was best to make the move,” Pesansky said.
At 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, Pesansky has the ideal size for a signal caller. Still, he had to earn the starting job with the Tigers, who were trying to replace Kiael Kelly, now at Gaither.
Pesansky did just that, beating out two others.
This past week, he made his Jesuit debut. Everything seemingly worked. The Tigers jumped out to a big lead thanks to Pesansky’s efficiency in the pocket. He went 14-of-21 for 226 yards and three touchdowns to lead Jesuit to a 28-21 season-opening win at Fort Myers Bishop Verot.
Better still, those numbers were nearly all produced in the first two quarters. The Tigers only threw three passes in the second half, all in the third quarter.
“It was one of the more efficient games I’ve had,” Pesansky said.
But not his best. Last year, he threw for 350 yards and five touchdowns in one game and 340 yard and four scores in another.
It was not enough to get the attention of many colleges.
Now, that could change.
“Jesuit is a great place to be,” Pesansky said.
Defense
LB Noah Kent, Sr., Cambridge Christian
Injuries forced Noah Kent to miss significant time the past two seasons. In the offseason, Kent worked to become stronger — and bigger. He was focused on trying to earn a scholarship.
And he was injury-free.
All Kent needed was to have a senior season.
His parents did everything possible, even creating an online petition urging the Florida High School Athletic Association board of directors to start practices in August rather than push back the start of fall sports.
The FHSAA board of directors agreed, voting to start practices in August and allow regular season games to begin this past week.
With the season set, Kent wanted to make the most of it.
In the opener, he was everywhere on defense. Kent finished with a team-leading 10 tackles and had a sack to lead the Lancers in a 42-7 win over St. Petersburg Catholic.
“I absolutely believe I was capable of that performance,” Kent said. “But I also was playing at a weight disadvantage in almost every game I competed in (the past few years). Last year I was playing at 160 pounds. Now I’m playing at 215 pounds with more confidence and strength on top of my ability to read an offense. It completely changes the game.”
Kent is intent on spending the rest of the season racking up big numbers in tackles.
“Last week’s performance is only the tip of the iceberg of what I know I can do during this season, and what I know my team can accomplish,” Kent said. “Be prepared. Cambridge is going to prove a lot of doubters wrong and make a lot of noise.”
