Football preview: No. 18 Clearwater

Clearwater 

At a glance

Coach: Thor Jozwiak, first season

Class: 5A, District 10

Last season: 5-5, lost in region quarterfinals

Key players: LB Aiden Bell, Sr.; CB/FS Maceo Bennett, Sr.; RB/DB Jarvis Boatwright, So.; LB Jonquis Bonney, Sr.; WR David James, Sr.; QB Aidan MacLean, Sr.; OL Tyler McManus, Jr.; RB Efrem Only, Sr.; LT Aaron Sanez, Sr.; SS Atzare Thompson, Sr.; OL Tyrek Tripp, Jr.

Schedule

Aug. 27 at Lakeland, 7

Sept. 3 vs. East Lake, 7:30

Sept. 10 at Countryside, 7

Sept. 17 vs. Gulf, 7:30

Sept. 24 at Largo, 7:30

Oct. 1 at Gibbs, 7

Oct. 8 Bye

Oct. 14 at Anclote, 7:30

Oct. 22 vs. Tarpon Springs, 7

Oct. 29 vs. Dunedin, 7

Outlook

There are a lot of new things happening with the Tornadoes. For starters, they have a turf field, which was completed this summer. They also have a first-year coach. Thor Jozwiak, a former player at USF who spent the past two seasons coaching the offensive line, was promoted to take over the program. He replaces Don Mesick, who stepped down after six seasons and is now the offensive coordinator at Jesuit. The goal will be to maintain the same winning tradition. That should not be a problem, especially in a new district (5A-10) in which Clearwater was the only team with a non-losing record from last season. There also are plenty of playmakers. Efrem Only, who rushed for a team-leading 338 yards last season, returns. The receiving corps, led by David James, has depth. So does the offensive line. Aiden Bell, who was second on the team with five sacks last season, is one of the leaders on defense.