Pasco High football begins improbable turnaround with new head coach
DADE CITY, Fla. - The 2021 football season was one the Pasco High School football team would, unfortunately like to forget. For the first time since World War II, the Pasco High Pirates finished a football season without a win to their name.
"I feel like everyone was giving up. Even the city was giving up," said Pasco's senior quarterback Enrique Matos.
But, incoming Head Coach Alphonso Freeney looked at a team with less than 20 players on its roster and saw an opportunity.
"This is still the only school in Pasco County that has won a state championship, so there has to be some diamonds out there," said Freeney.
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As it turns out, the diamonds weren't just there, they were polished and ready to go, too. When Freeney took over at the end of last season, the first year head coach said only 21 players attended the team's first meeting.
The Pirates roster numbers have since swelled to more than 70 and the numbers on the field have improved, also. So far, Pasco High has started the 2022 season with four straight wins, which marks their best start to a season in a decade.
"We're going to set a standard and do it right," said Freeney. "Ever since we did that it's just been a story ever since."
Meanwhile, after the winless season a year ago, many on the Pirates roster had to ask themselves how much football meant and if they wanted to play and be a part of what Freeney wanted to build.
"It was pretty difficult. I questioned if I wanted to come back out here every single day," said senior defensive end Anthony Pratt.
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While some hung up their shoulder pads, others that questioned their love for the game, like Pratt, ended up getting the answer they were looking for.
"I'm glad I stuck with it, I'm really glad I did," Pratt said.
One of the players that couldn't wait to get back on the field for 2022, however, was running back Tayshaun Balmir. The senior was sidelined the entire 2021 season with a severe knee injury, but Balmir has been unleashed in 2022.
"When I hurt myself last year, I was mad that I couldn't go out there and show everyone what I could do, but now I've got the ability to do this year," said Balmir.
The senior is doing just that. In his four games played Balmir has rushed for more than 800 yards and accounted for 13 touchdowns and more than half his team's total points scored this season.
"He's special. Tayshaun [Balmir] is a special talent," said Freeney.
That special talent and a desire to right the Pirates' ship has Pasco pointing in the right direction.
"Now you can kind of tell the buzz in this community and everybody is very proud of this football team right now," said Freeney.