On Friday, September 10, Strawberry Crest High School pulled off an impressive 37-21 win over Anclote High School, giving the Chargers their second victory of the season. For the young Strawberry Crest program, which is entering only its second year after a 3-7 debut season in 2009, an undefeated start serves notice that it may be a team to be reckoned with in Hillsborough County.
As a result, Head Coach Todd Donohoe was named the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' High School Coach of the Week for Week Two of the 2010 season.
"It's an* *unbelievable honor," said Donohoe. "It's a credit to our entire program, especially coaches and kids, all the hard work they have put in. Like I've said, I'm just a reflection of the guys around us. This is real big for our school, especially being a young school."
Trailing 21-8 to Anclote at halftime, the Chargers made a remarkable comeback, triggered by a 79-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brandon Reaves to wide receiver Donnardo Fields. Strawberry Crest would later take the lead on a nine-yard scoring run by Reaves, then put the game out of reach with Fields' 52-yard punt return for a touchdown and an 80-yard kickoff return for a score by Daniel Padron.
When asked about the Chargers' dominance in the second half, Donohoe credited the team's conditioning and hard work over the summer.
"Our kids busted their tails all summer," said the head coach. "We knew in the second half when we looked at [the other team] that they looked tired and good things were going to happen. So, that was pretty exciting."
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On Thursday, Donohoe was invited to One Buccaneer Place along with his wife, Kendel Donohoe, and assistant coaches Todd Gicker and Guy Kimbrough for a tour of the facility. Following the Buccaneers' practice, Head Coach Raheem Morris greeted the group and congratulated them on their 2-0 start to the season.
Along with a signed certificate, Buccaneers hat and personalized football presented by Coach Morris, Donohoe received a $1,000 donation from the NFL Youth Football Fund to go towards the Chargers' football program.
"It's huge because when you're starting out, you don't have anything," said Donohoe about the donation. "Thank goodness we got a booster club that works really, extremely hard and they've been doing a great job. Matter of fact, they work the games here for the Bucs and to have those guys help us out, every little bit for us is big."
The Buccaneers will honor 10 high school coaches from West Central and Central Florida during the year's prep football season. A Coach of the Year, who receives an additional $1,000 for his football program, will be selected from the 10 weekly winners at the end of the season. The Buccaneers and the NFL's Coach of the Week program aids in the development of youth football, which has a positive influence on young athletes and the communities in which they live.
