Pasco (FL) football team hopes to recapture past years glory with new mentality in 2022

Thirty years removed from winning the County’s lone state title, the Pirates have a new head coach and are striving for their first winning season since 2014

DADE CITY, FL – There’s only one team in Pasco County that can lay the claim to a state championship in high school football and that’s Pasco High School.

Back in 1992 behind Troy and Darren Hambrick, both eventually playing in the NFL, the Pirates won the Class 3A state championship against Tampa Jesuit and it’s been the only one the county can speak of to this point. As of recent memory, however, Pasco hasn’t been anywhere near its hay day of the 1990’s.

A new head coach in former Mitchell assistant Alphonso Freeney and a new mentality has breathed life into a program that last had a winning season in 2014 when the Pirates went 6-4. The Pirates played in a spring jamboree against Wesley Chapel, Cypress Creek and St. Petersburg Catholic, yielding encouraging results.

Pasco just got edged out by Cypress Creek, 14-12, and defeated St. Petersburg Catholic, 6-0, on a last play score. One of the most impressive players to come from the spring was 5-foot-9, 190-pound running back Tayshaun Balmir. The senior had himself a breakout spring, rushing for 173 yards on just six carries versus Cypress Creek and is also a track & field sprinter, which landed him at states.

“He has a very high ceiling,” Freeney said of Balmir. “I believe that if he would’ve played his sophomore and junior seasons, that he would have offers from everyone. He’s getting a lot of interest from Division I and Division II football programs, but programs want to see more film to evaluate him.”

College recruiters will get their first chance to see Balmir at work on the field in the Kickoff Classic on August 19th when Pasco hosts River Ridge. The following week, the Pirates will open up the regular season on the 26th on the road when they face Clermont East Ridge. Playing within a tough Class 3-Suburban, District 7, the Pirates look to contend for a district championship behind a new competitive drive.

“I think it’s the players 100 percent and having a great group of assistant coaches,” Freeney said. “The kids work hard every day and they never back down from any challenges we give them. The work they have to put in during the off-season isn’t easy.”

Another player that has led the charge towards a turnaround for Pasco is quarterback/safety Angel Miles, who will be a force on both sides of the ball for the Pirates. Miles showed the ability during the spring to make plays with his arm at quarterback and making tackles at free safety. With Pasco wanting to pickup a winning season, the first in seven years, the Pirates will need Balmir and Miles to step up that much more.

“Angel Miles has grown tremendously as a student-athlete since I first met him,” Freeney added. “He may be one of the best all around athletes at the school. He’s grown into a leader for us.”

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