Wiregrass Ranch football looking to make Pasco County history

The Bulls are hoping to reach a level only three other teams have ever gotten to

Wiregrass Ranch improved to 2-0 after a 21-19 win over Coearwater / Wiregrass Ranch Football/X

Not many teams out of Pasco County have ventured beyond the regional finals when it comes to high school football.

We can actually county the number of teams on one hand: The 1992, 2008 and 2011 Pasco Pirates.

Yeah, the Pirates that have won the county's lone state championship and two others that have had an outside shot. Outside of that, no other program in Pasco County history has ever reached the state semis for football. Wiregrass Ranch tonight against West Boca Raton in a Class 6A, Region 3 final will have a chance to buck that trend in history and become the only other program to do so.

Reason it looks like a very arduous task is that the team West Boca Raton just beat, 38-7, is the very teams that Wiregrass Ranch lost to at the regular season for a district championship. There is reason to believe these very Bulls could have a shot to pull off the unthinkable. To do so, however, they'll need to play a nearly perfect game to advance into the next round.

The Bulls (11-1) have been playing some of their best football as of in playoff victories over Royal Palm Beach and Largo by a combined score of 80-7. That very playoff run has been fueled by the play of Iowa commitment Nathan McNeil, who has been every bit as good as advertised for Wiregrass Ranch.

McNeil this season has been the team's workhorse out of the backfield, rushing for 1,041 yards on 125 carries and scoring a team-high 17 touchdowns. If the Bulls look to be successful, they'll need McNeil to lead them home via the ground attack.

Two-way standout Bryce Randolph (Liberty commit) has been very good as well for Mark Kantor's bunch, hauling in 44 passes for 771 yards and eight touchdowns. On defense, Randolph has seen a lot of time in the secondary, making 12 tackles and picking off two passes.

Texas commitment Graceson Littleton is arguably one of the best cover corners out of the Tampa Bay region, with the senior notching 29 tackles and two interceptions. The defensive backfield features two players with six interceptions each, with Monte Hudson and Gavin Gilyard both having a half dozen.

To beat West Boca Raton, who has been as equaling dominant, Wiregrass Ranch will need all the aforementioned players to play their best game along with controlling the line of scrimmage.

History for Wiregrass Ranch is what awaits them down in the 561. Can they join a very exclusive group by the end of Friday night remains to be determined, but the Bulls have already made program history with the best run the football team has ever seen.

Now is a chance to make a little more history come 7:30 p.m. tonight.

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolsi