PORT ST. LUCIE JAGUARS

FRIDAYNIGHT

MOMENT 2005 FLOWERS IN BLOOMWhat happened: Raythez Flowers returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and intercepted a school-record four passes as Port St. Lucie defeated Fort Pierce Westwood 27-14.Why it mattered: The Jaguars got their first win against Westwood since 1998 and their first winning record after three games since 1992.

Key players: Flowers, a senior who was on the field for the first time since his youth football days, returned the opening kickoff 79 yards, then intercepted Westwood’s first pass. His fourth interception with 9:30 to play cut short a Westwood threat.

Anthony Gardenhigh added a 39-yard TD pass to Joanesson Martin and Ivey McIntyre blocked a punt.He said it: “Something kept telling me to hustle hard,” Flowers said. “You have to work every second to read the quarterback.”

STRENGTHS Port St. Lucie wants to establish the run early in each game and has the beef up front to make it happen. Guard Josh Murriel (who, at 6-foot-6, 295 pounds, projects as a tackle in college) and center Macander Dieudonne will be the main guys to run behind. Quarterback D.J. Juste is a threat running the option and is the key to a Jaguar offense that returns its top three rushers from 2010.

WEAKNESSESPort St. Lucie’s front seven must consistently prove that they can stop the run. They do have talent, but teams will test the Jaguars on the ground after gaining big chunks of yardage in 2010. The wide receiving corps has speed, but is inexperienced and needs to be on the same page as Juste. One of the glaring weaknesses for Port St. Lucie is its past. Most of these players only know losing and have to learn how to close games out.

KEY GAMEOCT. 6: AT MARTIN COUNTY In order for Port St. Lucie to get into the playoffs, it will need to win at least two district games. The District 12-7A opener against rival Martin County will set the tone for the final month and half of the season for the Jaguars. Port St. Lucie has won just one district game since 2005 and lost last year’s district games by an average of 38 points.

PREDICTION3-6, 1-2 DISTRICT 12-7APort St. Lucie is definitely getting better under Poole, but faces too many teams loaded with talent and experience in the season ahead. Road games against Vero Beach and Martin County would be tough matchups for any team, but Port St. Lucie does play three of its final four games at home — including one against rival Centennial in the season finale.

SEASON OF MEMORIES1990 (7-4)Why it was special: In one of the area’s greatest worst-to-first turnarounds, Port St. Lucie rebounded from a winless 1989 debut by winning the District 13-4A championship in Year 2 in 1990.By the numbers: After being shut out 30-0 by New Smyrna Beach in the season opener, the Jaguars averaged 21 points a game for the rest of the regular season.

SCHEDULESeptember 2 at Vero Beach 7:30 9 South Fork 716 at Jensen Beach 723 at Heritage 7:30October 6 at Martin County 721 Viera 728 at John Carroll 7November 4 Fort Pierce Central 710 St. Lucie West Centennial 7

DEPTH CHARTOFFENSE

Pos Name No Cl Ht WtQB D.J.Juste 5 Jr. 6-0 185RB LyleMessam 20. Jr. 5-9 180OT BobbyWay 66 Jr. 5-11 240OG MikeMariotti 77 Sr. 5-11 285C MacanderDieudonne79 Sr. 6-2 270OL JoshuaMurriel 77 Sr. 6-6 295OT ChrisEverington 75 Sr. 5-11 240WR MattRomasco 2 Jr. 5-8 165WR FrankMartin 7 Sr. 5-9 165WR JalenAdams 9 Sr. 5-6 160WR DakotaMeizinger 12 Sr. 6-3 185

DEFENSEPos Name No Cl Ht WtDL JoshuaBailey 3 Sr. 5-8 185DL DeonAndrews 50 So. 6-0 265DL ClevelandWilliams 55 Fr. 6-2 225DL MikeMariotti 77 Sr. 5-11 285LB NickVinson 56 Sr. 6-1 215LB JonathanWilliams 52 Sr. 6-4 235LB DodgeKarpinkski 54 Jr. 5-7 200CB VinsonPolk 11 Sr. 5-9 155CB IsaiahMcFadden 22 Jr. 5-7 140S TayvonLindsey 8 So. 5-11 170S MattRomasco 2 Jr. 5-8 165

SPECIAL TEAMSPos Name No Cl Ht WtP D.J.Juste 5 Jr. 6-0 185K DylanBlosser 38 So. 5-8 145

RESERVESBillyTenny(4,Jr.,QB.),ShiquanNesbitt(14,Sr.,DB),DevenServance(17,Sr.,WR),JorgeGomez(23,Sr.,WR),JoshuaMorazan(26,Sr.,DB),TyrellMoring(28,So.,RB),JaylenCarter-Brooks(32,So.,DB),StevenSmith(36,Sr.,DB),AnferneeHicks(39,Fr.,DB),MontelJones(42,Fr.,LB),EnzoEverette(44,Fr.,LB),JohnleyCadet(45,Fr.,LB),DyvonNeff-Guerrero(46,Fr.,DL),NicolasRamirez(48,Fr.,LB),ErnestPierre(57,Jr.,DL),BrandonLetcher(58,Fr.,LB),StevenMoses(62,Fr.,DL),JohnBeare(71,Jr.,OL),JimmyWalsh(72,So.,OL),SamBlume(82,Fr.,WR),JasonDegaglia(83,Fr.,WR),ArceeNazaire(84,Fr.,WR)

COACHING STAFFCoach: Hilary Poole (third year)Record: 3-152010: 2-7, 0-2 District 11-5AAssistants: Adam Chavez (offensive coordinator/running backs), Chris Dent (quarterback/wide receivers), Demetrius Lane (defensive line), Demery Brown (linebackers), Eric Gill (offensive line), Bill Davoutabich (wide receivers)

STADIUMJAGUAR FIELD (2,200)Playing Surface: GrassAddress: 1201 S.E. Jaguar Lane, Port St. LucieDirections: From U.S. 1, go east on Walton Road, then turn left at Lennard Road and take a right onto Jaguar Lane. The stadium is behind the school.Main Office: 772-337-6770On the web: www.stlucie.k.12.fl.us/PHS

RIVALS ■ St. Lucie West Centennial ■ Jensen Beach ■ Martin County

By Jon SantucciSpecial to Treasure Coast Newspapers

PORT ST. LUCIE — For the first time in a long while there’s something within Port St. Lucie’s football team.

Hope.“I’m looking forward to (the

season),” said Jaguars coach Hil-ary Poole. “I’m looking forward to seeing what the guys can do after a good summer of conditioning. It’s a fresh start. Everyone gets one at the start of the season and hope-fully we make the most of ours.”

Port St. Lucie went 2-7 last sea-son and hasn’t reached the playoffs since 1990. But with Poole headed into his third season with one of the top returning quarterbacks on the Treasure Coast, things appear to be looking up.

The spring also helped build confidence as the Jaguars beat perennial state power Pahokee.

“I hate to talk about a spring game, but you try to take posi-tives and negatives from every situation,” Poole said. “We took a

heck of a lot of positives from that situation.

“Hopefully we get some carry-over into the season that’s coming up.”

Junior quarterback D.J. Juste threw for 11 touchdowns in 2010 and received honorable mention on the all-area team. A dual-threat, Juste rushed for a team-high 479 yards and three touch-downs a year ago.

Port St. Lucie also returns its running backs — Matt Romasco and Lyle Messam — which means the Jaguars have their top three rushers from a year ago.

Romasco led all running backs with 289 yards.

The offensive line is led by guard Josh Murriel and center Macander Dieudonne. The two provide leadership and Murriel has already received offers from Division I schools.

“We just need to play sound football, not make big mistakes,” Poole said. “That’s just it. Play sound football. I like to run the ball, but when I see that we can do

something in the air, we’ll try to.”Port St. Lucie’s biggest strug-

gles last season came on defense. The Jaguars allowed 34 points or more in six of their seven losses. Teams were able to wear down Port St. Lucie, running for more than 2,000 yards and 5.9 yards per carry average against the Jaugar defense.

Poole said forcing teams to throw the ball will be a major goal.

“Stop the run,” Poole said. “We have got to stop the run. Only one good thing can happen when you pass the ball and that’s a comple-tion. Everything else is not very good. If you can stop the run, we should have some success. The of-fense is proven.

“We’re going to keep the de-fense off the field for long periods of time. We stop the run, we’re go-ing to be in great shape.”

Port St. Lucie will run multiple fronts to take advantage of match-ups and Poole said the front seven, led by linebacker Nick Vinson and defensive lineman Jonathan Wil-liams, is the best he’s had.

A fresh start

THREE PLAYERS

TO WATCH

D.J. JUSTEJunior quarterback2010 Stats: 1,076 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, 497 rushing yards, 3 touchdownsCoach Hilary Poole: “He became a student of the game this summer. We tried to tweak some things for him so he can have success. He’s going to be good. He can throw the ball and, for our purposes, he does a pretty good job.”

NICK VINSON Senior Linebacker2010 Stats: N/ACoach Hilary Poole: “His greatest strength is his ability to understand what’s going on, on the field. If something’s lined up wrong, he puts them in the right spot. He’s a very good communicator. The team listens to him. It’s just good to have a kid like that.”

MACANDER DIEUDONNESenior center/linebacker2010 Stats: N/ACoach Hilary Poole: “He brings great leadership, great knowledge of the game. He’s a competitor. He comes to the sideline and he’s very good at letting us know what’s happening to him and around him and what the other team is trying to do.”

JUAN DALE BROWN/SCRIPPS TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS

Port St. Lucie High quarterback D.J. Juste gets ready to hand off to one of his teammates at practice.

Confidence is up at Port St. Lucie after good summer of conditioning

I’m looking forward to seeing what the guys can do after a good summer of conditioning. It’s a fresh start.

Everyone gets one at the start of the season and hopefully we make the most of ours.”

Hilary Poole, head coach

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