Tampa Bay Tech graduate Michael Penix just won his first start as the QB for the Atlanta Falcons today. In his on the field after game interview he said he faced a lot of adversity growing up in Dade City. I don’t know what Michael Penix’s story is growing up in Dade City is but I would love to know how he ended up at Tampa Bay Tech.
The reason I bring this up is Pasco High is the public high school for Dade City. When I moved to Tampa in 2009 I went to see Pasco play often because they were very good. In 2011, they played at Wakulla in the state semifinal where they lost in 3 OT’s. There was some talk of referee shenanigans in the OT. Pasco thought they had won at one point which started a celebration but a referee call reversed it. To add insult to injury Pasco’s locker room had been burglarized during the game. In the 2012 regional final Pasco lost to a very good Robinson team in a game that was close at halftime but Robinson pulled away in the 2nd half. During that time Pasco was sending players to big colleges every year. Then a few years later they fell off the map. I started hearing about their good football players transferring to other schools with Tampa Catholic being a frequent destination. To this day Pasco struggles.
So when I saw today’s interview with Penix it caused me to think about this again. It seems the pipeline from Dade City to Hillsborough County continues.
The reason I bring this up is Pasco High is the public high school for Dade City. When I moved to Tampa in 2009 I went to see Pasco play often because they were very good. In 2011, they played at Wakulla in the state semifinal where they lost in 3 OT’s. There was some talk of referee shenanigans in the OT. Pasco thought they had won at one point which started a celebration but a referee call reversed it. To add insult to injury Pasco’s locker room had been burglarized during the game. In the 2012 regional final Pasco lost to a very good Robinson team in a game that was close at halftime but Robinson pulled away in the 2nd half. During that time Pasco was sending players to big colleges every year. Then a few years later they fell off the map. I started hearing about their good football players transferring to other schools with Tampa Catholic being a frequent destination. To this day Pasco struggles.
So when I saw today’s interview with Penix it caused me to think about this again. It seems the pipeline from Dade City to Hillsborough County continues.
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