High School Varsity Football Touchdown Preview: Bloomingdale High School, 2023

The 2023 Bloomingdale High School Bulls will have to build continuity under first-year head coach Patrick Murphy. Murphy replaces the program’s all-time win leader, Jacob Coulson, who accepted the head coaching job at Lecanto High School. The team returns three key players from last year’s team that had significant playing time.

The Bulls will be led by young sophomore quarterback Dillon Rose-Bailey, who started six games last season. The quarterback performed well after he was thrust into the spotlight when senior leader James Coney went down with an injury. The freshman came in and immediately won his first career start against rival Durant. He continued to show poise throughout the season, throwing 10 touchdown passes for 1,048 yards and rushing for two touchdowns.

Murphy is impressed with the sophomore’s work ethic. He said Rose-Bailey is constantly asking his receivers if they want to have extra passing sessions on the weekends and does additional strength and conditioning training alongside quarterback training in his own time. The young gunslinger has shown accuracy with his intermediate throws while having a lot of velocity on the ball. He can make plays outside of the pocket with his mobility, throws a great deep ball, can stretch the sidelines and has a strong grasp of the offense. It’s safe to say that the success of the season will mainly rest on the arm of Rose-Bailey.

The head coach is happy with his team’s young talent and potential. They will have a very young and inexperienced squad with only two returning starters that had significant playing time last season in senior linemen Brandon Mecomber and Darion Thomas.

Key players include Thomas, who will play both sides of the ball; big bruising running back Otis Reed; running back Christian Dorset; transfer Kylan Tamulonis, who is a great athlete and will play both sides of the ball; junior receiver/defensive back Simon Castillo; outside linebacker Jadon Svendsen; senior receiver Darien Martin; senior Isaiah Zellner; and senior kicker Stefan Vera, who has a strong leg.

The team’s strength will be their secondary. They will have to improve on understanding the new offensive schemes, gaining crucial experience in situational football, eliminating big plays on defense and rallying to the football with good gap control.

Murphy knows that there will be growing pains in his first season with a young and inexperienced team; however, he expects to compete for a district title and wants his team to be competitive throughout the season and gain experience. His team motto is “Whatever it takes.” The coach is big on preparation Monday through Thursday and believes that if his team buys into this, they will be successful.

Bloomingdale has one of the toughest schedules in Hillsborough County, having to play against Sumner, Armwood, Durant, Tampa Bay Tech, Newsome, Gaither and Wharton, but they have a chance to win their district if they can beat East Bay in the last game of the regular season.

Schedule:

8/25 @ Sumner

10/27 @ East Bay