High School Varsity Football Touchdown Preview: Durant High School, 2024

The Cougars are on the prowl, looking for a third straight district championship under head coach Clayton Varnum. Durant is in a brand-new district, but the expectations remain the same. They are the favorites heading into the 2024 season. 

Varnum was impressed with his team’s offseason. In year four of his regime, he feels that what his coaching staff has taught his players is now ingrained in them. The work ethic has shown immediately, as Varnum’s squad beat East Bay and his former coach, Mike Gottman, 30-13 in the preseason. They also dominated Lake Gibson 40-19 in the regular season opener. 

Senior receiver Chris Lankford had two receiving touchdowns against East Bay, junior Jeremy Cannon had two forced fumbles, senior linebacker Hunter Smith was flying around the field making plays and senior Damari Styles had a kick return for a touchdown. 

Senior quarterback Michael Ryan is poised to have a huge season as a third-year signal caller. Varnum said that he’s good on the run, has great downfield vision and is deceptively fast. He invades the rush well, keeps his eyes downfield when he leaves the pocket, keeps the play alive and can run effectively if he has to. He is also the team’s punter.

Durant is a senior-heavy team with a lot of experience coming back. They have two seniors starting on the offensive line, four senior receivers, a senior running back, a senior quarterback and three out of the four starting linebackers are seniors as well. They have two seniors on the defensive line and three in the secondary. All of these players have experienced big wins at Durant, winning at least eight games per season in Varnum’s first three seasons. They have eight returners on offense and five on defense.

Varnum wants his team to improve on special teams this year. Kicker Jack Brooks was added to the team and will handle kickoff duties. Senior kicker Isaiah Sawyer will handle field goal duties. 

The head coach is excited about the level of competition his team will face this year. The Cougars have one of the tougher schedules in Hillsborough County and will be tested early, having to face Plant City, Gaither, Armwood, Wharton, Riverview and Newsome, all in a row. 

The Cougars are battle-tested. They were in a very tough district last season with Sumner, Newsome and Riverview. They went undefeated in their district for a second straight season and went to the playoffs for a third straight season. They are set to go undefeated again in district play with Bloomingdale, Riverview and Bartow as opponents. Varnum wants his team to win a third straight district title, then take the next step and go to a regional final and compete for a state championship.

“Our guys have earned the right to play against those tough teams and they’ve earned the chance to compete against the big dogs and have every single week be against a tough opponent,” said Varnum. “I’m excited for them. As coaches, we can’t go out and play for them. This is the fruit of their labor, so I want to see them go out there and show that they can compete with these good teams, and that we can come out of this season as winners.”

Schedule:

8/23 @ Lake Gibson

10/25 @ Bartow