Ackley Adventures: May 2010

naplesnews.com:
VIDEO/PHOTOS: SFM's dynamic duo up to old tricks as Wolfpack tackle Immokalee
• By WOODY WOMMACK
• Posted May 28, 2010 at 10:19 p.m.
IMMOKALEE — With college coaches on hand from Georgia Tech, Miami and North Carolina, the South Fort Myers quarterback-receiver duo of Dallas Crawford and Sammy Watkins wanted to put on a show in their spring game against Immokalee on Friday night.
Except for a few turnovers, the pair didn’t disappoint, hooking up for twice for passes of 40 yards or longer in the first half alone and helping the Wolfpack beat the Indians, 21-0.
Crawford was impressive while playing on both offense and defense, completing 10 of 15 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball six times for 51 yards with one touchdown and intercepted a pass while playing defense.
“Last year it (made me nervous),” Crawford said of playing in front of college coaches. “But not this year, I’m pretty used to it and it’s just added motivation.”
Watkins, a rising senior who is considered to be one of the top wide receiver prospects in the country, hauled in six passes for 141 yards and a touchdown.
“We were just trying to keep it simple and not show too many of our plays,” Watkins said. “We’ve got a lot of things that we’re working on but we’ll save that stuff for the regular season.”
Despite the impressive offensive numbers put up by South Fort Myers, turnovers plagued the Wolfpack for most of the game. Immokalee forced six South Fort Myers turnovers, including four fumbles.
“I’m not too happy with the turnovers,” South coach Grant Redhead said. “But I think if we come into a game with an emphasis on securing the football than we’ll do a better job than we did tonight.”
Immokalee had a chance to score with its varsity squad on back-to-back possessions, moving the ball inside of the South Fort Myers 10-yard line late in the first half and early in the fourth quarter. But the Wolfpack defense stood tall on both occasions, keeping the shutout intact. For the game, the Wolfpack held the Indians to just 144 yards of total offense.
“We challenged our defense to play well and I think they did that,” Redhead said. “We had those two goal line stands and we kept them off the board.”
Even though his team lost, first-year Immokalee coach Jerrod Ackley said he is impressed with the strides his team has made since the beginning of spring practice.
“The kids have really bought into everything and come out and worked every single night,” Ackley said. “We grew a great deal and I think in the fourth quarter you can see what our offense was capable of.”
Miami wide receivers coach and former Florida wide receiver Aubrey Hill watched the game from the just behind the south end zone, as did Georgia Tech secondary coach Charles Kelly. Crawford is projected to play defense at the next level.
The third quarter was played by both team’s junior varsity squads, and the points that were scored in the quarter didn’t count toward the final score of the game. South Fort Myers scored its only points of the quarter on 6-yard run by rising sophomore Robert Brown. Immokalee also scored in the quarter, on a 6-yard run by Jason Cede.

South Fort Myers duo shines
Crawford, Watkins lead Wolfpack to shutout win
BY CARL BLEICH • CBLEICH@NEWS-PRESS.COM • MAY 29, 2010
Although they struggled with turnovers, two key members of the South Fort Myers Wolfpack put on a show for the fans and several special guests in Friday night's spring game at Immokalee High.
South topped Immokalee 27-8 as senior-to-be quarterback Dallas Crawford and senior-to-be wide receiver Sammy Watkins were too much for the Indians to handle.
Crawford threw two touchdowns and ran for another and Watkins snagged six passes for 141 yards and a touchdown.
University of Miami wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Aubrey Hill, Georgia Tech secondary coach Charles Kelly and representative from North Carolina were all on hand, presumably to get a look at Crawford and Watkins.
Each lost a fumble and Crawford threw two interceptions and intercepted a pass on defense.
"Last year it (made me nervous)," Crawford said of playing in front of college coaches. "But not this year. I'm pretty used it. It's just added motivation."
The duo opened the game's scoring early in the first quarter when Watkins snagged a 45-touchdown pass from Crawford despite being double covered.
"That's just something we drew up just to have fun out here," Watkins said. "He knows what page I am, and I know what page he is on."
Crawford then put South up 14-0 with a 1-yard touchdown run and upped the Wolfpack lead to 21-0 when he connected with senior-to-be Terrell Blanks on a 39-yard touchdown.
On top of Crawford's two interceptions, South lost four fumbles.
"I'm not too happy with the turnovers," South coach Grant Redhead said.
"We challenged our defense to play well and I think they did that. We kept them off the board."
The game was Jerrod Ackley's first as coach at Immokalee.
The Indians' best chance to score came with 30 seconds remaining in the first half when they had 2nd-and-goal from the South 2-yard line. Immokalee failed to gain a yard on the next three downs and lost sophomore-to-be Rante Baker to an apparent knee injury in the process.
They were inside the Wolfpack's 10-yard line again early in the fourth quarter but again failed to score.
Sophomore-to-be quarterback Tshumbi Johnson led the way for Immokalee with 127 yards passing, 69 of which went to sophomore-to-be Jummy Victorin.
"Tshumbi played pretty well tonight," Ackley said. "I was proud of Tshumbi and the way he played. It's very exciting for a true freshman to throw the ball like he did.
"The defense did a great job. Obviously, South Fort Myers is a very talented football team. The defense put us in a position to be successful."