Estero High’s spring football game was the last straw for coach Rich Dombroski.
Although the Wildcats defeated Evangelical Christian School 58-51, Dombroski was not pleased that his team allowed 51 points or that it gave up an average of 45.4 points per game during the 2009 season.
The Wildcats went to work on their defense this summer-installing a new system and putting new faces in key positions.
The initial results were good as Class 2A Estero defeated Class 4A Baker 18-6 in a preseason game last Friday.
Although it did not count toward their record, the win was the first for the Wildcats against a Lee County public school since a 27-26 victory over Dunbar on Sept. 16, 2005.
“The defense came to play against Baker,” Dombroski said. “Six points is the least amount of points we’ve given up in a long time. That’s a huge step for us.”
The task gets considerably tougher tonight for the Wildcats as they will take on South Fort Myers at home at 7:30.
The Wolfpack have toyed with the Wildcats the past three seasons, outscoring them 151-19 in three victories.
But allowing just one touchdown to Baker, which went 8-2 last season and made the state playoffs, has given the Wildcats some confidence heading into the game.
“We preached to these guys all summer that they each have to do their jobs,” Dombroski said. “We know going into South that we have to do our job. We know after playing Baker that if we do our jobs, good things can happen.”
“Everyone did their job on defense last week,” senior defensive lineman Mo Farah said. “If everyone does their job this week, we have everything planned out on how to beat South.”
Estero forced Baker into six turnovers last week, thanks in large part to the play of its defensive line.
Farah wreaked havoc in the Baker backfield while fellow senior Doug Richards got a push from the nose guard position.
The duo provides the Wildcats with some size as Farah stands 6-foot-2, 285 pounds and Richards, a transfer from DeSoto County High, is 6-4, 275.
Dombroski said trying to consistently stop South senior quarterback Dallas Crawford and senior wide receiver Sammy Watkins, both of whom have handfuls of Division I scholarship offers, is no easy task.
“We’re not going to contain Dallas or Sammy,” Dombroski said. “We’re going to slow them down, but we’re not going to contain them. They are going to have their big plays, but we have to minimize those big plays.”
No player on Estero’s roster has ever beaten South, as the Wildcats have not defeated the Wolfpack since 2005.
Senior linebacker Colin Lewis, who started at the same position last season, said he and his teammates are hungry for the upset win.
“It was a definitely a real good feeling (beating Baker),” Lewis said. “We got a piece of it during the spring, too, and now we want more.”
