Football: Wildcats' long season ending

The good news for both Estero and Gulf Coast, who meet tonight in

the season finale for both teams at 7:30 in Estero, is that after

disappointing seasons filled with stinging losses, the pain ends

tonight.

The bad news is that one of these two teams -- each with an eye

already turned toward the future of their respective programs --

still has to lose this one.

For Estero (3-6 overall, 2-3 in 4A District 12) head coach Bill

Swats, whose team stumbled to a 59-20 loss in Fort Myers just days

after a locker room brawl resulted in the suspension of his top two

quarterbacks, the game could mean more than just the Wildcats'

second straight losing season.

"Eyes are always on the head coach and the coaching staff,

whether you win or lose," Swats said of recent rumblings that a

difficult season, coupled with last week's brawl and the coach's

two-game disciplinary suspension earlier in the season, may cause

some changes around Estero football.

"There are people in the community who want to get stuff done,

but are these the people who really understand football and the

nature of the game? I'm not sure. I think that our administration

and our athletic department has done a wonderful job of sorting

this out and communicating with people. With time, all that will

pass. I'm sure that in the community it is on people's minds, but I

want to move on and move our program forward."

Part of that moving forward will be in the further development

of sophomore quarterback Derek Hatfield, who completed 12 of 21

passes for 255 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions last

week, after the suspensions thrust the JV signal-caller into his

first varsity start.

"He's one of the kids who needs to help us next year," Swats

said of Hatfield, who was intercepted in his first series but later

recovered to connect on three second-quarter scores. "I thought he

had a great night with the three touchdowns, and our offensive

line's done better. He kept his composure and he made a lot of

people proud."

Gulf Coast coach Frank Tudryn, whose Sharks (4-5 overall, 1-3 in

5A-12) were shut out last week in Naples, 18-0, and are the losers

of three straight, said that he was among those impressed with

Hatfield's performance.

"The offense is their key, even with a sophomore at

quarterback," said Tudryn. "It's something that a sophomore starts

his first game and it's against Fort Myers. I was impressed with

him. He did a lot more good than bad. Other than that, all the

other weapons are still there."

Those weapons include senior wideout Brian Fitzgerald, who

followed up his record-setting 10-catch, 356-yard performance

against Mariner two weeks ago with another eight for 93 yards last

Friday.

"It's what he does after he catches the ball," Tudryn said of

Estero's primary offensive threat. "He can turn a five-yard catch

into an 80-yard touchdown."

Of greater concern to Swats than the offense is his defense's

inability to stop the run, as the Wildcats allowed the Green Wave's

vaunted Wing-T to gobble up 226 yards on the ground last week.

"The last two games, I don't know where our defense went. They

started playing well in the last few games before that, and then

all of a sudden we regressed. It's not like we see the effort going

down, we've just made some fundamental mistakes."

Swats said that a win would be a positive send-off for the

seniors playing their final game in front of the home crowd, but

that he and his staff will be more closely assesing the individual

play of the underclassmen who will be the future of Wildcat

football.

A future that, at this point anyway, Swats said he has no reason

to believe he won't play a big part.

"(Estero Principal Fred) Bode said that after the year, he sits

down with his coaches to talk, and that he doesn't care what your

record is, he just wants us to do things as well as we can," said

Swats.

"I think that I have his support, and that's just the way it

goes. I put the pressure on myself, and my staff puts it on

themselves. You know why we want it? So that the kids can feel that

(success). We've been there and we're going to work like heck to

get back there. It'll be looked at, and I don't know if there will

be any changes, but we will see if we can do it better."