Prep Football 2016: Gulf Coast to honor All-Decade team

Gulf Coast High School has selected its first all-decade football team, and the group will be honored before Friday’s Class 7A-District 12 game against South Fort Myers.

The all-decade team technically will honor the best players from the school’s first 13 seasons. Gulf Coast opened in 1998, and the first all-decade team will honor players from the first two seasons plus the 2000s. The goal is to do a team for every decade in the future.

“We’re trying to develop legacies around here,” Sharks coach Pete Fominaya said. “We’re such a young school that we can go back to when we started. This game (Friday) is so important, we wanted to bring those guys back before the game.”

Five former Sharks coaches nominated, voted on and selected the players for the team. The committee selected 12 offensive players, 11 defensive players, and two specialists. The former coaches who voted were Mark Ivey (assistant, 1998-2001), Andrew Miranti (assistant, 2003-08, head coach, 2009-11), Jason Tudryn (assistant, 2002-06), Mike DiGrigoli (assistant, 1998-2007) and Larry Capasso (assistant, 2001-04).

Fominaya played on Gulf Coast’s first football team. He graduated in 2000 before playing defensive line in college. Fominaya was nominated for the all-decade team but took himself out of consideration to avoid focusing on him and his current team.

The players selected for the all-decade team will take part in a meal in the Gulf Coast cafeteria at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The 25 members will be announced in a pregame celebration, when the current player at each position will hand the all-decade player a commemorative plaque.

“I’m one of the oldest alumni, and I’m 35,” Fominaya said. “It will be nice to bring those guys back before they start the next phase of their lives and generate some excitement for the program.”

Gulf Coast Football All-Decade Team (1998-2009)

Graduation year in parentheses

QB – Jeff Schmidt (2009)

RB – Rochenel Absolu (2001)

RB – Anthony Pitingolo (2008)

TE – Jake O’Connell (2004)

WR – Kyle Bennett (2001)

WR – Andrew Dunko (2008)

WR – Zac Rittberg (2010)

OL – Travis Delashmet (2001)

OL – Brandon Wess (2003)

OL – Kyle Lightner (2006)

OL – Vito Roppo (2007)

OL – Dan Mitchell (2007)

DL – Colby Townsend (2003)

DL – Brandon Kipp (2004)

DL – Drew Stewart (2004)

DL – Dana Paul Luebbe (2010)

LB – Lee Campbell (2006)

LB – Tyler Clawson (2005)

LB – Matt Milk (2009)

DB – Corey Small (2004)

DB – Dustin Locke (2004)

DB – Dustin Meneley (2007)

DB – Brian Biada (2009)

K – Conor Goulding (2010)

P – Zac Kolegue (2004)