2020 Tampa Bay Playoff Contenders Series: Sunlake High

<span style="font-size: 18pt;"><em><strong>As we continue this series, we're going to continue looking at Tampa Bay Area teams that are knocking on the door for the state playoffs. Some of these teams fell just short of making the playoffs and others are a constant participant, but with the ball bouncing the right way this year and improvement in key areas, these teams all have the potential to make the state playoffs in Florida.</strong></em></span> &nbsp; Sunlake has a proud football history for High School that's only been around since 2007. Sunlake finished 4-6 in 2019 Under first-year head coach Trey Burdick. Burdick took over last year for legendary coach Bill Browning who retired after the 2018 season. They tallied a 77-59 record since the program's first season in 2007. That also includes seven straight winning seasons and four playoff appearances. With key pieces returning I expect the Seahawks to be in the playoff hunt all season. I reached out to Coach Burdick about the upcoming 2020 season and his outlook on his team. This is what he had to say: "During the years that Sunlake was making playoff runs and proving to be one of the stronger teams in the area, they were built on tough, well-coached, accountable kids. We believe we finding those guys again. We love the effort and the resilience they are showing through these tough times and can’t wait to see what the future holds for these Seahawks. Offensively a guy that we think are going to make big strides is our QB Kevin Spillane: really grew last year as a QB, having never played organized football before he has spent this offseason buying into what we preach, leading by example, it’s no surprise that he has 4.2 GPA. Defensively, possibly the hardest worker on our team is a kid Zeph Johnson, he's coming back from an ACL injury in the second game last year but has really grown physically.  He's a tough aggressive kid who is going to be making tackles no matter where he lines up.  It's no coincidence that he's workout partners with Spillane". &nbsp; THE SEAHAWKS DOSSIER SCHOOL: Sunlake Seahawks HEAD COACH: Trey Burdick 2019 RECORD: 4-6 CLASSIFICATION: 7A District 9 TEAM COLORS: Black, Aqua, Old Gold &nbsp; <strong><em>Key players:</em></strong> &nbsp; <strong><em>Kevin Spillane QB</em></strong>- threw for 921 yards and seven touchdowns, and also ran for 130 yards last year in 9 games. Being last year was his first year playing organized football I expect him to make a massive improvement this season. He has a strong arm and does a terrific job throwing the deep ball with accuracy. &nbsp; <strong><em>Maguire Anderson WR</em></strong>- Anderson was Spillane's main target last year catching 35 passes for 442 and 4 touchdowns. Anderson is one of the top receivers in Pasco County currently holds an offer from Stetson. &nbsp; <strong><em>Elijah Mayfield CB</em></strong>- Mayfield registered 20 tackles 1 INT and 4 pass defense last season. Shows pretty good instincts in coverage and will be one of their main players in the secondary. &nbsp; &nbsp; <em><strong>You Can Contact Shannon Jordan with a prospect or team information on Twitter @in_huddle or shannon.jordan.ib@gmail.com</strong></em>