The Riverview Sharks will look to get back into their 2019 form, in which they went 8-3 and made their first playoff appearance since 2006, after going 1-8 last season.

Riverview is led by five-year Head Coach William Mosel. His shotgun, no-huddle, four-wide offense will be run by senior Jefferson transfer signal-caller Colin Larsen. Mosel thinks that his QB is the complete package with a great football IQ, sound mechanics, a strong arm and playmaking abilities with his feet. Mosel said Larsen is like having an extra coach out on the field—he distributes the ball well, makes great decisions with the football and is very coachable. His teammates lean on him because he is a calming influence as the team leader.

The Sharks are off to a great start, dominating Spoto in their Kickoff Classic 22-0, despite having three receivers out for the game. Mosel was happy with his team’s aggressive effort, overall team speed and execution. Riverview was a senior-heavy team last year and will need to fill the void left by their departure. However, a lot of young players saw the field down the stretch last season and gained experience, which will benefit this year’s team. They have a good mixture of seniors and younger players.

Riverview’s main strength will be their receiving corps, which has three seniors, Matthew Wingo, Antonio Tejada and Zach Reviere, and junior Harrison Hensley. The Sharks are eight or nine deep at that position. They can all block, make big plays and work well together. They will return four starters on offense. In the backfield, Dontarious Shoats and Kemoi Williams are two big running backs, over 200 pounds, that will carry the bulk. The offensive line is athletic and aggressive. Sophomore starting right tackle Jonathan Stark started every game as a freshman and will anchor that line.

The defense returns eight starters. The defensive line is led by duo Jayden Jimenez and Jeremiah Williams. In the secondary, they have a trio that will cover a lot of ground in George Serra, Jordan Ortiz and Zion King-Collier.

The Sharks have a tough schedule this season, especially down the back stretch. They face seven playoff-caliber teams in Plant City, Durant, Lennard, Plant, Newsome, Sumner and Jefferson.

Mosel thinks that his team will play with confidence and speed this year after gaining experience from last season. The team will have to improve on execution because of the lack of practice time due to poor weather. His goal is to make the playoffs for a third season in a row.

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Nick Nahas
Nick Nahas has written for the Osprey Observer since 2016. He has lived in the Valrico area since 2002 and has his bachelor’s degree in mass communications from the University of South Florida. He is dedicated to covering sports in Hillsborough County at every level.