Durant head coach Claybo Varnum and junior running back Calub Connell have both been nominated for Tampa Bay Area awards following the Cougars’ 29-6 victory over Plant City on Friday.
Varnum, a graduate of Durant High School in 2011, has been nominated for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ High School Coach of the Week award. In his first year at the helm for Durant, Varnum has led the Cougars to a 7-1 record, the school’s best record through eight games since an 11-0 undefeated regular season in 2012.
“He’s great,” Connell said about Varnum. “We’re a lot more well-rounded and put together with Coach Claybo. Last year we were kind of all over the place but Coach Claybo keeps us in our place and obviously it’s showing on the scoreboard on Friday nights.”
In addition to the hot start, Durant won their Redman Cup rivalry matchup against Plant City for the first time since 2017. Prior to Friday, Plant City had taken the last three matchups between the two teams and nine of 14 in total since the Redman Cup’s inception in 2007.
Each week’s award winner receives a customized football and a $2,000 grant from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Foundation to help maintain and upgrade their football program.
Connell was nominated for Primetime Preps’ Hillsborough County Football Player of the Week following 151 total yards and two touchdowns against Plant City.
A quarterback on junior varsity in 2020, Connell stepped up as the starting running back in 2021 when projected starter Alex Daley was forced to miss time with an injury at the beginning of the year. Since then, Connell has been a consistent force for the Cougars.
“It feels amazing to come out here and do something that nobody expected me to do,” Connell said. “I didn’t get any running back reps in my first two years here but I’ve come out and rushed for 100 yards almost every game. It feels great.”
Connell’s 729 all purpose yards lead the team, totaling 678 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground along with 51 yards and one touchdown through the air.