Mitchell Keeps Rolling With Third Straight Shutout

The Mustangs graduated a large senior class from a team that made another deep playoff run last fall, leaving head coach Andy Schmitz and his staff with production to replace all over the field.

Three weeks into the season, Mitchell hasn’t missed a beat.

The Mustangs improved to 3-0 Friday night with a 50-0 win over Fivay, giving them their third straight shutout to open the season.

Mitchell has now outscored Gulf, Hudson and Fivay by a combined 126-0.

For a team replacing as much as the Mustangs did, that’s a start that gets your attention.

Schmitz has built a program that has become accustomed to winning. Mitchell went 8-2 during the 2025 regular season before playoff wins over Lennard and Palmetto carried the Mustangs into the regional final.

This year’s team doesn’t have all the familiar names from that run, but the early results haven’t changed much.

The defense continues to set the tone.

Fivay entered Friday with an offense that had been producing early in the season, including several players among Pasco County’s statistical leaders. Mitchell never allowed that group to get going.

Entering the game, Fivay had one of the county’s top passers and several other players near the top of the early statistical rankings. None of it mattered much Friday night.

Mitchell had two of Pasco County’s top five tacklers of its own entering the game. Anthony Mirabile ranked fourth with 17 tackles, while Sawyer Fenton was right behind him with 16.

Mirabile added seven more tackles against Fivay, giving him 24 through three games. Fenton added two to bring his total to 18.

Up front, Tre Messerli has become another player to watch. He recorded two more sacks Friday night and now has four through three games.

Louis D’Onofrio added five tackles, while Mitchell finished with eight tackles for loss as a team.

And once again, nobody found the end zone against them.

Three games into the season, Mitchell has yet to allow a point.

The offense has been doing its part, too.

Lathan Hogan has emerged as one of Pasco County’s top backs early in the season. He entered Week 3 as the county’s leading rusher with 186 yards through two games, then added 55 yards and two touchdowns against Fivay.

Hogan now has 241 rushing yards and six touchdowns through three games and has quickly become one of the biggest pieces of Mitchell’s offense.

But the Mustangs haven’t had to rely on him alone.

Anthony Zambito rushed for 62 yards on eight carries Friday, while Robert Dunning also found the end zone.

Rex Driggers was efficient when Mitchell went to the air, completing five of seven passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns.

Brody Beach turned his only reception into a 53-yard touchdown, while Cody Connor caught three passes for 46 yards and another score.

That balance has been one of the more encouraging parts of Mitchell’s start.

The Mustangs lost plenty from last year’s offense, but they have found production from several different places while the defense continues to make things easier on the other side of the ball.

There are still bigger tests ahead.

District games against East Lake, Largo and Gaither will give Mitchell a much better idea of where this group stands once the schedule gets deeper. Those were always going to be the games that helped define this season.

But through three weeks, the conversation around Mitchell has already changed.

The question entering the year was how the Mustangs would replace everything they lost.

So far, Schmitz and his staff have another group playing defense, running the football and winning games.

The names may have changed, but Mitchell is starting to look like Mitchell again.

And through three weeks, nobody has scored on them.