By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Cole Harvey snared passes with ease at St. Cloud High.

Wednesday, he made his best football grab: He signed a letter of intent to Florida Technical College in Melbourne.

Harvey, a 6 foot 4, 190-pound receiver who had 84 catches for 1,116 yards and 10 touchdowns during his varsity career, will be a member of the Panthers’ inaugural program.

The school, which will compete in the NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference, is coached by Steve Englehart.

“I really hit it off with the coaches, and I liked the area a lot. I liked the campus, and it just felt great,” Harvey said.

Harvey’s stats are impressive despite the fact that Bulldogs’ quarterback Phillip Steinmetz had plenty of other good targets throughout Harvey’s varsity career. Last season, three Bulldogs had more than 400 yards in reception yardage.

“That’s the way our offense was designed, to get the ball to the open man,” Harvey said. “I felt like when it was my turn, I did my part.”

Indeed, Harvey averaged over 14 yards per catch throughout his career.

He was so impressive after his junior season, when he had 35 catches for 474 yards, that Division I programs Alabama and USF invited him for visits.

Harvey plans to make the most of this opportunity.

“I’m going there to be the best in the conference,” he said.

“I always want to be the best at my position, no matter where I am. The good thing is that our entire class will red-shirted. And, this conference is going to be tough. They call it the Division II SEC. There are some good schools there.”

Harvey plans to major in psychology or communications.