Due to the threat of impending weather, spring football games scheduled for Friday have been moved to Thursday.
That includes Edgewater at Osceola, Poinciana at Gateway, and Celebration at George Jenkins, at 7 p.m. Liberty will play at Lake Region at 7:30.
St. Cloud play halves against Orlando Christian Prep and Freedom starting at 6 p.m. in Freedom’s jamboree.
East Ridge was already scheduled to play at Harmony on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Tohopekaliga wrapped up its spring training with a 38-12 loss (18-12 in the varsity portion) last Thursday.
“Our kids did a great job this spring – stepping up and helping change the culture. Our main focus is always to going to showcase the talent of the player and get them to the next level,” new coach Anthony Paradiso said. “If we do the things we’re supposed to do, the wins will come. We’re still moving players around and finding the right fit for everyone.”
Second-year Osceola coach Eric Pinellas sais spring football has gone well, as the Kowboys are coming off a 9-3 season that included a tough 16-7 playoff loss to West Orange.
“We have had a solid couple of weeks of practice, and some physical practices,” Pinellas said.
Rising junior and two-time state wrestling champion Gunner Holland takes over at quarterback for the graduated Chad Mascoe, who's headed to Campbell University.
“Gunner knows our offense and is progressing every day,” Pinellas said. “You can see his confidence grow every practice.”
He, and running back Taevion Swint, who accounted for 1,125 yards and a team-leading 15 touchdowns last year, will play behind and offensive line that will be a strength.
The Kowboys return Division I prospect defensive tackles Derrick LeBlanc and John Walker — it’s been a parade of ‘Who’s Who’ of coaches to see them. Nose tackle Elijah Palmero and defensive backs Bo Mascoe (7 INT) and Marcus Jackson (3 INT) return as the spine of a salty defense.
Two new coaches debut tonight. St. Cloud offensive coordinator Mike Short puts the ‘big headset’ back on at Freedom.
“Numbers for this spring have been outstanding, we’ve had 70 kids out there almost every day,” Short said. “The spirit and enthusiasm has been great but the fact remains we played a lot of freshmen and sophomores last year and that will most likely be the case again this year.”
Seniors Noah Carr (OLB) and Joseph Clukey (WR/SS) will be counted on to provide senior leadership. Rising sophomore Logan King has impressed at quarterback after throwing for 753 yards as part-time freshman starter. “Logan has looked really good this spring and has shown tremendous improvement,” Short said. “He has a chance to be an outstanding high school quarterback as he gains experience.”
Longtime assistant Jeremy Palmer takes over at Celebration after Rich Pringle’ resigned this spring to take the head coaching job at Lake Gibson. The Storm went 7-4 for just the second winning season in the school’s 20-year history, and Palmer does have some considerable talent to work with, most notably Oniel Senatus – the Osceola News Gazette Two-Way Player of the Year. He is on the radar of Division I schools and has already has offers from Purdue and East Carolina.
Senior Foster Searcy received significant playing time at quarterback last year and Davis’ younger brother Griffin Davis will also get a long look. “We didn’t change much in our offense or defense during the spring, but we certainly will add some wrinkles in the fall,” Palmer said. “With this being a transition year, it’s going to be important for our leaders to step up and fortunately we have a great group of seniors that have assumed that responsibility.”
Had it not been for a few defensive stops, Harmony could have just as easily been 8-1 instead of the 5-4 final record. Coach Don Simon returns explosive tailback Tyler Emans, who rushed for 1,367 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. Cooper Richards, a terrific counter to Emans, averaging almost seven yards a carry and scoring seven touchdowns, and quarterback Ayden Parks give the Longhorns offensive experience.
So does the defense — eight players return who saw significant time – including freshman middle linebacker Dalten Phelan and his team leading 71 tackles.
Numbers were up for Gateway, as coach Marlin Roberts reported 55 players in for spring. Eli Azize, a Swiss Army player who has played numerous positions, is poised to take over for Edward Dyer at quarterback.
Laquavion Pinellas returns at running back and Roberts hopes his defense will be improved with the return of linebacker Kevin Montilla from an ACL tear.
Roberts “ has been impressed” with Chris Martin, a rising sophomore from Virginia who is projected to compete for a starting defensive line spot.
Randy Beeken said his numbers at Poinciana were still on the low side with 35-40 kids out for spring football, but what has changed as been the attitude.
“We had too many players last year that thought we could not do without them and they sort of did their own thing to the detriment of the team,” Beeken said. “Our coaches and I are in the process of changing that attitude and it has paid off. We will be a much more disciplined team this year.
“We have some very talented players, the key will be to keep them healthy,” he said. “We simply do not have the depth to sustain any large number of injuries.”
Poinciana will continue to play as an independent in order to play a competitive schedule.
Liberty loses its top three receivers and top two running backs to graduation but returns junior quarterback Jeremiah Pierre-Louis. Brett Munroe’s team had a solid 5-5 season last year and was just essentially just three plays away from being 8-2.
