With six of eight county teams opening on the road, Poinciana and Celebration – two teams on the upswing – will take center stage Friday night when the Eagles host the Storm at 7 p.m.
“It should be a great test for both teams,” Poinciana Taron Mallard said. “Both teams are trying to build a program and a culture, so this is an important game for both teams.”
After going 8-3 last season the Eagles are attempting to post back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in the school’s 31-year history. Celebration was 3-7 in Coach Chris Blanton’s first year.
Poinciana won last year’s game, 34-14, but saw 90 percent of its offense graduate.
Celebration manhandled Discovery in its Kickoff Classic game last week (46-0). The Storm led 13-0 after just a few snaps after a Jaden Rodriguez touchdown run, special teams recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and a Daizjhon Blackman to Cameron Bizzack short touchdown pass. Evan Couch and Kaseem Shelley had interceptions, and Blackmon added a touchdown run and another TD pass to Sean Nuzzi.
“They will see a different team. We found our identity,” said Blanton. “They’re gonna see a team that is motivated to win.”
Osceola, last year’s Class 6A state runner-up (12-3) plays Treasure Coast in St. Lucie. They’re no strangers; they’ve played five times in the last three years, including two playoff contests. The Titans, once a power, saw a new school drain considerable talent from the Treasure Coast roster and lost their Kickoff Classic to Lake Wales, 41-0.
While Osceola also dropped its classic to state power Daytona Beach-Mainland (14-13), head coach Eric Pinellas says his team should be good to go for its season opener this week.
“We had a 13-0 lead into the fourth quarter and gave the game away with a couple of stupid turnovers,” Pinellas said. “Besides the turnovers, which most were correctable errors, we ran and threw the ball well, our O-line play was decent, we absolutely shut down the run and didn’t allow any long pass plays.”
St. Cloud coach Mike Short believes his team will be in good shape when it travels to Freedom for its opener. The Patriots have gone 12 years without a winning season.
“They are a big school and we are certainly not in a position to take anyone lightly. If we play with intensity and execute, I do like our chances.”
Short will rely on sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Lattier, who threw two touchdown passes to Owen Sullivan in the Bulldogs 28-14 Kickoff Classic win over Innovation.
Gateway’s opponent, Space Coast, has already played a regular season game. A member of the Sunshine State Athletic Conference, Space Coast beat Cedar Christian, 59-0, last week; while the Panthers dropped their Kickoff Classic exhibition to Windermere, 35-7. Coach Marlin Roberts said it was tough to judge Space Coast from film.
“We got their spring game and last week’s tape and honestly, their competition wasn’t very good. Still, they beat us last year and its looks like they have some athletes again.”
Harmony plays at Windermere and will look to get veteran coach Don Simon his first win since returning to the school after a two-year stint as Athletics Director at Tohopekaliga. Simon admits he has an extremely young team that will go through some growing pains this season.
Look for the Longhorns to be a running team first behind converted defensive end Ron Cartegena, who rushed for 90 yards in a Kickoff Classic loss to Villages Charter.
Tohopekaliga has a long and difficult road trip this Friday when they travel to IMG Academy in Bradenton for a game against IMG State. The private academy is home to three high school teams, including IMG National – one of the top teams in the nation.
The game came about when Melbourne informed Tigers they would not be able to honor the second year of a two-year agreement forcing the school to scramble to find a Week 1 opponent.
“The IMG State team is not the powerhouse that its National and Junior National team is but they do use it as a developmental team for those squads,” Tigers coach Anthony Paradiso says. “They recruit not only across the state but the nation, so obviously they are talented.”
Liberty coach Janko Beras said he was encouraged by his team’s efforts in last week’s 28-14 loss to University. His team rushed for more than 300 yards but was plagued by snap issues in the loss. The Chargers will open regular season play by traveling to Innovation.
Michelle Kostuch contributed to this story.
