More than 100 South Florida high school football teams will gather today at Hard Rock Stadium for the Miami Dolphins’ annual South Florida High School Football Media Day.
Twenty-four Palm Beach County teams are scheduled to join their counterparts from Miami-Dade and Broward Counties for the day-long event, which allows teams to showcase a handful of their best players to local and national media.
Spanish River is the first of Palm Beach County’s teams to hold its media session, taking the stage at 9 a.m. Seminole Ridge and American Heritage will close the show about nine hours later, at 6:20 p.m.
We’ll provide updates from Media Day, along with photos and video. Here we go.
The Sharks showed up well before their media session, taking their seats at a table near the registration area.
Spanish River was the first Palm Beach County team to take the podium during Media Day Saturday. (Jodie Wagner/Palm Beach Post)
Once inside, assistant coach Jeff Tartarkin talked about his team, which returns 12 starters from last year’s 4-6 squad and expects to compete in tough District 10-8A.
“Our goal this year is to take it week by week, to see if we can get the kids to get better each snap and try and compete in every game,” Tartarkin said. “We at least want to let every team know that when we’re done playing, that they played us and it was a tough game.”
Defense will be a strength for Spanish River, with much of the unit having played together for at least three years. Eight starters return from last season.
“They’ve all been in the program, and they’ve all come up from their freshman year,” Tartarkin said. “The camaraderie on the defensive side is rock-solid.”
Olympic Heights has a new coach in 2017, with Baz Alfred taking over for Chris Kokell just before the start of spring practice.
Olympic Heights and new coach Baz Alfred (far right) greet the media Saturday. (Jodie Wagner/Palm Beach Post)
Alfred, a longtime assistant, doesn’t plan to stray much from Kokell’s game plan, and for good reason.
The Lions finished 6-3 last season, winning more games than in their previous three seasons combined.
Alfred hopes to keep the momentum going.
“We have 16 returning starters,” he said. “We just have to keep the flow and continue what coach Kokell did. He already laid down the foundation, and we had a good season last year. We want to improve.
“There were a few games we felt we should have won. We just have to continue to build and stay on that path.”
Gurvan Hall experienced his first Media Day with Palm Beach Gardens on Saturday. Jarrett Jackson was back for his second.
Palm Beach Gardens and its talented group of seniors hopes to continue to improve as the season draws closer. (Photo by Jodie Wagner)
The seniors are expected to play a big role for the Gators, who will start the season with first-year head coach Billy Clark at the helm.
Clark, the Gators’ former offensive coordinator, hopes to continue building a program that has experienced plenty of success in recent years.
Palm Beach Gardens won the district championship in 2015, and last season upset unbeaten Park Vista to reach the Class 8A regional semifinals.
“Our biggest thing we’re working on every single day is to get better every single period of practice,” Clark said. “We have zero wasted time at practice. Our goal is to take everything day by day.”
Hall, a defensive back and UM commit who transferred to Palm Beach Gardens from Palm Beach Lakes last month, and Jackson, a heavily recruited tight end/defensive end, said they were looking forward to getting to work.
“I’m very excited to be here,” Hall said. “The atmosphere is great. We’ve got a bunch of talent, and we’re all focused and staying together.”
West Boca Raton hopes to take a big step forward after finishing 1-8 last season. (Photo by Jodie Wagner)
It’s been a challenging few seasons at West Boca Raton, but the Bulls are looking forward to taking a big step forward in 2017.
West Boca Raton will enter the season with a young group of players that has worked hard over the summer.
The Bulls have few seniors, but they have taken on a big leadership role in the offseason, assistant coach John Collins said.
“Our ultimate goal is to have the kids buy in and believe in themselves,” Collins said. “The last couple of years we’ve been on a down slope. But our seniors have stepped up, and they want to make a turnaround for the program. We’re very excited about this year.”
Thanks to a late field goal against Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington is the defending District 9-8A champions.
Wellington poses for a photo at High School Media Day at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Saturday. Wellington is looking to repeat as District 9-8A champions. (Adam Lichtenstein / Palm Beach Post)
The Gators have a new coach and several big-time players, but Wolverines coach Tom Abel thinks his team can repeat as district champions.
“Year after year, we match up very well with them,” Abel said. “I think it’s going to be a great game again. … That’s one we circle all the time because we always tell the boys we want that to be a district championship game.”
Back for his junior year is Mark-Antony Richards, one of the top 2019 players in the nation. The two-way star, whose brother, Ahmmon, is a former Super 11 pick, Palm Beach Post Offensive Player of the Year, Groza Award winner and current Miami Hurricanes star, has taken on a larger leadership role as he enters his junior year.
“He is the overall team leader,” Abel said. “Kids look up to him, even though he’s a junior. His actions speak louder than his words sometimes, but his work ethic is impeccable, just like his brother. He’s bigger and stronger than Ahmmon was at this time.
“We’re not stupid coaches. We’re going to give him the ball as much as we can and let him do his job because he’s a force on the field.”
Richards plays at running back, wide receiver and free safety. Abel said he would get substantial time at all three spots.
Richards, for what it’s worth, doesn’t have a preference.
“It doesn’t really matter to me,” he said. “I’m just here to do whatever I can do to help my team win.”
The Wolverines’ offensive line should be a dominant force, blocking for Richards and quarterback Connor Rogers. Abel said the unit weighs at least 280 pounds across the board, with Mike Palmateer, Vito Monaco and Adrian Tiburcio among the standouts.
“We are defending district champs,” Abel said. “That’s one of our goals: Act like it.”
It’s been 10 years since Jupiter Christian won a state championship. Jim Davis was on the staff then, and he’s hoping to get the Eagles back to that level.
“We got our goal set on winning that state championship in the independent division we’re in,” Davis said. “One thing at a time … but we’re talking about that.”
Jupiter Christian has a larger team than last year, with nearly 40 players on the roster. Nearly every starter on both sides of the ball returns following last year’s 5-5 season.
“Things are going back to the way it used to be for us,” Davis said.
Hopes are high at Atlantic, where the Eagles plan to challenge for a district championship – and more – in 2017.
Atlantic has seven players on the Post’s Class of 2018 Big Board, and all expect to advance deep into the postseason. (Photo by Jodie Wagner)
Atlantic returns numerous impact seniors this season, and lists a county-best seven players on the Post’s Class of 2018 Big Board.
Those players include wide receiver and UF commit Corey Gammage, wide receiver Cadarius Gaskin, defensive end Jason Mercier, defensive back Kenih Lovely, wide receiver Varrick Lurry-Davis, defensive back Christian Brown and running back Corey Cola, who transferred from Park Vista last week.
They are expected to lead the Eagles through a challenging regular-season schedule and into the postseason.
Atlantic is coming off consecutive appearances in the Class 8A regional finals, and wants to advance further.
“We’re expected to go to states this year, and that’s what I expect,” Cola said.
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After a strong 2015, Forest Hill took a step back last year. Now the Falcons are looking to rebound.
Forest Hill offensive/defensive lineman Jordon Earle at High School Media Days on Saturday. (Adam Lichtenstein / Palm Beach Post)
“This crew listens,” coach Jude Blessington said.
Appalachian State commit Jordon Earle has been the Falcons’ breakout player. Recruited by the Mountaineers to play defensive tackle, Earle said he wants to rack up at least 10 sacks and help Forest Hill challenge for the district title.
“I think it really would be different (to win at Forest Hill),” Earle said. “No offense, but Dwyer always wins. It’ll be good for a team that went 2-7 or 0-10 before, and they just win the district championships. It’d be nice to win something like that, for once.”
Park Vista’s secondary is shaping up to be one of the best in the county, even though some of its top players have made names for themselves at other positions.
From left: Park Vista’s John Smith, Jake Collins, Antonio Ruiz, J.J. Pieri and Atorian Perry at High School Media Day on Saturday, August 5. (Adam Lichtenstein / Palm Beach Post)
Atorian Perry is primarily a wide receiver, and John Smith was a second-team All-Area pick at quarterback last year, but both players (along with Jake Collins) will look to shut down opposing offenses.
“We’re going to be great this year,” Collins said. “I don’t see that many balls coming our way.”
The Cobras are the reigning District 10-8A title winners, but they will have a tough time keeping the crown, as Atlantic is loaded with players and Boca Raton looks to make some noise. But Park Vista’s senior class hopes to keep the trophy in Lake Worth and win the Cobras’ first playoff game in years.
“It’d be amazing,” senior linebacker J.J. Pieri said. It’d make my senior season amazing.”
St. Andrew’s started off hot last season, winning two of its first three games, but the Scots slumped toward the end of the year, dropping its last six games.
Quarterback Wyatt Ruth missed a chunk of the year due to injury, and the St. Andrew’s offense slumped. The Scots scored more than eight points only once in their last six games.
“Last year was a pretty big disappointment,” Ruth said, “but this summer, we’ve been working a lot harder.”
Glades Central is working on improving its offensive and defensive lines, and they have one large building block already: 6-foot-6, 300-pound lineman Willie Canty III.
Glades Central offensive lineman Willie Canty III at High School Media Day on Saturday, Aug. 5. (Adam Lichtenstein / Palm Beach Post)
“If our lines show up, everything is set perfectly,” Canty said. “The line is like the engine of the car.”
Coach Jessie Hester agreed with Canty, saying Glades Central’s fate is wrapped up with it’s lines.
“I told the kids that’s going to be the difference this year,” Hester said. “It’s going to be the interior line play, offensively, defensively.
Skill-wise, we’re going to match up with pretty much with anybody in the state. But we’ve got to be physical up front.”
Canty said a lot of his fellow linemen on offense are young, and he has been trying to lead them in the weight room. The Raiders’ off year last year is what motivates him to push the younger players.
“I don’t want to go 6-5 again,” Canty said.
Cardinal Newman surprised the county by upsetting American Heritage last season and earning a playoff spot.
Cardinal Newman at High School Media Day on Saturday, Aug. 5. (Adam Lichtenstein / Palm Beach Post)
What can they do for an encore? Do it again.
“With this new playoff structure and the points system,” coach Brian Pulaski said, “I think our goal really needs to be a regional championship.”
The other name for Dwyer’s secondary last season: the Palm Beach Post All-Area team. Five players from the unit were first-teamers, second-teamers or honorable mentions.
The only one who returns is senior safety Cameron Jonas. As a result, the senior, who is No. 4 on the Post’s Big Board, has been thrust into a leadership role.
Dwyer’s Cameron Jonas poses for a photo at High School Media Day on Saturday, Aug. 5. (Adam Lichtenstein / Palm Beach Post)
“It’s time for me to step up, make plays and keep these guys motivated,” Jonas said.
The Panthers still have plenty of talent in the secondary, including senior Justin Birchette, senior Carl Willis, sophomore Colby Dempsey, and more.
“I expect our secondary to be as good as anybody’s,” Daniels said.
John I. Leonard has not posted a winning record since 2005.
Last year, the Lancers put up a 2-8 record, but senior running back/defensive end Vitaldo David thinks Leonard’s young squad has a shot at turning things around.
“We’re young, but we have heart,” David said. “We will come and fight every game.”
Benjamin’s Kaiir Elam has some goals for his last two years with the Buccaneers.
“I want to break every record I can,” he said. “Interceptions, tackles, kick returns, punt returns. Everything that I play, I want to break a record.
“And also win a state championship, because I know they haven’t had one of those in a long time.”
Elam and the Bucs have more to play for this year, as Benjamin is eligible for an FHSAA title again.
“It definitely means more, a lot more,” Elam said. “I take every game seriously; I go to 110 percent. But we have new players, new incoming players, new faces on the football team, and I think the whole mindset is changed and I think everything is toward winning a state championship.”
District 13-7A is going to be tough, and Palm Beach Lakes coach Al Shipman knows it. Here’s what he had to say about it:
“Say what you want to say, Jack (Daniels) does a very good job over there. Those guys will be well-prepared and they’ll be a formidable opponent. I expect for them to be a playoff team.
“It used to be a two-man race. Dwyer is kind of at the top, and it’s like a two-man race for everything else. Now I feel like it’s really leveled off. Olympic Heights is going to be a scary team. Forest Hill is going to be a scary team; they have a veteran offensive line coming back, they run a real funky offense, they have a very good coaching staff over there that keeps those guys prepared.
“I don’t really see an easy game in our conference. Everybody’s going to have to grind every week.”
Does one good year replace a bunch of subpar ones? Not in Pahokee.
Pahokee coach Orson Walkes (left) and his players at High School Media Day on Saturday, Aug. 5. (Adam Lichtenstein / Palm Beach Post)
Coming off the team’s first Muck Bowl win and a Class 1A state title (that had to be vacated), the Blue Devils still have a chip on their shoulder.
“That’s crazy,” coach Orson Walkes said. “We have not gotten the monkey off our back. One year does not erase eight years in a row. Anybody that says that is crazy. We’re still hungry. We’re still after the Muck Bowl like we never won last year.
“We didn’t,” he added, “they took it away.”
Walkes’ players agreed.
“We feel as if that one win doesn’t cancel eout eight,” JeJuan Campbell said. “We feel as if we need to win 10 in a row. We’ve got to even that out, plus two more wins over what they had. Until we get 10 in a row, we’re not going to be satisfied.”
