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May 20 - June 2 2016

Volume 2 • Issue 7

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pg 7

Featuring... Foundation Academy, West Orange, Boone,

Bishop Moore, Dr. Phillips and much more!

Spring Football

Finds SolidFoundation

Page 2 Florida Sporting News • 5/20/16 - 6/2/16

Second Invictus Games Come to a Close in Orlando by Greyson Everidge

ESPN WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS – The In-victus Games, run by Prince Harry of the Royal Family in England, kicked off this past week in Orlando. The sporting event, which is featured worldwide, supports disabled veterans, looking to give them strength again through the power of sport.

The games feature athletes from numerous countries worldwide, who inspire people with their moving struggles and stories of success. At the opening ceremony, George Bush (43) praised the games and the cause behind it. The opening ceremony was also attended by celebri-ties, as well as other distinguished guests.

The games extend far beyond who wins or los-es, showing the collective strength and persever-ance that all veterans have, regardless of race, injury, or country. Athletes compete in sports like archery, driving, indoor rowing, power lift-ing, road cycling, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, wheelchair basketball, wheel-

chair rugby and wheelchair tennis.

Spectators and fans filed in to watch the events themselves, which lasted four days from start to finish. The event came to a close on May 12th, with the closing ceremony that night at the Champion Stadium. Guest signers including Jordan Smith, Phillip Phillips, and the first rec-ognized wounded warrior band, who performed

“No man left behind.”

Second Lady Jill Biden offered her words of support, telling everyone to uncover their invic-tus story - the word invictus in Latin translates to “unconquered”.

US Captain Will Reynolds got onto the stage, urging others to uncover their own life changing experiences. Prince Harry left the games with a moving state-ment.

“The competition has been fierce with perfor-mances of the highest international standard across a number of events,” said Prince Harry. “But what inspired me, was the courage to make it to the starting line, to take to the field or to dive into that pool, motivated by the goal of giv-ing your all – medal or no medal. You showed your families, your friends and yourselves, just how far you’ve come, regardless of the result.”

Friday, May 20Bishop Moore at Dr. Phillips 7Daytona Beach Mainland at Orange City University 7 (at Spec Martin Stadium, DeLand)Titusville Astronaut at East River 7Chiefland at Wildwood 7Eau Gallie at Harmony 7Seminole at Lake Mary 7Deland at New Smyrna Beach 7 (at New Smyrna Beach Sports Complex)Ocoee at Orlando University 7Lyman at Lake Brantley 7Tavares at Deltona Pine Ridge 7

Trinity Prep at Cypress Creek 7Winter Springs at Lake Howell 7East Ridge at Kissimmee Liberty 7:30Freedom at Kissimmee Gateway 7:30Legacy Christian at Bradenton Christian 7:30Jamboree at Southeastern University, LakelandLake Highland Prep, Tampa Carrolwood and Lakeland Victory Christian 5:30

Tuesday, May 24Lake Minneola at Jones 7 (at West Orange High School Field)

Wednesday, May 25Wekiva at Olympia 6:30

Evans at Colonial 7

Thursday, May 26Celebration at Haines City 7Umatilla at Leesburg 7

Friday, May 27Pierson Taylor at Daytona Beach Father Lopez 7Gainesville at West Orange 7Kissimmee Osceola Jamboree, 7 p.m.First half: Lakeland Lake Gibson vs. OsceolaSecond half: Lake Gibson vs. ApopkaThird half: Apopka vs. Osceola

2016 HIGH SCHOOL SPRING FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

5/20/16 - 6/2/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 3

by Greyson EveridgeWest Orange Softball Win State Championship

VERO BEACH – The West Orange Warriors softball team, who were ranked number one with a (30-1) record, were virtually uncontested in the end for their second State Champi-onship. The Warriors have been the top team in the State this year, and the ending was picture perfect for the team who beat Tampa Alonso (15-12) 6-0 in the Class 9A State Title game.

No stranger to tight games, West Orange found themselves wrapped up in a close match entering the fifth inning. That was when, thanks to Lauren Mathis and the “clutch”, Lexie Blair helped pull the Warriors ahead to win by a large margin of 6-0. Blair scored the third run, and Mathis retired the final batter for Alonso to win the game, totaling 15 strikeouts on the night. Blair also stole three bases.

“At first I was very taken aback by the strikeout, it kind of took me a second to process it, that we won [a state

championship],” said Mathis, who allowed just three hits with no walks. “It hit me all at once and I just had to throw my glove up in the air and celebrate with my team.”With the win, the Warriors became one of five

teams in the area with more than one state championship.

Even when things weren’t going well, the team did a good job at keeping their cool. Once they get a hit early on, confidence grows and more hits start to come.

“We had some hits early in the game but they were later in the inning when we had two outs, but when we get that early hit in the inning every-body starts to feel like we’re ready to go,” said coach Todd LaNeave. “They do a really good job of never getting into that panic mode.”

The culmination of efforts throughout the year was special to watch, and the Warriors win was more than deserved.

Page 4 Florida Sporting News • 5/20/16 - 6/2/16

West Orange Baseball Advance to First State Tournamentby Greyson Everidge

DELAND – The West Orange Warriors Baseball team beat out University High in the Regional Finals, advancing to the programs first State Tournament after a 3-0 win against University, who had a (24-4-1) record. The Warriors have a (27-2) record.

In front of an announced crowd of over 1,500 at Conrad Park, the game took wild turns, keeping each and every one of those 1,500 fans on their feet with each inning that passed.

University were without pitcher Logan Allen and Coach Frank Martello, who were ejected with two outs in the fifth. An outburst occurred after the Warriors put two runners on bases. Allen had previously allowed only one earned run in 64 innings this year, and without him Univer-sity was hurting. West Orange senior Tyler Baum stuck out 10 in five innings, while Cole

Beavin finished the game off, striking out six in the last two innings.

Led by their class of super seniors, the Warriors look as if they could go all the way.

“Coming in here with this freshman class we wanted to make a statement,” Baum said. “We knew we were going to do something big, it just took until our senior year to do it.”Seniors Chris Seise, Matt Coello, and Kole Enright also performed well, helping West Orange to victory.

Coello and Enright each went 2 for 3, hitting a double and a run scored. The Warriors will play Parkland Douglas, who are (25-2) this season in their first State Semi. The game will take place on Friday, May 20th, at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers.

by Andrea Lerner

Boone Baseball Ends Season With District

Semifinal Loss

ORLANDO - The Boone Braves baseball team (12-13) fell to Cypress Creek (14-13) in the district semifinals this month by a final score of 6-4. The Braves fell short to end their season on a low note, but are satisfied with the effort given.

The entire team held up a strong effort during the game against Cypress Creek. First, Jimmy Robbins pitched for more than five innings and was strong before he was relieved by Tim Kaiser. Kaiser had two hits and two RBI’s. Once they were down 2-0 in the 6th, the Boone Braves offense knew they needed to wake up and do better.

Going further, the Braves were up 4-2 because of a two out rally. After being ahead, they fell right back down when Cy-press Creek rallied with a huge 6th inning of their own, giving them the win. The Boone team left the game and the season with their 12-13 record. Even with the season coming to an end, they made tremendous progress and are happy with what they brought to the field.

Since, the Braves are still rack-ing up accomplishments. Chris Jones, junior, was named to the 2016 All-Metro Conference Baseball team as a third base-man. Throughout the season, Jones hit .397 with six doubles, three triples, a home run, and 5 runs batted in. In addition, he stole two bases for the Braves team. His honor has made him and Boone proud.

With the continuous rise and fall that the Boone team has experienced this season, the coaches and supporters are proud of what the group of boys brought to the field. Confidence and determination have been key for the Braves this year, and they plan to never lose track of that fact. Even without advancing, the boys know they did their best and can only try harder next year.

5/20/16 - 6/2/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 5

UCF Grand Slams Cincinnati in Game One

Orlando--The UCF Knights made a statement to the Cincinnati Bearcats with a grand slam come-back at the bottom of the 7th inning. The Bearcats did not make it easy for the Knights by seizing the opportunity of numerous walks, 3 errors, and a total of 7 hits, which ultimately led to their 7 runs.

Although Cincinnati put up a strong effort it was not enough to overcome UCF and their impressive 10 hits. At the bottom of the 7th inning UCF’s Sam Tolleson rallied his fellow knights to give them the lead and end the game with a score of 8-7.

Throughout the first few innings the game was moderately quiet on both sides. There were many short outs from both the Knights and the Bearcats that resulted from a lot of fly, ground, and strike-outs. In the 3rd inning UCF was able to put the

first 2 runs on the board. One coming from Logan Heiser with a long homerun over the left field wall with a runner on base. As the 4th inning carried on the Knights struggled with terrible pitching. Cincinnati took advantage of the situation and recorded 4 runs in the inning resulting from drawn walks and 2 UCF errors.

UCF, trailing 4-3 kept fighting to try and recapture the lead from the Bearcats, but were held silent with Cincinnati pitching 3 consecutive strike-outs. With UCF unable to formulate anything, the Bearcats added one more run in the bottom of the 7th to extend their lead to 5-3. The Bearcats at this point in the game only hit 3 runs therefore heavily relying on its defense.

In the bottom of 7th the Knights started their come-

back with careful hitting and base runs. Than in a valiant effort and remarkable grand slam from Sam Tolleson, UCF took the lead 8-5The 8th inning was a rollercoaster of emotions as 6 quick outs on both UCF and Cincinnati’s side kept the crowd in attendance on their toes and atmosphere electric. The Bearcats would not give up so easily as they scored two additionally runs, but in the end it was not enough to bring down the Knights.

UCF will now look to continue their momentum into game 2 and close out the series sooner than later. The Knights are aware that it won’t be easy to defeat the Bearcats but they are looking forward and are ready for what Cincinnati will have to bring in the upcoming games.

by Andrea LernerBishop Moore Baseball Wins Region Championship

ORLANDO - The Bishop Moore Hornets base-ball team (23-12) won their most recent game, the regional championship. This win sends the Hornets to the final four which they are deter-mined to win.

The regional final for the team was against The Villages Charter (22-9) earlier this month. The Villages brought out a very classy side for the game by painting a gold “24” in front of the Hornets dugout. The number and pre-game events were in honor of Joe Skinner, senior baseball player at Bishop Moore who was diag-nosed with a rare form of leukemia in Decem-ber.

Bishop Moore’s team has been fighting to go all

the way for themselves, but mainly for Skinner since baseball is his passion, and he signed with

UCF shortly before his diagnosis. The regional game was just like any other for the Hornets, they wanted to win it for their friend and team-mate Skinner.

Throughout the game, the Hornets were domi-

nating as the final score was 9-2. Kyle M. and Rigsby M. led the Bishop Moore team to vic-tory. Kyle had three singles and Rigsby contrib-uted two hits, a double, and two runs. Pitcher Mikey G. gave up two runs in the first inning, only allowing those two to the Villages. After settling down, Mikey pitched a complete game.

Advancing, the Bishop Moore boys are headed to the final four. This will be the first time since 2012 where they have gone this far, and the team highly believes it is all because of their loved teammate Joe Skinner. They will be taking on Monsignor Pace (29-4) this month and hope to do nothing but own the field and dominate a win. Either way, the Hornets are proud of their accomplishments this season.

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by James White

Page 6 Florida Sporting News • 5/20/16 - 6/2/16

by Andrea Lerner Dr. Phillips Spring Football Moves Game Against Bishop Moore

ORLANDO - The Dr. Phillips Panthers football team has been working hard this spring to pre-pare for the fall. As the spring season wraps up, the team moved their final game that was to be against Bishop Moore. The Bishop Moore football team is following the baseball team down to Ft. Myers for the final four game in honor of student and player Joe Skinner. Skinner was recently diagnosed with cancer and the request was made to Dr. Phil-lips to move the game. Understandingly, due to the passing of Ian Supra, the Dr. Phillips team agreed to the move of the game.

Coach Rodney Wells has brought his team to life this spring season, and his motives have been pure. He received the Semper Fi Coach Award at the beginning of this year. This is the fourth year the award has been given, and Coach Wells is honored to have received it, being recognized as a high school football coach who lives out the Marine Corps motto “Always Faithful” (Semper Fidelis), and values leadership, honor, and cour-age.

With the final game of the spring season against Bishop Moore, players are confident and ready

to get back on the field. The spring season has boosted moral of those signing to elite college universities, such as Pearson Weaver, signing with Paine College.

The most high-profile game of the spring is the facing of 5A Champ Bishop Moore. Players such as J. Campbell have been working nonstop this spring to bring the Panthers as much victory as possible. As the heat of the pressure heads to-wards the game against the Hornets, all the team hopes for is yet another victory.

Windermere, FL- Over the past five years, Jacob Doss, who is currently the head coach at Win-dermere Preparatory School, has established a promising career for himself. He guided the Lakers to thirty-six wins in his time at Wind-ermere Prep. During his tenure, Coach Doss has worked valiantly to improve the team each

season. In his fourth year, he led the varsity team to an undefeated season and ultimately the Sun-shine State Athletic Conference’s Florida Bowl Championship. More impressively, he obtained that championship without his starting quarter-back Parker Davis, but that did not stop his team from steam rolling Christian Preparatory 48 to 19.

In the big game, with the help of Doss and the rest of the coaching staff, senior running back Chris Granjean was able to shoulder the load for the Lakers and rush for a remarkable 237 yards and 5 touchdowns. After the game coach Doss acknowledged and praised his player’s perfor-mance in the game. He said, “These kids (the seniors) are the leaders—I’ve known them for years. It’s so remarkable when you have a good core group of seniors like that, what the team can accomplish”.

After losing several productive seniors, coach Doss was able to put together another reassuring 7-3 record the following season. Heading into the 2016 year many people are anticipating what life lessons and teachings he can contribute to his players on and off the field. This is an impor-tant characteristic that a coach needs to succeed and to gain the trust and respect of his fellow coaches and players.

Coach Doss definitely has what it takes to lead the Lakers to many more championships. Jacob Doss is a strategic thinker, a compelling leader and communicator, and someone who truly knows how to get the best out of his players. All of these factors will build excitement for the school and the city of Windermere. Moving for-ward Doss will look to build upon the momen-tum that he has acquired over the past couple of seasons and continue to strive for a second championship.

A Legacy That Will Live Onby James White

5/20/16 - 6/2/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 7

WINTER GARDEN - The Foundation Academy Lions have kicked the spring season off with a bang for the football team. With little to play, the team has brought everything they have to the table.

Recently, the Lions defeated Seffner Christian by a final score of 48-14. This was the team’s first game play since its 2015 Class 2A District 4 championship season. The spring exhibition game took place earlier this month at their local Walker Field. Without even having a rocky start, the Lions dominated the field to take the win.

Each game has a leader who got them through it all. For this spring match, it was Jaquane Patterson who led the

Foundation team’s rushing attack with 101 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, an interception was returned by Lester Axson for a touchdown. This helped branch out the game in the second quarter.

The second quarter was an intense one for the Lions, scor-

ing 28 points. This type of game play has everyone on their toes for how strong the fall season will be for the Foundation Acad-emy team. Coach Brad Lord is ready to regroup a strong bond of boys starting in the fall.

As the seniors depart and say their good-byes to their high

school field, most are thankful for the experience Founda-tion Academy has given them. As a small school, a small football team was created. Their size and age has never mattered to them before, and there’s no doubt it will now. They have grown as a team and are more than excited to show Orlando just how they have.

CHANGES COMING TO HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

The Florida High School Athletic Association is calling an “audible” on the Florida high school football playoffs.FHSAA officials say the proposal will eliminate districts and allow teams to make the playoffs based on a strength of schedule system. The plan could begin in 2017.“Everyone can create their own 10-game schedule and we will see the playoff based on a point system that rewards you for wins and strength of schedule,” says FHSAA Director of Athletics Frank Beasley. “We sat down and tried to figure out how could we fix the problem and it is a problem. We have several teams with losing records that got into the playoffs.”

“It doesn’t always lead to the best teams getting into the playoffs.”

Currently, teams can only make the playoffs two ways: win your district or be the runner-up. Under the new proposal, districts will not exist and teams can schedule any 10 teams for the 11-week season. Beasley hopes the playoff proposal will create interest all season long.“I think it sends a great message as far it creates an atmo-

sphere for everyone. What happens now is some of our district races are over by week 7 or 8,” says Beasley. “We need to get to a system that benefits your program.”FHSAA officials are optimistic the proposal will be a game-changer for the state of Florida and high-school football. The FHSAA even wants to add a selection show after the final week of the season.

“We want to have a selection show week 11, like the NCAA selection show. We imagine gyms and classrooms being packed.”The FHSAA says they have received comments from coaches, administrators and fans regarding the proposal from both sides of the field. Common complaints from coaches include cost, travel and difficulty in scheduling 10 games.

The proposal will allow every school to schedule any 10 games they want. Districts won’t exist and teams that schedule tougher opponents will receive more points. FHSAA officials hope the proposal will cut down on cost and travel for schools.“We got a lot of feedback from coaches so it will create extra travel but we feel the opposite,” says Beasley. “I re-

mind our coaches that there are 550 other schools looking for ten games.”

Orange Park High School Football Coach Tom MacPher-son is in favor of the proposal.“I think it is going to make for a lot of excitement and it is something that needs to be done in my opinion. Hope-fully it will get some people to go out and play some other people.”

MacPherson hopes the proposal will create new rivalries and help prepare student-athletes for the future. “I think it is a long-time coming. I think it is good for high school football.”Before the plan can be approved, the FHSAA is seeking feedback on the plan and expects some changes to the plan.

“We are excited to see where it goes and it is still in the feedback stage. We are trying to create a more exciting playoff system in the state of Florida,” says Beasley. “It is pretty unique and it’s unique to us because we feel like we have the best football in the United States.”

Foundation Academy Spring Football Fresh

and Readyby Andrea Lerner

Page 8 Florida Sporting News • 5/20/16 - 6/2/16

Mike Palazzo a No Brainer for Florida Wrestling High School “Coach of the Year”

Orlando- In 2009, former Indiana University wres-tler Mike Palazzo took over the head coaching job at Lake Highland Prep School. Lake Highland Prep was not known for their dominating wrestling program, but once Palazzo got there, things changed dramatically. “Understand what good is, understand what great is, and all the way up the scale. You’ve got to really know how good a Pennsylvania two-time state champion or an NCAA D1 champ or All-American is and everything in between. When you do that, you get a kid’s mind in the right place”. This compelling mind-set is what Coach Palazzo is con-stantly incorporating to elevate his kids to the levels they need to reach in order to be state champs. Not only does he have his kids look into themselves and

self-evaluate their own talents, but he also encour-ages that they set what he calls, “crazy goals” to help push them to their highest potential.

The results have spoken for themselves as Palazzo had nine state champions out of ten finalists and a grand total of twelve state placers. With that record setting year Lake Highland Prep recorded their fourth state title in the past five years. However, as Palazzo continually strives for huge goals season after season, there is one consistent factor that never changes; Palazzo strongly encourages his kids to work just as equally hard in the classroom as they do on the mats. Although Palazzo is known for being an intense coach that doesn’t enjoy losing he also

understands that the foundation of wrestling starts in the classroom. “We talk a lot about being a good stu-dent,” Palazzo said. “I’ve seen a lot of wrestlers that can wrestle their butts off and haven’t missed a beat in the world of wrestling, but no one ever stopped to tell them that it’s a problem that they haven’t seen a B on their report card. So I make sure my guys know that school is just as important”. With a remarkable season in the books and the wisdom that Palazzo brings to his kids it was no surprise that he was awarded the Florida Wrestling Coach of the Year. Palazzo will look to build upon the stellar career he has established at Lake Highland Prep and further enrich the legacy he has created.

ORLANDO – The Orlando Pride, once again, won. It may not have been the prettiest game that they’ve played, but it was a win and three points are three points.

The Pride kept their perfect home record with the win, holding an overall record of (3-2-0). The win added to that, with all three wins com-ing at home. This time, it was the Western New York flash who fell, with a record of (2-3-0).

In the first half, it was the Flash who had the majority of chances. The chances were quality ones too, causing trouble for the Pride backline who struggled to keep a clean sheet throughout the duration of the first half.

However the second half, was the Prides bet-ter half. They dominated play, and got passes flowing and possession of the ball – something

which was missing in the first 45. The posses-sion and overall control of the ball led to the increase in chances.

In the 58th minute, Lianna Sanderson sent a ball to Alex Morgan, who with just the keeper to beat, had her shot deflected wide for a corner kick. About a minute later, it was Sanderson yet again who found Kaylyn Kyle, who headed wide of the post.

Ashlyn Harris had the majority of her saves in the first half, however in the second half she made a crucial one-on-one save to keep the game scoreless in the 68th minute. Just over 10 minutes later, it was Alex Morgan who got onto the end of a ball, volleying past the New York keeper to give Orlando the lead in the 79th minute.

It was the defining moment in the game, pro-viding the breakthrough that the game desper-ately needed.

The Pride sit third place in the NWSL stand-ings, and travel to Houston this week to play the Houston Dash for the second time this season at the Compass BBVA Stadium.

Orlando Pride Win Yet Again by Greyson Everidge

by James White

5/20/16 - 6/2/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 9

UCF Builds Excitement in Spring Football Game

Orlando—UCF fans were finally able to witness the beginning of the Scott Frost era at UCF’s Spring with the Gold team game as the Knights defeated the black team 21-10.

Early on in the game the focus was on the offense as everyone was anticipating to get a look at UCF’s new fast paced offense. Coach Frost said that only half of the offense was able to be implemented dur-ing the spring practices; but overall he was pleased with the development of his quarterbacks Justin Hol-man and Nick Patti. Throughout the game it was evident that the defense had a better grasp on the playbook. However, the

offense still had its highlight reel moments as the Gold’s team tight end/punter Mac Loudermilk caught a touchdown to solidify the victory in the fourth quarter.

UCF quarterback Justin Holman looked very poised commanding the offense. At times during the game he was getting plays off within 15

seconds of the play clock starting. At this point Hol-man should be the man for the Knights as they get ready to head into the season. Frost, on the other hand, has said he hasn’t made a decision on who will be the starting quarterback and doesn’t plan on doing

so anytime soon. The spring game brought in a record attendance of 23,147 fans and capped of the day with numerous festivities on campus.

At the end of the game Frost said, “I want to tell all of the fans thank you for showing up today and supporting us. I can’t tell you how much enthusiasm I felt, and excitement around the program. I’m really proud of our guys. I just got done telling them in the locker room, where they’ve come from December to where I see them now is a huge step. But I want them to understand that’s a first step”.

Multiple UCF alumni such as Brandon Marshall, Breshad Perriman, and Latavius Murray made an ap-pearance at the spring game to show support for their alma mater.

The Knights will now take the summer to prepare and get a deep understanding of what Coach Frost wants and of the playbook. After a disappointing sea-son in the past UCF will look to erase that from their fans mind and open up the 2016 season with a win in the opener against South Carolina State.

by Charissa Ward

One of the hot topics in the news is of GMO’s in our food. What to buy, what not to buy and so forth. This being said, what are these GMO’s that everyone is talking about; well here is some insight. GMO stands for genetically mutated organisms. Which in the vegetable world means taking a seed an altering the genetic structure of it to “better” the crop production process. But why do we need to alter the seed? The idea behind it is to make the seed stronger against drastic temperature, climate changes and pest that may devour and destroy an entire crop. However; this

altering of the seed comes with consequences. There is a constant debate of the long term effects on us as consum-ers for eating the vegetables from these seeds. Everything from higher cases of food allergies in kids and adults to other theories of possible links to cancer. Taking some-thing from its original form and mutating it does not sound very natural at all. Now GMO’s should not be mistaken for hybrids. Hybrids is when they cross pollinate different varieties of vegetables to come up with an overall stronger strand of plant. Nothing is genetically added to the process unlike the GMO’s.

So what can we do as consumers to stop eating and being sold these GMO foods. Buying local and knowing where

your food is grown is a start. Here at Jnan Riyad we are working hard to provide the freshest, most local, and non-GMO produce available. We are working on being able to provide our customers with all guaranteed non-GMO items by fall. We will be expanding our operations to include growing many varieties of fruits and vegetables all from Non-GMO seeds. Eating healthy is a great way to be in control of your own health but knowing what you are eating is even more important. Buy what is in season. A lot of GMO seeds are altered to be able to grow for longer periods of time despite the weather. Supporting local growers is a great way to help keep those big GMO grow-ers from continuing their growing. Smaller farms usually do not use these GMO seeds.

GMO’s vs. Non-GMO

by James White

Page 10 Florida Sporting News • 5/20/16 - 6/2/16

Lester Axon Jr. Offered Spot by UConnby Greyson Everidge

WINTER GARDEN – Lester Axon Jr., a cornerback for the Foundation Academy Lions, was “surprised” when the University of Connecticut came his way with a spot on the prestigious Husky team. It was welcomed no doubt, pro-viding payoff for all of Axon’s hard work over the years.

The unlikely offer comes not as a result of Axon himself, but rather the difficulty that charter and private school athletes face in the Orlando area when it comes to col-lege football scholarships. The move made on the part of UConn offensive coordinator Frank Verducci was perhaps a big step in breaking down the barrier between colleges and private schools that traditionally exists between the two.

The offer is a testament to Axon’s work ethic, which is part of what caught the attention of the UConn staff. His speed and tenacity on the field, paired with his study hab-its in the classroom, was a combination that the Huskies

couldn’t pass up. Axon knows how important education is, and his parents push him to always try his best. In his eyes, “Education is important because football is not here forever.” said Axon. His 3.2 GPA shows his work, and he will have no problem meeting the minimums to get into the program.

A versatile player, Axon also plays wing back and returns punts and kickoffs for the Lions, whose recent success is played in part to Axons contributions individually, and to the team. He is a team player first, and with the first offer behind him, he feels a bit less pressure – something which will help him work towards his goal of getting Foundation Academy a State Championship.

The work ethic rubs off onto the players around him, and makes for a good atmosphere amongst the team. The offer could be the first of many, with Axon hoping the approach from the University of Connecticut could spark inter-

est from a number of other schools in the market for a cornerback.

Resiliency Helps Improve Predators to 7-0 on the Season

Orlando- The Orlando Predators are hav-ing the best start the team has ever had in 16

years, improving to 7-0 with their 42-40 victo-ry over the Tampa Bay Storm. They achieved

this accomplishment in front of an announced crowd of 12, 971 at the Amway Center.

The Storm got off to a hot start when quar-terback Jason Boltus completed an 18 yard touchdown pass to T.T. Toliver. However, the Predators answered right back with a score of their own when quarterback Randy Hippeard found wide receiver Greg Carr for the 8 yard TD completion. At the end of the first quarter Storm’s defensive back James Harrell inter-cepted Hippeard closing out the quarter with the Storm leading 14-7.

The Predator’s defense came roaring back in the start of the second quarter by forcing a turnover on downs. Following the defensive stop Hippeard found Brandon Thompkins for a 21 yard touchdown to even out the game at 14-14. After the Storm attempted an onside kick and failed, they rallied back with a 1 yard James Gordon rushing touchdown. The Storm couldn’t hold off the Predators for long as Thompkins returned the kickoff 57 yards and his second score of the game to match the Storm at 21. The Storm regained the lead when Boltus rushed into the end zone for a 1 yard score. Tampa missed their kick but held a 27-21 lead until the end of the half.

To kick off the second half Orlando started off with a quick pass to Kendal Thompkins who was able to turn that in for a 39 yard touch-down to take back the lead 28-27. The next drive the Predator’s defense was relentless as they conceived another four and out for the Storm; which ultimately the Predator’s offense was able to take advantage of and setup anoth-er TD pass to Kendal Thompkins. Increasing their lead to 35 to 27. To end the third quarter the Storm was able to construct a quick scor-ing drive ending with a 16 yard T.T. Toliver touchdown bringing the game to 35-33.

Both teams put up points in the final quarter but it was the resiliency of the defenses that closed out the final quarter. Tampa forced a turnover on downs to give themselves one more shot to win the game with 3:42 left on the clock. Predator’s defensive back Kent Richardson had other plans for Tampa as he intercepted the ball with 39 seconds left in the game to seal the victory for the Predators and keep their undefeated streak alive.

by James White

5/20/16 - 6/2/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 11

Audi South Orlando

Page 12 Florida Sporting News • 5/20/16 - 6/2/16