The unofficial start to the 2024 high school football season begins this week with spring football practice, and early indications are that many of the top players fans will see in the fall will be on the field for the next two years as well.
There are still some talented seniors left, especially at quarterback, but there's something of a youth movement happening on some of the top teams. In fact, the state's top prospect is Lakeland College's Malik Morris, a 2026 graduate.
There are many stories to explore as we move from spring practice to summer practice to fall practice, but here are five stories to watch as spring begins.
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Who will be Lakeland's new playmaker?
Lakeland graduated 63 percent of its rushing yards and 93 percent of its receiving yards from last season's state championship team, so identifying their replacements will be one of its priorities this spring. Candidates include quarterbacks and players who can serve as playmakers beyond this season.
Starting quarterback Xander Smith will be out this spring recovering from shoulder surgery, so the entire offense will take on a new look. The starting running backs could be rising senior Jordan Henderson, who had 285 and 409 yards, respectively, in 2023, and rising junior Jadarius Doby. And they will likely be pushed by Steward Butler Jr., whose father rushed for 2,934 yards. He recorded 30 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior at Lakeland in 2010.
Defensive back Shannard Clower will be moved to wide receiver, where he had 10 receptions in spot duty last year. Zion Dukes and Jerry Thomas both have significant upside.
“We're actually comfortable with the position,” Lakeland coach Frazier said.
Jackson Peoples, a 6-foot-2 rising junior, and Caleb McFarland, who was a JV starter last year, will look to take advantage of the spring to get a head start on becoming Smith's successor. will try.
Who will replace Jonquae Richardson at Lake Wales?
Almost all of Lake Wales' playmakers except 1,000-yard rusher Rashad Orr returned this season, and they released a slew of talented young playmakers like Gabriel LeGrande and Kanelius Purdy. With the return of starting quarterback Brycen Levitiotis and the starting offensive line from the state championship team, the offense should be explosive. Asaiah Williams, a rising junior, will be a strong candidate to replace Orr.
But the big loss was on defense, with Ledger's big school defensive player of the year, Jonquae Richardson, reigning supreme at linebacker.
“He's going to be tough to replace,” Lake Wales coach Tavaris Johnson said. “I don't think we can replace him, but we definitely have some new players stepping up.”
One player who could emerge is Sumari Wilson, who transferred from Haines City last year. Johnson, a 6-foot-2, 225-pounder who also plays quarterback, expects to emerge as an impact player.
Check out this Winter Haven trio
Winter Haven also returns one of the county's top quarterbacks, John Kostić, but will be surrounded by a new group of playmakers. Starting in 2023, returning players will only account for 119 of the 1,146 rushing yards and 267 of the 1,148 receiving yards.
But two of the top three players second-year coach Carl White expects to make an immediate impact are wide receivers Jordan Tarver and Cassidy Irvin. Tarver is only in his sophomore year and is currently participating in track and field, winning the district championship in the 400 meters. Irvin, also a sophomore, ran the 100 meters at the district meet where he finished 16th, but along with Tarver he ran the 4×100 where he took second place.
The third player to keep an eye on is 6-2, 220-pound outside linebacker James Turris.
Bartow offense gets a new look with new OC as QB battle looms
One of Tyler Eden's goals at Bartow was to get more help on his staff, and he found that with new offensive coordinator John Chai, who spent the past two seasons in St. Petersburg. Chai, a former college coach, leads an offense that helped St. Petersburg go from 1-9 in 2021 to 15 wins over the past two seasons.
One of the first jobs is to find a new quarterback. His senior, Blake Johnson, and junior, Ethan Blowis, are vying for the starting spot. Johnson played in two games and Browis played in one last season when starter K.J. Valentine was out.
Five new head coaches appointed
Fort Meade's Jemel Cornelius became the school's longest-serving coach with 15 seasons last season after the retirement of Lakeland's Bill Castle, but that honor now goes to the Lake Wales coach. The award will be given to Johnson, who is in his 11th season as a public official. Cornelius is one of five head coaches to retire, marking a new era for these schools.
- Cornelius was replaced by Maurice Russell. A three-sport athlete who also played basketball and baseball, Russell attended Fort Mead College, where he graduated in 2012, and played his college football at UCF. He was named Ledger's Small School Defensive Player of the Year in 2010.
- Jermaine King replaces Ryan Mills in the Lake Region. King, who earned a master's degree in education from Ohio University, is the former offensive coordinator at Sebring, served as the head coach at Kingdom Prep in 2018 and was the dean at Lake Region for the past two years.
- Auburndale graduate Antonio Thomas replaces Kyle Sasser from his alma mater. Thomas served as wrestling coach and assistant football coach under Sasser. He was a first-team all-county selection as an offensive and defensive lineman in high school. He also wrestled and threw shot put on the track.
- Kathleen's former coach, Anthony Troutman, took over from Patrick Smith at Tenoroc. He was an assistant under Smith last season and was an assistant under Richard Tate the previous three seasons after Kathleen left.
- Clint Miller was replaced at Santa Fe Catholic by Gabe Walker, who played football as a freshman at Lakeland. Walker finished his high school career at Winter's Garden Foundation Academy and graduated from Savannah State University. During his college break, he served as an assistant coach at Santa Fe under Joe Faiola in 2018.
