TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

One Last Time To Shine

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Sebring’s T.J. Williams leads a contingent of Blue Streak seniors into Saturday’s South-Central All-Star football game.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: December 21, 2007

SEBRING — It's quite a sight to behold, watching football players from rival schools Avon Park and Sebring on the same side of the ball.

Red Devils and Blue Streaks playing side by side with some Wildcats and a few Bulldogs for good measure — it must be the ninth annual South-Central All-Star game.

The event, which is sponsored by the Sebring Firemen, is known for assembling the best talent of senior football players from the region.

The All-Star contest has always drawn a contingent of college recruiters, who get one last look at local seniors before signing day in January.

First-year Lake Placid head coach Tim Grant has been chosen to lead the Central squad, which features many kids from the Heartland.

Grant laughed when asked about his being bestowed the honor of coaching the game.

"I heard they like to pin this on the new guy," Grant joked.

Area players scheduled to participate include: Avon Park's Casey McKibben, Willie English, Chris Bower and Fred Mixon; Sebring's T. J. Williams, Sam Robinson, Ronnie Brassell and Kyle Long and Lake Placid's Rashaad Brown, Josh Hickey, Jonathan Simons and Albert Calderon.

The South squad is stocked with players from Charlotte, Lemon Bay, Port Charlotte, DeSoto County, North Port, LaBelle and Moore Haven high schools.

Grant, along with the rest of the coaching staff, was happy when they saw the weapons they have at their disposal.

"The first thing I said when I walked on the field was I wish I had this team every week," Grant said. "This is a great collection of talent, and it's great that they get a chance to play one more game."

Bringing together many players that have grown up as bitter rivals and telling them to be teammates can be a struggle at first, but many of the kids take this experience in stride and relish the chance to play with the best.

"It's really weird for me," said Avon Park's Fred Mixon. "We're rivals during the season, and we come here and we're teammates. We just looked past that aspect and buried all the rivalries and just played ball. That's what we all have in common — our love for the game."

"Although, I never thought I'd be wearing a Sebring helmet."

Mixon's donning of the Blue Streak helmet came as a result of a defect with his own helmet and he was forced to put on the colors of the enemy.

Having just a week to get all these kids on the same page — offensively and defensively — is never easy, but Grant has been in this position before while coaching in South Carolina and has an easy remedy.

"We're keeping everything simple for them," Grant said. "We show them the formations and they have taken to them pretty naturally. Especially the offensive guys, who love the spread offense.

"This kind of talent really makes you look smart with their natural abilities."

Recruiters from all over the state, including Webber International University, University of Central Florida and South Florida, have made a point to check out the talent from this area. Before this game's formation, many of the kids from Central and South Florida were overlooked due to the attention being lavished on larger schools.

Many kids have used this opportunity to impress recruiters and get that chance to play at the college level.

But Grant knows that what's important is that these players enjoy the whole experience as they don their pads, helmets and jerseys for the last time as high school athletes.

"The best part of this whole experience is being with the kids," Grant said. "This is fun for all of us, but its their time to shine."

The passion for the game far outweighs any past rivalries many of the players have had in the past and all are hoping they've saved their best game for last.

"This is just a great way to end a high school career," said Red Devil center Chris Bower. "I've loved every minute of this experience and I can't wait for Saturday."

Central won last year's contest 14-9 and the overall series is tied at 4-4.

The Sebring Firemen will give out scholarships after the game to the outstanding players from each team, and more than $30,000 has been given out to assist with college education in the first eight years of the event.

Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at Firemen's Field.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT