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Highlands Today

Future Stars Invade Firemen's Field

Chris Hoffman, Highlands Today

Okeechobee's Lonnie Pryor middle the Brahmans all-time leader in carries, yards and touchdowns, will play tonight in the FACA NorthSouth All-Star Football Game at Firemens Field.

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By CHRIS HOFFMAN

Highlands Today

Published: December 23, 2008

SEBRING - The whistles broke through the cold morning air, as dozens of players lined up with their helmets on, ready to go to work.

Lonnie Pryor was invisible amidst all the red practice jerseys, but once the huddle broke and the play began, his unmistakable explosiveness was easy to spot.

Pryor joined 70 of the state's top Division-I prospects for the 2008 Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) North-South Football All-Star Classic, which is being held at 7 p.m. tonight at Firemen's Field.

The Okeecbobee star running back became the school leader in carries (604), yards (5,091) and touchdowns (56) this year, but on the field at the Highlands County Sports Complex, he's just one of the guys.

"I like the fact that I'm just another football player here," Pryor said. "When I was playing against other high school teams, I'd be one of the top two or three players on the field, but here, I'm just Lonnie. We're all D-1 talent and it's great to be going up against the best in the state. You always want to see how you fare against the best."

Sebring and Avon Park fans know all about the impact that Pryor can have on a football game. The Okeechobee senior rushed for 161 yards against the Red Devils and 175 yards at Firemen's Field against the host Streaks.

Pryor has already committed to play football for Florida State next fall, which has been a dream of his since he was a child. Now, as his final prep football game approaches, all the hard work has paid off.

"It was a dream come true for me when I signed to play for FSU," Pryor said. "I just feel real blessed to be able to play this game and play it at a high level.

"I was really glad to hear that this all-star game was being held in Sebring because it's so close to home for me and it'll be the last chance for family and friends to see a lot of us play as high school athletes."

The North-South All-Star Classic has been attracting the top D-1 prospects for over a decade and a twist of fate landed the lauded event in Highlands County.

"We don't know all the specifics, but there was a cancellation by the previous venue and since we host the FACA baseball all-star game, we were contacted and asked if we wanted to host this event," said event director Matt Gose. "We jumped at the chance to put on this game and we were able to pull it off with the support of so many in the community."

A crowd of anywhere from 500 to 5,000 is expected to fill Firemen's Field to watch some of the best high school football talent this state has to offer.

The North squad features A.J. Graham of Tallhassee-Godby who is the top rated quarterback in Florida, finishing his senior season by throwing for 3,632 yards on 225-of-361 passing for a 62 percent completion percentage and 37 touchdowns, while throwing just nine interceptions for a 120 quarterback rating.

The South team features Pryor, as well as Clewiston running back Darrius Hughes, who rushed for 2,041 yards and an 8.72 yards-per-carry average and 20 touchdowns and Moore Haven wideout Xavier Fagen, who caught 59 passes for 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Fagen is ranked No. 4 by MaxPreps in the state at his position.

Many of the prospects are still on the fence as to which colleges they plan to attend and numerous scouts will be in attendance to get their last chance to see these kids before national signing day, which is set for Feb. 4, 2009.

"I know a lot of kids are still up in the air on where they want to go to college," Pryor said. "I held out for a while because I wanted to give myself the opportunity to visit other schools and make sure that FSU was where in my heart I wanted to go."

Numerous challenges were tackled in putting on such a huge event for the first time, but Gose says that he's had this dream to put on the North-South game for a while and was ready to face any obstacle to make this event a reality for Highlands County.

"We actually wanted to see about having the North-South game the day after our local All-Star game so the college scouts could get a chance to see a number of athletes, but the scouting rules have changed in college and we couldn't make that happen," Gose said.

Gose said that the biggest hurdle in putting on such a prestigious event has been funding to be able to house, feed and put on the All-Star Classic, but that the community has rallied around the Firemen in the hopes that this might be a chance to give the event a permanent home.

"We would like to host this for a few years and see how everything goes," Gose said. "The coaches and players like the venue and area because it's centrally located to all the top schools in the state. We're certainly going to entertain the idea of hosting this on an annual basis.

"I think any fan of football should come out and see these kids. These are the kids you'll be watching in college in the next few years. It's going to be a great game."

2008 FACA North-South All-Star Football Classic

at Firemen's Field

TONIGHT at 7 p.m.

COST $10, $3 for parking

Chris Hoffman can be reached at 863-386-5837 or choffman@highlandstoday.com

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