Spring Spotlight: North Florida Christian
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North Florida Christian head coach Robert Craft is very excited about his football team this spring and has high hopes for this fall.
His class of 2016 and 2017 recruits on roster have a lot of talent and the Eagles will have division one signees from each class. NFC had six young men sign to play college football for the 2015 class.
The past two seasons they were knocked off by Victory Christian in the third round of the 2A state playoffs. Is this the year the can get back into the state title game? Time will tell.
All Craft and NFC can worry about in the meantime is improving themselves as a team, and they have a talented bunch of football players.
Four-star athlete Korey Charles is the team's top recruit as a Rivals250 recruit with offers from the likes of Florida, Florida State, LSU, and many more.
He's not the only one to keep an eye on this fall.
"Charles is expected to see an even larger role on offense this year," said Craft. "Quarterback Avery Thomas burst on the scene last year as a freshman signal-caller passing for over 2,000 yards and leading the Eagles to the state semifinals. Alex Clark returns as a three year starter at center to lead the offensive line.
"Defensively, senior Tre Dez Jones will be a three-year starter at linebacker has accumulated over 200 tackles in his career. Look for Michael Scott and Jayrod Sanders to have big years on the defensive line. The secondary returns all four starters - Terrell Powell, Chris Jerry, Lyn Stange and Jalen Norwood. The defense expects breakout years from Jay Harrison, Armunz Mathews and Timothy Ashley.
NFC started three sophomores and one freshman in the secondary in 2014. They return those guys and have added more talent from transfers.
"Safety Lyn Strange has an offer from Miami. Jalen Norwood was Max-Preps Freshman All-American," said Craft. "The additions of Armunz Mathews, Timothy Ashley and Jamaal Harris will provide even more depth to an already experienced defensive secondary."
On the contrary, the NFC offensive line will need to step up this fall.
"With the loss of three seniors, the offensive line is a point of emphasis for the Eagles in the spring," Craft said. "Seniors Alex Clark and Nick Singletary will be looked on to lead this group in 2015."
NFC lost their spring game to Taylor County High School 12-0 on May 22nd.