Each defending state champion will certainly have questions that will need to be answered. Here are some that come to mind from FloridaHSFootball.com Publisher Joshua Wilson as we get going into spring football here in the Sunshine State!
Apopka – Class 8A
The defending Class 8A state champion, the Apopka Blue Darters will have to find some new leaders to step up into the roles to fill big shoes. Two of the biggest names in Chandler Cox and Martez Ivey are off to Auburn and Florida respectively. Will it be reload the same gun with new bullets as they say in Apopka or will this be a spring filled with more questions than answers for the Blue Darters?
St. Thomas Aquinas – Class 7A
Sometimes winning a state championship doesn’t keep you in the chair at your job and that certainly was the case for Rocco Casullo who left early in the offseason and is now at Mater Academy in Hialeah Gardens. So how just how good can St. Thomas Aquinas be this season given they have a new head coach? With Roger Harriott who is not only a St. Thomas Aquinas alum, but is also a state championship winning coach from his tenure with University School and the amount that has come in so far, this might be the easiest question to answer for any of the defending state champions.
Miami Central – Class 6A
The Rockets won it again last season that included a lot of fresh talent, especially on the offensive line. The biggest question for the Rockets will be to see if they got enough to work towards for their fourth state championship in a row and their fifth in six years? That is the goal here, but we will see if the Rockets continue to keep up consistency here as we go in to the 2015 season.
American Heritage (Plantation) – Class 5A
The American Heritage Patriots are fresh off their second state championship win in school history and some of the key players that have been a help for that team are off and gone to college. Who will emerge now to fill those holes? That is one big question to be answered, but this is the time to start figuring out who can play where and how a now expanded District 16-5A will play out for the Patriots this season.
Booker T. Washington (Miami) – Class 4A
For the third year in a row, the Tornadoes will have a new head coach at the helm of the program, but a familiar name in the name of Earl Tillman. Tillman, who did alright during his first stint in between the two stints with Tim “ICE” Harris, Sr., is back and is ready to lead the team once again. The biggest question for the Tornadoes is to see how the team responds with the lost of Tim Harris Jr. (now at FIU) and assistant Pierre Senatus (now head coach at Miramar). This question could be answered in the spring intrasquad game later in May, but it may take until the start of the season to reach a full and complete answer as well.
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) – Class 3A
The Conquerors will be looking to contend for a third straight state championship this season under longtime head coach Verlon Dorminey. However, after graduating one of the best (if not the best) senior classes in school history, who will step up to fill the holes in the likes of Jeff Holland and Kendrick Norton to just name a few? That is something that will have to be answered and the Conquerors have placed themselves in a highly competitive four-team jamboree against First Coast, Raines and Ribault which could give us some info on where things are heading here for Trinity Christian.
Victory Christian – Class 2A
The Storm are going to have to replace several key play makers including do-it-all Caleb Lewis and Cecil Cherry. Who will step in and fill the shoes left open by these guys this spring? That is a big thing for this program, especially if plans to defend its state championship this coming season. It will be interesting to see exactly where the Storm stand when they travel to Pahokee at the end of the month to take one what could be an improved Blue Devils program that in is now in the rural Class 1A.
Port St. Joe – Class 1A
Call them the underdogs if you want as they were certainly under that label when Port St. Joe reached the state finals this past season unranked, going on to claim their second state title under head coach John Palmer. There will be key players that will have to be replaced here for the Tigers Sharks, but the question is who will step up into the roles left opened? There are some talented guys that do return so things could still be looking bright as Port St. Joe enters the 2015 season.
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