Before the Under Armour All-America Game in January, we asked a handful of the country’s top recruits what advice they wanted to share with the next generation of elite prospects. As the class of 2013 graduates high school and heads off to college, we thought we’d pass on words of ...
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Sat. May 25, 2013 at 12:14 p.m. | Times Staff
At Armwood Scores: Plant City 23, Durant 0 Armwood 34, Strawberry Crest 0 Spring game-breakers: Despite a bland scheme that featured three total blitzes, Plant City sacked Cougars rising senior Trey VanDeGrift at least four times and nearly held the Cougars to negative rushing yardage. … Raiders rising junior DB ...
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Thu. May 23, 2013 at 10:40 p.m. | Joey Knight
When Armwood’s first-team defense completed its goal-line stand with a fourth-and-2 stop to conclude Friday evening’s intrasquad scrimmage, rising junior defensive end Byron Cowart was lined up at nose guard. Cowart (6-foot-5, 250 pounds), shaping up as the area’s top recruit from the Class of 2015, said he’s hopeful of ...
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Mon. May 20, 2013 at 11:13 p.m. | Joey Knight
The stretching and special teams work have concluded Friday afternoon at Brandon’s practice when a late arrival, Mario Rodriguez, jogs onto the McLane Stadium field in full pads and presents a signed index card to coach Dean Eychner. “Tutoring?” Eychner asks, gazing at the card with the teacher’s signature. “Uh, ...
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Fri. May 17, 2013 at 8:31 p.m. | Joey Knight
A brief Q&A with Armwood coach Sean Callahan, whose program appears free of Florida High School Athletic Association scrutiny for the first time since the fall of 2011: A lot of people are unsure of what to make of Armwood entering 2013. What’s Armwood going to be? I think we’re ...
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Fri. May 03, 2013 at 8:36 p.m. | Times Staff
When we went looking for the stars of 2013, we zipped right past the pretty-boy quarterbacks, the speedy running backs, the hard-hitting linebackers and the fancy-footed wide receivers and defensive backs. This year, they’ll be taking a back seat to those referred to, lovingly, by their coaches as the big ...
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Tue. April 30, 2013 at 8:34 p.m. | John C. Cotey
LAKELAND — The 6-foot-4, 230-pound sophomore filed in with everyone else, dutifully checking in Saturday morning for the Rivals Camp. His arrival caused a stir among the recruiting analysts and camp organizers, who hadn’t seen him in person before but were immediately impressed by his precocious build. “He walks in ...
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Sat. March 23, 2013 at 9:15 p.m. | Joel Anderson
Coaches and administrators confirmed Wednesday morning what local prep football fans have been fearing: the Armwood-Plant football rivalry is on hold, for at least two years. Though Hillsborough County’s 2013-14 public-school schedules still are being finalized, county athletic director Lanness Robinson said several factors forced the halt — at least ...
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Wed. March 06, 2013 at 10:19 a.m. | Joey Knight
Gradually, the bay area's 2013 prep football schedule is coming into full view. And apparently, some of the fiercest rivalries are being relegated to a rear view. Among them: Jesuit-Plant. New Tigers coach Matt Thompson confirmed Tuesday he and Hillsborough County athletic director Lanness Robinson couldn't find a mutually feasible ...
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Tue. March 05, 2013 at 12:59 p.m. | Joey Knight
Another national signing day is in the books. Let’s take one last look at how our local schools and athletes fared, and sneak a peek at 2014. Top 10 Tampa Bay high school classes 1. Armwood: Armwood had the best class last year, and while not as formidable or deep, ...
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Sat. Feb. 09, 2013 at 4:08 p.m. | Times Staff
TAMPA — Moments after Armwood senior Gabe Nold received the best news he has had in eight months, attorney Peter Hobson huddled with his brawny 18-year-old client, and his client's dad, in a Hillsborough circuit court hallway. Then, at a decibel level barely above a whisper, Hobson delivered his one-sentence ...
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Tue. Jan. 22, 2013 at 11:43 a.m. | Joey Knight
ST. PETERSBURG As the best prep football players in the country walked off the field Friday night, Leon McQuay III hung around. He looked happy and relieved, and darn it all if he didn’t even seem a little chatty. Vernon Hargreaves III may have been MVP, and Alvin Bailey may ...
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Fri. Jan. 04, 2013 at 10:27 p.m. | John C. Cotey
ST. PETERSBURG — With his 813 area code Sharpied on his towel and a hometown audience behind him, Wharton High School defensive back Vernon Hargreaves III made the most of the biggest stage of his life. The Florida commit starred in Friday night’s Under Armour All-America Game, tallying an interception, ...
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Fri. Jan. 04, 2013 at 9:57 p.m. | Matt Baker
ST. PETERSBURG — Armwood safety Leon McQuay III has verbally committed to USC. The four-star senior announced his decision during Friday’s nationally-televised Under Armour All-America Game at Tropicana Field. McQuay, a 6-foot-2, 183-pound athlete, is one of the country’s top safeties. ESPN ranks him as the nation's No. 32 overall ...
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Fri. Jan. 04, 2013 at 7:21 p.m. | Matt Baker
KISSIMMEE — When Shane Morris entered the IMG Madden 7-on-7 National Championship over the summer, he was a highly-touted quarterback from Michigan, a golden boy bound for the Wolverines with national acclaim and a five-star ranking. When he lined up against a loaded Team Tampa defense in Bradenton, the 6-foot-3 ...
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Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 at 8:32 p.m. | Matt Baker