Youth Football: ‘King of the South’ Kicks off in Rockledge, FL

Follow Miami- Defending state champion Cocoa made it three-straight with a 38-27 win Gadsen County (near Tallahassee) Thursday afternoon in FIU’s Pitbull Stadium.  The 2A FHSAA final match up featured Cocoa’s air attack against Gadsen County’s power run attack.  Texas A&M commit and Cocoa Tiger quarterback Brady Hart led the way through the air to the tune of 259 yards passing and 1 TD on 22 of 31 passing.  His leading wideout was Florida State commit, Jayvan Boggs. He caught 6 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown.  The ground game was really the back breaker for Gadsen County, ironically, as the Cocoa Tigers racked up 100 yards on the ground as both Hart and Latrison Lane both rushed for 64 yards a piece.  Hart took sacks that took away 28 team rushing yards but was clutch picking up first downs on scrambles downfield to keep key drives alive.Cocoa began the scoring with a dart from Hart to Boggs, scoring off a Gadsen County turnover. But the Jaguars from Gadsen County would march right back down the field and tie the game on a Kemarrion Battles rushing touchdown.  Battles scored twice, racking up 96 yards on the ground for the Jaguars from the Tallahassee metro area.  The game would go back and forth for the duration until Cocoa broke it wide open on a play in the fourth quarter.  On fouth down, leading by only four, with under two minutes to play, the Coca Tigers tried to draw the Jags off-sides.  It didn’t work. After a time out, they went for it and got not only the two yards needed for a first down, but they also completely iced the game as Lane scored from 42 yards out. It’s the school’s seventh championship, third consecutive and for head coach Ryan Schneider, it cements a legacy.  PLAY CALL OF THE YEAR!!!Cocoa goes for it on 4th and 2 and Latrison Lane scores. That gives the Tigers a 38-27 lead with 1:04 remaining @CocoaFootball @Cocoa_Schneider @LaTrisonLane20 @321preps pic.twitter.com/tdqwPQkgMm— Jon Santucci (@JonSantucci) December 12, 2024

Follow There has been a tremendous amount of excitement across South Florida the past several weeks as teams have begun wrapping up spring practices and having inter-squad scrimmages and spring games. These scrimmages and games are an early indicator of the skill and talent level each school will look to display come the fall.  Once again, South Florida took the majority of the state’s football championships at the Metro Division level that is now defunct. Columbus, St. Thomas Aquinas and Chaminade won the 4M, 3M and 1M titles respectively.  Miami Norland finished as the runner up to Tampa’s Berkley Catholic High School.  This spring, established coaches like Southridge’s Pierre Senatus are upbeat about their program’s potential after having a few seasons under his belt.  In juxtaposition, Miami Northwestern’s first year head coach, NFL Veteran Teddy Bridgewater, is working out the kinks after his first intersquad scrimmage and spring game.  Stay with Footballhotbed.com for the developments of this off season across the Southeast. SPRING PRACTICE: Caught up with head coach Pierre Senatus @LifeCoachPierre on the first day of spring practice in year three of his tenure, fresh off a deep playoff run. #hotbedworld @Brandon_Odoi pic.twitter.com/z0u6AQzqjh— Football Hotbed (@FootballHotbed) April 30, 2024 Coach @teddyb_h2o 🗣️NFL Veteran QB Teddy Bridgewater in his first appearance as head coach at Miami Northwestern during his school's first spring scrimmage talks organization and effort. #hotbedworld pic.twitter.com/r7oOKmiew7— Football Hotbed (@FootballHotbed) May 5, 2024

Follow Fort Lauderdale, FL– The linebacker position is…