FHSAA Season Preview – District 3
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
Palm Beach, Florida.
We’re sure every coach, player, and parent in this district is going forward with a heavy heart. The Gainesville lacrosse scene was rocked recently by the unexpected death of Eastside Head Coach Paul Hollis. Former Oak Hall Head Coach and current employee of Eastside High School, Jeff Rant, stepped up for the kids this season. Kudos to Coach Rant for doing that.
Oak Hall has won this district each of the last five years. In 2015 the Eagles went 14-6 and the bad news for other District 3 teams is that they were young! And small! We saw the team play at Buchholz last season and the Bobcats doubled them up 16-8. The Eagles came back from that loss stronger and ended up gutting out an OT victory against that same Buchholz team in the district championship a few weeks later.
Most of that same group will return a year bigger and more mature. Offensive leadership will come from four seniors. Middies Alex Constantinidi, Chris Anderson (W&L), and Nicky Kay (Furman) as well as attackman Phillip Yonge (Sewanee.) Along with junior Devon Blair, this is an offense that can control the ball as well as push transition.
This group is loaded with strong defenders. Seniors Justis Ebling (D) and Matthew Davis (Goalie) will provide leadership. The Spiker twins, Alex and Thad (Villanova,)are a pair of super-talented sophomores. They both have speed, solid sticks, and great field awareness. Junior Kelly Thigpen is a two year starter. He is a big, athletic kid who can cover plenty of ground.
In the midfield the Eagles have a pair of up and coming 2018’s in Jaxson Lamb and Jacob Hicks. Hicks is solid at the F/O X and both were invited to Jake Reed’s Nike Blue Chip camp. Junior Cameron Phillips brings plenty of speed and senior Evan Moorhouse is looking to finish his high school career strong after a junior season spent dealing with injuries. When Oak Hall and Buchholz meet on March 15th there should be plenty of fireworks.
Coach Montes is clear in his approach. “Our goal at Oak Hall is the same we start every season with: Send our seniors out as champions. Last year we started 70% freshmen and sophomores and had 1 senior. We will once again play and start many underclassmen but the talent level of our younger players is excellence. The culture of hard work, discipline and brotherhood is incredible – some of the best I’ve ever been around. But the key for this team is to step on the field and play championship caliber lacrosse form the first whistle. It’s really all about attitude because the talent is there. We have to believe we’re better than anyone else we play…just not better than each other.”
Buchholz is a team who could get it done this year. They have some very talented seniors. Captains Chandler Coons (LSM – Air Force,) Robert Anhalt (middie,) and Wilson Peter (defense)are a trio of captains who anchor a very stingy defense. They may not have a ton of depth offensively, but they do have one of the best attackmen in Central Florida in Finn Swanson (UMBC.) Swanson is a high level talent that should not be overlooked. Junior Dawson Kizzar is a solid two-way middie and Evan Vogel is a sophomore FOGO that we believe is going to be creating some buzz over the next couple of years.
Head Coach Casey Adams wants his guys to keep it simple. “…stay focused, take it game by game. And win district!!!”
Gainesville is a team who is on the rise. The Hurricanes were 1-7 back in 2012. The next season they doubled their win total and made it 2-9. In 2014 they did it again going 5-8. Last season they finished with a winning record at 9-7.
Yes, there is still a pretty good gap between Gainesville and the top two contenders in this district, but you have to respect that level of progress.
Look for a confident and mature attack unit featuring seniors Ryan Jacobs and Jeremy Henrikson to play like a group that has figured out how to finish and win games. The Hurricanes still have some youth at the defensive end but should get solid play from junior Trell Donovan and sophomore Trey Saunders. Junior Josh Finkel has been doing a good job at the Face Off X and Ferrum College commit, Chauncey Jones adds some good depth at the midfield.
Eastside High School will look to a large stable of seniors for the leadership they’ll need to get their season back on track after their terrible loss. Jose Cuevas, Het Patel, and Sean Ahren will captian this team through these tough times.
Offensivley they should get some impact from a veteran attack unit and a senior midfield unit. Patel quarterbacks this offense along with Jordi Vasquez and Thomas Tang. Senior midfielders Jose Cuevas, Sean Ahren, Terrell Quarterman, Akeenen Roberson and Hunter Hintenlang are expected to do the heavy lifting as a solid group of two-way middies.
Junio Elijah Williamson (Junior), Clarence Adams (Senior) and Sam Pohlenz (Senior) are expected start on defense. John Karl Kuykendall (senior) will provide senior leadership in the goal.
Coach Rant is staying focused on taking care of business. “Our goal is to win our district and compete as far into the state playoffs as we possibly can.”
Newberry (1-7 in 2015), P.K.Yonge (0-12 in 2015), and Trinity Catholic (8-6 in 2015) round out this district.
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