Jefferson County won the schools fifth overall state title last season, now the Tigers try to become the first team in school history to win back-to-back titles. 

Part III: Big Bend seeking encore performance
By Corey Davis  

TALLAHASSEE-Twenty-two teams from across the Big Bend area got together to talk to media earlier this week at the Second Annual 4QuartersOnline High School Football Media Day at the Holiday Inn in Tallahassee.

Much of the talk was about the surprising run last season, which saw Madison County, North Florida Christian, Jefferson County and Wakulla all advance to state, with NFC and Jefferson bringing home state titles.

Can the area duplicate that success this season and will area powers Lincoln and Godby join them after disappointing playoff exits?

Coaches and players from Marianna, Rickards, Liberty County, Chiles, Maclay, Robert F. Munroe, Godby, Florida High, Franklin County, Aucilla Christian, FAMU, Port St. Joe, John Paul II, Madison County, North Florida Christian, Leon, Jefferson County, Wakulla, East Gadsden, West Gadsden, Taylor County and Lincoln took turns talking to local and statewide media about the upcoming season. 

Lottery pick

After guiding Jefferson County to its fifth overall state title (1966, 1972, 1974, 1991, 2011), second year coach Jeremy Brown walked away from the program to take an offensive coordinator position job at Pensacola Escambia.

However days after resigning from his head coaching position at Jefferson County, Brown had a change of heart and informed Escambia of his intentions to stay in Monticello.

Perhaps junior tailback Rente Robinson summed it best, “It was like winning the lottery” Robinson joked about Brown’s decision to return to Jefferson County.

Upon hearing of Brown’s intentions of leaving the program several players thought of leaving the program as well.

“A whole bunch of us thought about leaving Jefferson County, we prayed about it,” Robinson said. “It was real big he ended up staying. Coach Brown is like a father figure to a lot of us, he steps up whenever we need him for anything.”

With Brown back, the thought of becoming the first team in school history to win back-to-back state titles seems realistic now with the return of senior quarterback Lenorris Footman, senior athlete Gene’rique Noel and Robinson.

According to Brown, Footman has drawn interests from FIU, Jacksonville State, Northern Arizona and Samford to date, while Noel has interests from several Sun Belt schools like FIU and FAU.

Brown also knows what it’s like to be under pressure of possibly repeating again.

“I was an assistant coach at Venice in 2000 when we beat Dwyer 77-14 in the state title game,” Brown stated, “The very next year we went 2-8, so winning the second one is a lot harder. That experience will not allow me to fall in that trap again.”

Like last season Brown has another demanding schedule again that features games against Madison County, Godby, Wakulla, Taylor County, Lafayette and North Florida Christian.

Against that same schedule last season the Tigers (9-5) started off 2-3 at the mid-point of the season and 3-4 after a loss to Taylor County in the seventh week of the season. A win over district rival Lafayette the following week seemed to propel the Tigers the rest of the season.  

“I tell my team all the time, you don’t win championships in August and September, you win them in November and December,” Brown added. “We will be underdogs in a lot of games again this season.”  

They say the family that prays together stays together and Brown is an avid believer in that concept.

“We have a huge commitment to faith, we pray and go to church together,” Brown said. “We have a huge family here and it’s my job to teach these boys not only football but life after football and how to be a better person.”

Right path

Things started really well for Florida High last season, going 6-1 at the start of the season, including a surprising 27-21 loss to 7A Lincoln and a solid 14-10 win over District 1-3A rival Pensacola Catholic, which wrapped up a playoff berth.    

A 44-0 loss to cross town rival North Florida Christian, sent the team in a downward spiral as FSU (6-6) dropped its last five games of the season, including a 36-13 loss to Trinity Christian in the first round of the state playoffs.  

“We need to be more consistent,” Florida High coach Jarrod Hickman said. “Last year we were a bit inconsistent and didn’t play well down the end of the stretch.”

Part of that reason was a demanding schedule which might have took its toll on the team playing the likes of several bigger schools Chiles, Rutherford, Lincoln, Rickards, East Gadsden and Taylor County. 

 “We have a lot of good teams in this area we don’t need to play out of state,” Hickman said. “We are  playing both Madison and Lincoln, as well as Chiles and Rickards.”

Playing in a three team district with Madison County and Pensacola Catholic, the Seminoles have their work cut out for them if they want to make it back-to-back playoff berths.

“We need to stay healthy, this is our smallest team we have had in a while, we have done a lot of conditioning,” Hickman said. “We need perhaps a little bit luck and get back to work and get ready to play.”

One of a kind

When you’re one of many football programs in the Tallahassee area, sometime you need to stand out among the rest to recruit the best players.

First year coach Scott Houston a former Godby assistant coach, takes over a Pope John Paul program in its sixth season of play.

“I tell kids we are the only catholic school in Tallahassee, we are the only school in Tallahassee whose kids wear uniforms and we are the newest school in Tallahassee,” Houston said.

Houston told the media it’s a blessing and dream to be coaching there every day hopes to be around enough to establish a solid program.

“This is our first year back as a full varsity team after being a split junior varsity and varsity team last season,” Houston said. “We will be making the move to Class 2A soon and join a district next year (2013).”

In the meantime, Houston is taking his team across the country to get his young team prepared for the step up in competition, with games in Atlanta this season and Nashville the following season.

“We want to model our program like the other top catholic schools Bishop Kenny, Trinity Catholic, Bishop Moore and Pensacola Catholic,” Houston stated. “We want to have high expectations now and we are ready to except any challenge.”