FLORIDA GRIDIRON STARS – Week 1 Standouts

Every week during the 2020 season, we will pick a few athletes who went up and beyond for the teams in the state of Florida. While it was a brief opening week – with many areas still not ready to go – there were some impressive highlights across the state of Florida. <img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-49034" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/09/Florida-Player-Spotlight-300x188.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="188" />As many communities embraced the opening week of the 2020 season – a bit later than usual because of the Coronavirus – masks were worn and every precaution was taken to ensure the safety of the players, coaches and fans. Week 1 was exciting for so many football players, coaches and students who have waited for this day since the end of the 2019 season. <strong>STARS COME OUT TO SHINE </strong> Playing on a national stage with the ESPN U crowd in attendance, Michigan commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="32618" first="J.J." last="McCarthy"]</strong> put together a dominant five-touchdown performance to secure IMG Academy’s 49-13 win over Venice McCarthy was 23-for-37 for 333 passing yards and five touchdowns in the lopsided victory. Freshman running back <strong>Kaden Brown</strong> had a game-high 120 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns to lead Tampa Cambridge Christian to a 42-7 win over St. Petersburg Catholic 42-7. Sophomore quarterback <strong>Xavione Washington </strong>was impressive in Tampa Catholic’s 43-7 win over IMG White. Senior quarterback <strong>John Busha</strong> completed 7 of 11 passes for 95 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another 61 yards and two scores, and helped Charlotte High score on every first-half possession in a 39-0 rout of visiting DeSoto County. The victory made first year head coach <strong>Wade Taylor’s</strong> debut a success. <strong>Preston Blankenship’s</strong> 21-yard game winning field goal in overtime gave Trenton and head coach <strong>Bill Wiles</strong> and 26-23 win. Citra North Marion transfer quarterback <strong>Chaz Mackey</strong>, who was playing with a heavy heart after his dad passed away recently, threw a 6-yard scoring pass to junior tight end <strong>Max Lacava</strong> with 3:25 remaining to give the Hawthorne 20-14 over Newberry. Junior quarterback <strong>Colin Amison</strong> completed 14 of 24 passes for 284 yards and four touchdowns as Port St. Joe got by Marianna, 34-26, as the Tiger Sharks were able to give their new coach <strong>Tanner Jones</strong> a victory in his debut game. Junior running back <strong>Will Taylor</strong> had 155 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, while Graceville transfer <strong>Damion Robinson</strong> added 79 yards on 10 attempts in Chipley’s 28-0 win over Graceville. Running back <strong>Camron Smith</strong> scored three touchdowns off the bench to blow to lead Baker County to a 33-6 win over Bradford County. Senior quarterback <strong>Jaquez Moore</strong> threw three touchdown passes and rushed for three more scores to lead Live Oak Suwannee to a 41-10 win over Alachua Santa Fe. <strong><em>You Can Contact Larry Blustein by each Sunday with TOP PERFORMERS at: <a href="mailto:Foridakids1@aol.com">Foridakids1@aol.com</a>. We are also on Social Media on @PrepRedzonefl.</em></strong>