It's official. The rumors were true.
On Saturday night October 14, 2017 a team from the state of Florida will travel to Cumberland, MD to play a varsity football game against Fort Hill High School at Greenway Avenue Stadium. The team is Melbourne Central Catholic out of Melbourne, FL. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm.
Melbourne Central Catholic posted an 11-1 record last season and finished ranked 55th in the state of Florida according to MaxPreps. They return most of their starters and that preseason ranking is sure to climb.
The Hustlers advanced to the semifinals in Florida Class 3A last season with an undefeated record before losing to Miami area powerhouse Chaminade-Madonna. The week prior, the Hustlers made national news in defeating Clearwater Central by a record score of 69-62 in 9 overtimes.
LINK: http://www.floridatoday.com/story/s...-clearwater-cc-hs-football-playoffs/93923838/
The Hustlers are led by 6'2" quarterback Joaquin Collazo, who as a junior last season threw for over 2,000 yards with 26 TD passes in a wide open spread passing attack. Running back Lavonte Valentine (6'2, 190 lbs.) currently has college scholarship offers from Florida, Kentucky, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and USC. On Dec. 30, Valentine set the national record for the fastest time in the 60-meter dash at 6.77 seconds. It was his first time ever running that race.
LINK: https://www.seccountry.com/florida/has-florida-found-its-next-jeff-demps-in-rb-lavonte-valentine
Head Coach Stacy Sizemore is a former quarterback having played at Southern Miss (behind Brett Favre) and three of his Melbourne CC players currently have offers there including WR Lorenzo Hardy (6'3, 171) and lineman Dermont Morgan (6'5, 260). Cornerback Zamari Walton (6'2, 170) currently has offers from Cincinnati, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt.
HISTORIC EVENT
This will be the first time in 82 years of Fort Hill Football that a team this far away has flown into Cumberland to play a football game. The contest has been set up for Saturday evening to accommodate fans that normally play their high school games on Friday night. Ticket prices will remain the same at $5 per admission.
A MARYLAND CONNECTION
The Melbourne Central Catholic athletic teams are called the Hustlers. The name came from one of the founding school priests who attended the University of Maryland when former head football coach Tom Nugent in 1962 referred to his offensive specialists as the 'Hustlers'. A University of Maryland Library source explains how the name stuck.
LINK: http://www.lib.umd.edu/blogs/univarch_exhibits/?p=308
Melbourne is located in Florida on the Atlantic side halfway between Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale and situated just a hair south of Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral.
The remainder of the 2017 Fort Hill football schedule will be released at a later time.
On Saturday night October 14, 2017 a team from the state of Florida will travel to Cumberland, MD to play a varsity football game against Fort Hill High School at Greenway Avenue Stadium. The team is Melbourne Central Catholic out of Melbourne, FL. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm.
Melbourne Central Catholic posted an 11-1 record last season and finished ranked 55th in the state of Florida according to MaxPreps. They return most of their starters and that preseason ranking is sure to climb.
The Hustlers advanced to the semifinals in Florida Class 3A last season with an undefeated record before losing to Miami area powerhouse Chaminade-Madonna. The week prior, the Hustlers made national news in defeating Clearwater Central by a record score of 69-62 in 9 overtimes.
LINK: http://www.floridatoday.com/story/s...-clearwater-cc-hs-football-playoffs/93923838/
The Hustlers are led by 6'2" quarterback Joaquin Collazo, who as a junior last season threw for over 2,000 yards with 26 TD passes in a wide open spread passing attack. Running back Lavonte Valentine (6'2, 190 lbs.) currently has college scholarship offers from Florida, Kentucky, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and USC. On Dec. 30, Valentine set the national record for the fastest time in the 60-meter dash at 6.77 seconds. It was his first time ever running that race.
LINK: https://www.seccountry.com/florida/has-florida-found-its-next-jeff-demps-in-rb-lavonte-valentine
Head Coach Stacy Sizemore is a former quarterback having played at Southern Miss (behind Brett Favre) and three of his Melbourne CC players currently have offers there including WR Lorenzo Hardy (6'3, 171) and lineman Dermont Morgan (6'5, 260). Cornerback Zamari Walton (6'2, 170) currently has offers from Cincinnati, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt.
HISTORIC EVENT
This will be the first time in 82 years of Fort Hill Football that a team this far away has flown into Cumberland to play a football game. The contest has been set up for Saturday evening to accommodate fans that normally play their high school games on Friday night. Ticket prices will remain the same at $5 per admission.
A MARYLAND CONNECTION
The Melbourne Central Catholic athletic teams are called the Hustlers. The name came from one of the founding school priests who attended the University of Maryland when former head football coach Tom Nugent in 1962 referred to his offensive specialists as the 'Hustlers'. A University of Maryland Library source explains how the name stuck.
LINK: http://www.lib.umd.edu/blogs/univarch_exhibits/?p=308
Melbourne is located in Florida on the Atlantic side halfway between Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale and situated just a hair south of Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral.
The remainder of the 2017 Fort Hill football schedule will be released at a later time.
