Football prepares for air raid

photo by Ava West

Wide receiver Caleb Barber catches the ball in practice. The team’s next game is against university orange on Aug. 26.

Get ready for the air raid.  Before last season, the football team did not throw the ball for yards often, and when a throw did happen it was considered lucky. But last fall, quarterback Anthony Benzija had a record-setting season, passing 1,898 yards and 16 touchdowns with only six interceptions, setting a new record for yards thrown. The team plans to get even more yards this year and more wins along the way. 

“We want the ball in the air and we will have the ball in the air,” Benzija said. “That is our main goal this season.”

On Aug. 19 the team was scheduled to have a preseason game against Lake Nona but it was canceled due to weather conditions and will not be rescheduled. The team’s first game will be on Aug. 26 against University Orange city at 7 p.m. Tickets can be found on https://gofan.co.

Wide receiver Caleb Barber and running back Jeremiah Williams contributed to the majority of the passing yards last year and are expected to make a huge contribution this year, as well. 

“We have a deep wide receiver base and we will pass as much as possible this season to get the upper hand on other teams,” Barber said.

The defense’s main focus this year is to be aggressive. Returning corner Micheal Byers and returning d-line Micheal Benzija should be expected to be key players in the defense.

“You will see bigger hits, more interceptions, and minimal yards,” Byers said. “We want to keep the other team’s points low.”

The team’s strengths this year will be the upperclassmen who have trained every day for the past couple of weeks and over the summer. They have been practicing different plays to ensure they can meet their goals for this year.

“We have a lot of upcoming seniors including myself this year that will be ready to fill in and step up to the plate to help the team get better,” kicker Erwin Eberhart said.

The team has a hard schedule ahead of them including games against Colonial, Timber creek, and Oviedo.

“We have a challenging season ahead of us,” head coach Micheals said. “I have seen a lot of potentials already and I think we have a chance to compete for our district.”

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