DAYTONA BEACH – After its two year kickoff classic contract with North Marion was up, Trinity Christian head coach Verlon Dorminey wasn’t sure what he was going to do to find a replacement.
Fortunately he didn’t have too wait long.
“Former FAMU coach Ira Reynolds called me and asked me if we would be interested in playing in Daytona for our kickoff classic,” Dorminey said. “We didn’t have anything lined up so I told him absolutely we would play in it”
For the second straight year, Reynolds has put together an unbelievable kickoff classic weekend this time in Daytona featuring some of the best teams in the state.
Last year Reynolds along with his 4QuartersOnline partners put together a two-day event Aug 18-19 in Tallahassee at Gene Cox Stadium called the Jonathan Ferrell Kickoff Classic that featured a triple header of games over the two days including Suwannee-Gadsden County on Friday night followed by Godby and Nature Coast and Rickards and Miami Northwestern.
Starting to look a little(!) more like a field now at Gene Cox Stadium. 🚧⚽🏈🏆 pic.twitter.com/4HY1zxUsPR
— Leon County Schools (@LeonSchools) June 4, 2018
Knowing Gene Cox was getting a much needed face lift, Reynolds began looking for a new venue and found one in Daytona.
“Hearing what was going on at Gene Cox ahead of time and we also needed a bigger venue this year as well we made the decision to move to Daytona ,” Reynolds said. “Municipal Stadium is the perfect venue it holds 10,000 with a total capacity of 15,000 and the EME marketing agency is really excited about us having it there.”
No longer called the Jonathan Ferrell Kickoff Classic, this years event from here on out will be called the 4QuartersOnline Foundation Kickoff Classic and will be a triple header August 18 at Municipal Stadium.
The event kicks off with a 1 p.m. game featuring Florida State High out of Tallahassee against Stoneman Douglass, followed by a 4:30 kick between Raines and Rockledge and the finale around 7 between Trinity Christian and Booker T Washington from Miami.
“We’re really excited about it, it’s good for the kids to get quality competition and our kids are also really excited about playing in it,”Dorminey said. “It gives you an immediate idea of where you are and only makes you get better and get ready for the first week. You play someone bad and it doesn’t get you ready at all and we need that with a really good Braden River team coming in a week later. ”
Although a win over Booker T Washington wouldn’t count being a pre-season game, it would go along way as a huge confidence boost for them.
“We have some really tough games with Ribault, Palm Beach Lakes, Columbia and Oakleaf, which was just added on the schedule recently,” Dorminey stated.
For Reynolds its a chance to show off some of the top talent in the state as well as some of the top teams in the state.
“All three of us, myself and my two partLsners selected the teams, everyone we asked all of them responded quickly with a yes,” Reynolds said. Some teams called us asking to play in it and we had to turn them down, i guessed they heard about it as it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I had to turn Northwestern down, we tried to get Carol City, Booker T Washington and Northwestern in it but they all had prior commitments or took to long to get back with us.”
One thing you can count on is seeing several big time players playing in it as well.
“You can expect 50-60 Division I-A kids playing on the field during the weekend between the six teams,” Reynolds stated.
Reynolds has even bigger goals in 2019 as his company hopes to be expanding the weekend to the entire country.
“Last year it was the Big Bend vs Florida, this year is North Florida vs South Florida and our goal for next year is to make it Florida vs US, bringing in the top four Florida teams against some of the best teams in the nation,” Reynolds said.
Tickets will cost $10 and the stadium will be cleared out after every game. Reynolds is still working on the ticket details but says tickets can be purchased online eventually. Check 4QuartersOnline or Duval Sports for additional information about tickets.
Saturday, Aug 18 at Municipal Stadium
Game 1: FSU (7-6) vs Stoneman Douglas (5-4), 1
Game 2: Raines (13-1) vs Rockledge (7-4), 4:30
Game 3: Trinity Christian (9-4) vs Booker T Washington (4-5), 7
