VALDOSTA, GA – For 38 area football players, this could be the final time they put on the helmet and pads as only a handful will move on to college, for the rest this is their time to shine and hopefully one final time to attract a college coaches attention.
But for all 51 players and their coaching staff, this is a chance to end their high school career with a win and stick it to the team from up north again.
For the tenth straight year, the top players from North Florida will meet the top players from South Georgia in the 10th Annual War of the Border All-Star game at 6:30 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium in Valdosta tonight.
Florida has won 6 in a row in the series and has assembled a solid coaching staff and roster in hopes of extending it to seven wins in a row.
Leading Team Florida will be Clay head coach Josh Hoekstra, along with his staff featuring offensive coordinator Tom McPherson (Orange Park), defensive coordinator Kyle Kennard (Clay), linebackers Kyle Bradburn (Oakleaf), safeties Cliff Harrell (West Port), wide receivers Corey Hawkins (Orange Park), quarterbacks Tim Krause (Nease), offensive line Matt Lawrence (Clay), defensive line Jonathan Mauk (Union County), defensive line Adrien Mosley (Bradford), corners Zac McGee (Nease), runningbacks Joe Szymanski (Union County) and fullbacks and tightends Richard Vester (Hamilton County).
Players from Clay, Orange Park, Oakleaf, Ridgeview, Middleburg, Fleming Island, Keystone Heights, Bradford, Union County, Menendez, Nease, St. Augustine, Palatka and Matanzas will join players from Gainesville, Buchholz, Eastside, Newberry, Vanguard and Hamilton County to make up Team Florida.
Among the notable players playing in the game for Florida are tailback Jay’lyn Session (Palatka), quarterback Tyler Huff (Ridgeview), tailback Ty Edwards (Menendez), defensive back Brandon Johnson (St. Augustine), defensive back Triston Willis (Menendez), tailback Jeremiah Vaughn (Bradford), quarterback Preston Staples (Nease) and wide receiver Terrance Johnson (Orange Park).
In the fall Session accounted for 1,589 yards and 17 touchdowns on 174 carries, Huff was 128 of 228 for 1,796 yards, 17 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, Edwards accumulated 2,083 all-purpose yards and 26 touchdowns, Brandon Johnson played both ways and had 2 interceptions along with 503 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns, Willis had 50 tackles, and 7 interceptions, Vaughn finished with 1,197 all-purpose yards and 9 touchdowns,, Staples was 38 of 80 for 64 yards with 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions and Terrance Johnson accounted for 1,492 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns.
