Lingard, Jones and Wells earn honors
A pair of offensive playmakers and a state-champion coach are the three area finalists for the annual Florida Dairy Farmers state football awards.
Orange City running back and Jones quarterback
were named 2017 players of the year in Class 8A and 5A, respectively. Dr. Phillips coach
came away with coach-of-the-year honors in 8A after guiding the Panthers to a 13-2 season their first state title. Wells has gone 81-14 as head coach at DP since 2011.
Lingard, who was named Gatorade Florida Player of the Year on Monday, averaged 8.2 yards per carry for the 5-4 Titans while rushing 207 times for 1,701 yards and 26 touchdowns. Lingard won by a 163-130 tally over Miami Senior’s University
Jones completed 68 percent of his passes while going 137 of 199 for 2,620 yards and 33 touchdowns and just two interceptions for the Tigers (9-2). Jones edged out Clay’s by 17 points in voting by a statewide panel of coaches and media members.
All-class player and coach of the year winners will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 21. first football state title.
The historic season set new standards in a number of ways. The Panthers (13-2) extended their streak of wins against district opponents to 40 in a row and district titles won to 10 in a row dating back to the 2008 season.
West Orange will travel to Canton, Ohio, in September for a game at the newly rebuilt Pro Football Hall of Fame stadium.
The Warriors will face the McKinley Bulldogs of Canton in a Friday night showdown of large-classification teams in the second week of the regular season.
“This will be a great experience for our young men,” said West Orange coach “We’re just hoping to expose our kids to as much as possible.”
West Orange, which is slated to return the bulk of its starting skill-position players in 2018, finished 7-4 and No. 13 in the Sentinel Super 16 rankings following a bowl game win over Lyman. The Warriors narrowly missed out on the Class 8A playoffs.
McKinley was season.
“The kids are fired up to play a big-time premier opponent at a huge venue like that, and to get to take a trip where they’re basically traveling like a college team,” Head said. “We’re working really hard to try to get ourselves ready for that kind of stage.” 8-3 this