Former Palm Beach Gardens stars making big impact
Linebacker Coney, safety Studstill are contributing to the Fighting Irish defense.
Former Palm Beach Gardens stars Te’von Coney and Devin Studstill will feel right at home when they and third-ranked Notre Dame come to South Florida to play seventh-ranked Miami tonight at Hard Rock Stadium.
Rob Freeman, the former Palm Beach Gardens coach, said he would not be able to make it down to Miami Gardens for the game because of his son’s birthday party, but that he would have it on his television.
“Oh, absolutely,” he said. “That will definitely be on at the birthday party.”
Freeman said his favorite memory of coaching the pair of Notre Dame defenders was in 2013, when he led the Gators to the Class 8A state semifinals.
“You really started to realize that they really were starting to play at a really high level,” he said. “You really can’t get to that type of game without having guys that play at that level.
“I think they were beginning to really blossom and become the type of players that they eventually became.”
Coney, who was No. 1 on The Post’s 2015 Big Board, and Studstill, who was No. 4 on the 2016 version, have both made their presence known on the Fighting Irish defense. Coney leads Notre Dame with 74 tackles through nine games, with three sacks and nine tackles for loss. Studstill has made 13 tackles in eight games. Notre Dame declined to make either player available to the media this week.
The pair of Gardens alumni will face several players from Palm Beach County on the Miami side of the ball, including running back Travis Homer of Oxbridge Academy and wide receiver Ahmmon Richards of Wellington High.
Richards said Coney is “athletic, fast. A fast linebacker. He’d run sideline to sideline.” And on Studstill, who Richards may line up against, he said the Notre Dame safety is “physical. He likes to hit, you know.”