ports 10 Manatee County Football Players Earn College Scholarships

Manatee's Leon Allen is off to Western Kentucky

MANATEE COUNTY – On Wednesday, high school athletes from all over the country signed letters of intent to accept scholarships to play college football in an event known as National Signing Day. In football-rich Manatee County, it's become something of a regular tradition as multiple schools hold media events to announce their athletes' decisions.

There is perhaps no higher compliment to a football program than a college consistently returning in search of prospects and then taking multiple players from a class. In a sport fraught with intangibles, it's not always easy to decide between good players with nearly identical skill sets.

When it comes to the Manatee Hurricanes, college recruiters know a couple of things. First, they are coached by the legendary Joe Kinnan. That means they have solid fundamentals, don't shy away from hard work and understand both self-respect and discipline.

Manatee LB Darius White will attend Iowa State

Second, they know how to win. Being part of a winning tradition, a program that eclipses any single player or year's team, is an invaluable experience. Coaches also like to say that winning is a habit and anyone that follows the 'Canes, knows that the 5-time state champions are in the habit of winning.

Iowa State signed two Manatee players last season – WR Quinton Bunderage and DL Quenton Pompey. Coming off of a historic season that included an upset over then #2 ranked Oklahoma State, the Cyclones returned to the fertile field at Hawkins Stadium to sign one of the most underrated LB's in high school football: Darius White. The 6'1, 230 lb. senior will rejoin his former teammates in Ames this fall.

Southeast's Brian Poole will be a Florida Gator

Safety Clinton Heaven, one of the top ranked prep defenders in the country, had already verbally committed to North Carolina, but made his selection official on Wednesday, while student/athlete extraordinaire Hershel Caywood will parlay his high GPA and potent LB skills for an Ivy league education at Brown University in Rhode Island.

RB Antonio Agurs and WR Ryan Taylor both had breakout seasons as seniors, despite being overshadowed for most of their careers. Though he had to compete with RB Leon Allen and QB Cord Sandberg for rushes, Agurs came up big when it counted, managing to put together an impressive highlight reel, while Taylor used his dicing speed to become a real after the catch threat. Both signed scholarships to Ferris State in Grand Rapids Michigan.

Former Hurricane QB and current Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggart only managed to grab one player from his alma mater, the aforementioned Allen, who he'd had his eye on all season. Having spent most of his career sitting behind Auburn RB Mike Blakely, the big power back might have drawn more attention had he played anywhere else, or in an I formation rather than a spread option, and could be a real surprise at the college level.

Clinton Heaven (20) is going to N. Carolina

Taggart did manage to snag Palmetto linebacker Daqual Randall, who capped a banner year with truly stellar post-season play that demonstrated his ability to play at the D-I level. The 6'1 230 lb. Randall had originally committed to Louisville, before changing his mind to move to a program that might soon be referred to as Manatee North.

Randall's teammate Dallas Jackson signed with Jacksonville University. The speedy DB had a downright dominant season for the Tigers, who proved themselves to be one of the best teams in the state, giving two national powerhouses (Manatee and Miami Norland) their toughest games of the season, en route to district and regional titles.

A few more Tigers announced that they had secured "preferred walk-on status": Kevin O'Brien at Florida Atlantic; Trai Sanders and QB Trent Miller at USF. Kevin Healy signed with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

It was no secret that the area's top-recruited player, Southeast DB Brian Poole was headed off to Florida where he'll get to stay in Southeast orange and blue, while learning to hate the Seminole battle song. Poole also made his signing official with a ceremony at Southeast High School on Wednesday.

All Photos courtesy of Page Moore and are available for purchase at 941.518.4600