BELLE GLADE – Excellence is and always will be the standard for Glades Central’s football program.
Senior quarterback Davius Richard is understanding this concept by and by, as evidenced by his leadership in the Mark Richt 7-on-7 Tournament (June 3 in Coral Gables) and the USF 7-on-7 Tournament (June 9-10 in Tampa). Both tournaments resulted in outright titles for the Raiders, who have been scorching hot as a unit since the first week of June.
From his own perspective, Richard provided some insight on how it all came together for Glades Central.
“Basically I try to keep the game fun and simple,” Richard said of his approach to the game. “When we are having fun on the field, it is hard not to be motivated. The fun and love of the game keeps us going hard. Even if the games are tough, I try to find the bright side of it to change up the game.”
In Glades Central’s final three games at the USF 7-on-7 Tournament this past weekend, it faced three Tampa-area teams en route to the title. Wins came against Manatee (21-20), Plant (26-20 in the semifinal round), and Clearwater (26-13 in the final).
“My main goal during the tournament was to put the ball in my playmakers hand and score every drive,” Richard said. “Thinking this way helped put away a lot of our opponents. Adding this to our defense helped us win. The best moment overall was hearing the last horn, knowing that we came and finished our mission.”
Richard summed up the euphoric experience for Glades Central over the past two weeks.
“The feeling is amazing,” Richard said. “Knowing the hard work my team and I put in really makes it worth it.”
Other standouts for Glades Central include wide receivers Jymetre Hester, Ja’Vonte Williams, and Odieu Hilare. In addition to these three wideouts, the Raiders have playmakers such as athlete E.J. Jackson, defensive back Larmarcus McKay, and defensive back Antonio Laidler.
As always with Glades Central, there are potential standouts waiting in the wings that we do not know about yet. The Raiders will be a loaded football team this year – at least at the skill positions.
“Everybody did good and we executed and came out with these championship trophies,” said Hilaire, who caught 12 passes and had six touchdowns in the Mark Richt 7-on-7 Tournament. We would have been very disappointed if that wasn’t the outcome.”
McKay has been a player on the rise, as evidenced by his two defensive interceptions earlier this month at the Mark Richt 7-on-7 Tournament.
“We just try to keep everyone motivated and hyped up so we can pull through,” McKay said.
In other action, the Miami Dolphins paid a visit to Glades Central on June 6 to have their organized team activities (OTAs). It was a great look for the storied high school program in the Muck.
“I’m extremely honored to have our guys come down and watch the Dolphins just to see how professionals practice and the tempo of practice,” Glades Central head coach Jessie Hester said to media members. “It was awesome for our kids to hear from the leader of an organization about what it takes to make it here, all the pitfalls to avoid. Those kids learned some really valuable lessons.”
There will be plenty of more action coming from Glades Central this summer. We’ll keep you posted.
