5 storylines to follow as spring football practice begins in Polk County

The unofficial start to the 2024 high school football season begins this week with spring football practice, and the early indication is that many of the top players fans will see in the fall also will be on the field in the next two years.

While there still remain talented seniors, especially at quarterback, there is something of a youth movement going on with some of the top teams. In fact, the top prospect in the state is Lakeland's Malik Morris in the Class of 2026.

There will be plenty of stories to explore as spring practice progresses into summer workouts then fall practice, but here are five stories to watch as spring begins.

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Who will be Lakeland's new playmakers?

Lakeland graduated 63 percent of its rushing yards and 93 percent of its receiving yards from last season's state championship team, so identifying their replacements will be one of the priorities this spring. The candidates will include players who could be playmakers for beyond this season, including at quarterback.

Starting quarterback Zander Smith will be out this spring as he recovers from shoulder surgery, so the entire offense will have a new look. The starting running back could come down to rising senior Jordan Henderson and rising junior Ja'Darius Dobie, who rushed for 285 yards and 409 yards, respectively, in 2023. And both will be pushed by Steward Butler Jr., whose father rushed for 2,934 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior for Lakeland in 2010.

Defensive back Shanard Clower is being moved to wide receiver, where he had 10 receptions last year in spot duty. Zion Dukes and Jerry Thomas both have tremendous upside.

"We actually feel good about the position," Lakeland coach Frazier said.

Jackson Peeples, a 6-foot-2 rising junior, and Caleb McFarland, who was the starter on JV last year, will try to use the spring to get a head start on becoming Smith's successor.

Who is replacing Johnquae Richardson at Lake Wales?

Nearly all of Lake Wales' playmakers, with the exception of 1,000-yard rusher Rashad Orr, return this season after it unleashed a slew of young talented playmakers, including Gabriel LeGrande and Kanelius Purdy. Along with the return of starting quarterback Brycen Levitiotis and the starting offensive line from the state championship team, the offense should be explosive. Assiah Williams, a rising junior, will be a leading candidate to succeed Orr.

The big loss, however, is on defense, where Johnquae Richardson, The Ledger's Big School Defensive Player of the Year, dominated at linebacker.

"It's going to be hard to replace him," Lake Wales coach Tavaris Johnson said. "I don't think we can replace him, but we definitely have some new guys stepping up."

One of the players who could emerge is Sumari Wilson, who transferred last year from Haines City. A 6-foot-2, 225-pound player who also plays quarterback, Johnson expects him to emerge as an impact player.

Watch out for this Winter Haven trio

Winter Haven is another team that returns one of the top quarterbacks in the county in John Kostuch, but will be surrounded by a new cast of playmakers. Returning players account for only 119 of its 1,146 rushing yards and just 267 of its 1,148 receiving yards from 2023.

Yet two of the top three players that second-year coach Carl White is expecting to make an immediate impact is wide receivers Jordan Tarver and and Cassidy Irvin. Tarver, just a sophomore, currently is running track and won the district title at 400 meters. Irvin, also a sophomore, finished 16th in the 100 in the district meet but also ran with Tarver on the 4x100 that finished second.

The third player to watch for is James Tullis, a 6-2, 220-pound outside linebacker.

Bartow offense getting new look with new OC as QB battle looms

One of Tyler Eden's goals at Bartow was to get more help on his staff and he found it with new offensive coordinator Jon Chhay, who spent the last two seasons at St. Petersburg. A former college coach, Chhay led an offensive that helped St. Petersburg win 15 games over the past two seasons after going 1-9 in 2021.

One of the first tasks is to find a new quarterback; senior Blake Johnson and junior Ethan Browis are battling for the starting spot. Johnson saw action in two games, and Browis in one, last season when starter KJ Valentine was out.

Five new head coaches

Fort Meade's Jemelle Cornelius was the longest-tenured coach at the same school last season at 15 seasons after the retirement of Lakeland's Bill Castle, but now that honor goes to Johnson, who is entering his 11th season at the helm of Lake Wales.  Cornelius was one of five head coaches to step down, so it's a new era for those schools.

• Maurice Russell took over for Cornelius. A three-sport athlete who also played basketball and baseball, Russell is a 2012 graduate of Fort Meade and played college football at UCF. He was The Ledger's Small School Defensive Player of the Year in 2010.

• Jermain King took over for Ryan Mills at Lake Region. King, who has a master's degree in education from Ohio University, is a former offensive coordinator at Sebring, a head coach at Kingdom Prep in 2018 and has been a dean at Lake Region the past two years.

• Auburndale grad Antonio Thomas replaced Kyle Sasser at his alma mater. Thomas was wrestling coach and an assistant football coach under Sasser. In high school, he was an offensive and defensive lineman and was a first-team, all-county selection. He also wrestled and threw the shot put in track and field.

• Former Kathleen coach Anthony Troutman has taken over for Patrick Smith at Tenoroc. He was an assistant under Smith last season and was an assistant under Richard Tate the previous three seasons since stepping down at Kathleen.

• Gabe Walker, who played football at Lakeland as a freshman, replaced Clint Miller at Santa Fe Catholic. Walker finished his high school career at Foundation Academy in Winter Garden and graduated from Savannah State. During a college break, he was an assistant coach at Santa Fe under Joe Faiola in 2018.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: 5 storylines to follow for spring football in Polk County