Wednesday's Spring Football Previews: Lehigh, Golden Gate, and Gulf Coast take the field
Spring football continues for Southwest Florida football teams, and the News-Press and Naples Daily News will keep you up to speed on local team's outlooks, key departures, and names to keep an eye on for the 2024-25 season.
Here's a look into the games being played on Wednesday, May 22.
Gulf Coast at Everglades (Miramar)
Time: 6 p.m.
Gulf Coast: First-year head coach Manny Evans will take over the Sharks after serving as defensive coordinator. He's been working on building a culture focused on doing the little things correctly and says it's already paying dividends in the consistency and effort of this year's spring practices. Typical for a regime change, lots of positions were up for grabs this year - but several returners have earned the right to keep their spots. One such returner is rising senior quarterback Jace Seyler, who tallied 731 passing yards on at a 56 percent clip with six touchdowns and two interceptions last year. He also had a team-high 521 rushing yards with a pair of touchdowns. Julian Rodriguez will be a Swiss army knife for Evans, serving as tight end, backup quarterback, and may have some responsibility on defense as well. At running back, rising junior Javien Altine has risen to the top slot after the Sharks saw nearly 418 rushing yards graduate in Chris Jimenez and Randall Williams last season. Rising senior Caden Daugherty, who had a team-best 408 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 16 catches, will be a key starter on both sides of the ball this year. Adding to the list of departures, both the offensive and defensive lines lose virtually all of last year's starters. Army signee Will Brockmeier, who recorded 9.0 sacks last year, highlights the many departures from last year's stout defensive line. Rising junior Josh Gafford, rising senior Oliver Price, and rising sophomore Wyatt Bruntjen are all going to be key on the defensive line. Rising senior Aaron Pryear and Jonathan Povich have stepped into starting roles on the offensive line.
Lehigh at Golden Gate
Time: 7 p.m.
What to watch for — Lehigh: Coach Antwan Dixon enters year two looking to build on a 3-7 record. The Lightning were extremely competitive down the stretch, beating North Fort Myers (39-14) and Riverdale (48-14) before losing on a last-second touchdown to state Final Four team Dunbar 18-15. Quarterback Dorian Mallary will be back for his final season after throwing for 1,399 yards and 20 TDs and rushing for another 435 yards along with top target Terrance Smith Jr. who caught 40 passes for 859 yards and 10 TDs. Golden Gate: Nick Citro will make his head coaching debut on the Titans' sideline. The Immokalee assistant, who served as the team's offensive and defensive coordinator, was hired in January. He will look to build off of the team's successful 2023 season, which included a 9-3 record, a district title, a Collier County Athletic Conference title, and a Class 3S regional semifinal appearance. He has some solid pieces to build with the return of QB Sam Powell, who threw for 1,238 yards and 17 touchdowns, and star running back Trayvon Jean, who ran for 1,683 and 14 touchdowns as a junior. Two-way threat and Division I prospect Bradley Martino also returns having won the Broxson Trophy as the county's top all-around player in 2023.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Wednesday's Spring Football Previews: Lehigh, Golden Gate, and Gulf Coast in action
