By Kyle Coppola
South Sumter High Football Ranked #12 Team In State Of Florida
The South Sumter High Football Raiders enter the 2024 season ranked as the #12 team in Florida. They are the highest-ranked team in Lake or Sumter County, with a 43.90 ranking. This places them alongside Lakeland, St. Augustine, Venice, and Jones, who are all grouped together in a tight pack. As far as Class 3A goes South Sumter is ranked #2.
IMG Academy and Cocoa sit at the top of the Overall FHSAA Florida preseason rankings along with Central Miami. For head coach Ty Lawrence, he’s not one to focus on rankings, especially this early in the season. The Raiders come in with one of the top offenses and defenses in Class 3A, but many people are talking about Dylan Leonor, the kicker. Leonor is making field goals from well over 50 yards out. Special teams could be a game changer for South Sumter this year. Leonor transferred from The Villages to South Sumter this year. Leonor is a standout soccer star but is also being recruited for Football.
(Head coach Ty Lawrence has built a powerhouse program at South Sumter High. He’s built upon the legacy set by Inman Sherman. He and his staff have done an incredible job.)
That is going to make South Sumter a truly dynamic team this year. Offensively, South Sumter always shares the load on the ground with their running backs. Last year, they used seven or eight different running backs throughout the season. I think it may have been even more than that. George Mullins returns for his senior year at Cornerback and Wide Receiver. He’s been terrific, and Rashad Johnson returns as the top Safety in Sumter County and has committed to Georgia.
Stanley Young is an impressive running back, and Bubba Boone enters his junior year looking solid. Blaine Walker and Landen Sherman will hold down the quarterback position, with Weston Ammons also being a dynamic player who will contribute offensively.
Offensive Lineman Ramell Parker will be a captain this year. The 6’4”, 275 lb lineman has everything he needs to succeed at the next level. It will be fun to watch this senior go to work this year. Andreas Pringle is an exciting young sophomore who plays Guard. He is a 6’3”, 276 lb offensive lineman, and running behind this guy will be a running back’s dream come true.
(South Sumter High brings back a powerful offensive line in 2024 that should provide plenty of opportunity for running backs to take advantage of.)
Malakhi Boone will return for his senior year. The Middle Linebacker has been so impressive over the past few years. Boone is a three-sport athlete and is just as talented in baseball as he is in football. It will be interesting to see what he decides to do this season and where he signs for college.
South Sumter seems poised for big things in 2024. With Cocoa moving out of Class 3A, South Sumter now finds itself as the favorite in the district, along with Central (Miami) and Eau Gallie (Melbourne). Bishop Moore, Northwestern (Miami), and Raines (Jacksonville) should also be top opponents in Class 3A.
South Sumter should be in line to compete for a State Championship this season. They have all the pieces. If they stay healthy and make the right decisions, South Sumter is one of my preseason picks to make the State Semi-Finals in Class 3A. “Tradition Never Graduates.” Let’s go, Raiders!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
