January 11, 2024
Former South Sumter High Quarterback Eian Finkley Committs To Carson-Newman University
By Kyle Coppola
Former South Sumter High Quarterback Eian Finkley Committs To Carson-Newman University
Former South Sumter Quarterback Eian Finkley has committed to Carson Newman University in Tennessee to continue his academic and playing career. Finkley had been playing football for Iowa Central Community College.
Finkley was a terrific high school quarterback. He was coached under Ty Lawrence and is listed at 6’2” 200lbs. During his career he had 147 completions, 2,292 passing yards and 23 passing touchdowns. Finkley was dual threat quarterback and used his legs to his advantage. He also rushed 162 times for 895 yards and had 12 rushing touchdowns for a total of 35 offensive touchdowns. He was a huge reason for South Sumter’s amazing run.
That season Finkley led the South Sumter Raiders to an undefeated regular season 10-0 and a District Championship. He would go on to win two playoff games with the Raiders before ultimately losing in the Regional Championship to Cocoa. He had a QB rating of 110.1 and averaged 19 yards per pass. Hopefully he gets an opportunity to showcase those skills at Carson-Newman University. That 2022 South Sumter team was something special and it’s great to see Finkley getting a chance with this program.
Carson-Newman is an NCAA Division II school that competes in the South Atlantic Conference. The Eagles are coached by Ashley Ingram who was an assistant coach with Navy for 16 years. He was hired in 2023. Carson-Newman University has produced 44 NFL players and 5 National Titles when they were part of the NAIA. The Eagles are coming off a 5-6 season in 2023.
Notable NFL Alumni of the program include Van Williams who played with the Buffalo Bills from 1983-1987, David Pool a defensive back who played for the LA Chargers, Todd Collins a Linebacker who played with the New England Patriots and played in the 1996 Super Bowl and played for the Rams in the 2000 Super Bowl. Part of the compensation package the Patriots received from the Rams included the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL draft, which the Patriots used to draft Tom Brady.
We wish Eian Finkley the best of luck on his new endeavor.
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.
