By Kyle Coppola
Four Lake County Players Invited to FACA All-Star-Game
Four Lake & Sumter football players will compete in the FACA All-Star Game at The Villages Charter School on Wednesday at 1pm. The FACA All-Star Game is a post season game contested by some of the best talent in the state of Florida.
Former athletes to compete in the FACA All-Star-Game include Lamar Jackson, Emmitt Smith, Derrick Brooks, Clinton Portis, Deion Sanders among many others. This year two players represent Sumter County including Ty Kadur for South Sumter High and Cliff Bridges with The Villages Charter School. The two players representing Lake County will be Braylon Knauth of Lake Minneola High and Kevens Charles of South Lake High.
These four players all had great years for their respective teams. Now they will get one final chance to put on a high school football helmet and make some final impressions. Let’s break the four players down for you below.
Braylon Knauth – Lake Minneola High (WR)
Braylon Knauth had an amazing career at Lake Minneola. The senior was a heavy contributor on the offensive side of the ball with 1,253 receiving yards. He averaged 16.7 yards per catch in 2023 including nine games of 100+ yards which led the team. He had 12 offensive touchdowns bringing in a team high 75 receptions.
Knauth is quick and he shows that when he gets space to run. He might not have the height at just 5”8 170lbs but he can get up and contend for the football. He jumps incredibly high and is also one of the best kick return specialists in Central Florida which he showed many times this season. Knauth averaged 22 yards per return.
Knauth currently has offers from Appalachian State, Bethune-Cookman, Florida Atlantic and Pennsylvania. It will be interesting to see where he signs. Regardless any school who signs him will be getting a stellar athlete.
Ty Kadur – South Sumter High (DE, LB)
Ty Kadur is one of the best student/athletes to take the field in the FACA All-Star-Game. We say that because he maintains one of the top GPAs in Sumter County with a 5.0 GPA. Any University should consider themselves lucky to have him.
It just so happens that he is a well-rounded defensive end and linebacker. At 6”0 200lbs Kadur packs a punch. He had 55 total tackes this year with 20 tackles for a loss. Kadur led the team with 11 total sacks on the season while recovering and causing a fumble.
Kadur uses his intellect to his advantage. He is a very smart player and can read an offense quicker than any player out on the field. Did we mention he is also one of the best wrestlers in Lake & Sumter County?
Kadur has a college offer at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for High Level Academic students.
Kevens Charles – South Lake High (RB)
Kevens Charles will be one player looking to make a final impact statement. The running back finished the season with 1,100 yards of total offense including over 1,021 yards rushing on the year. He had a team high 7 touchdowns and averaged 5 yards per carry. He also had 4 games of 100+ yards or more.
Charles plays football and basketball. He is talented at both sports. We hope that some team takes a chance on Charles because he is a stellar athlete. Although South Lake had a tough year and finished 2-8, Charles was a bright spot who has made his impact felt at South Lake High the past few years.
While we don’t currently know what the future holds for Kevens Charles, we hope that he can make one final impact statement in this game to impress some college scouts. There should be plenty of chances for Charles to run the ball behind some incredibly talented offensive lineman.
Cliff Bridges – The Villages Charter School (WR, LB)
(Photo Credit “TVCS and X”
Cliff Bridges is a three-sport athlete. He plays football, soccer and track& field for The Villages Charter School. While The Villages struggled offensively in 2023, Bridges was a bright spot. Bridges was able to muster 500 yards receiving despite the troubles at quarterback this year that The Villages had. He was also a great linebacker this season. He had 73 total tackles on defense.
Bridges does not appear to have any known college offers at this current time. But the hope is that he can come out and impress some scouts at this event. Villages head coach Richard Pettus has indicated how much he has enjoyed coaching Cliff Bridges and he will get the chance to step onto The Villages home field one final time in his career. We wish him good luck.
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.
