By Kyle Coppola
Leesburg High’s Xavier Irizarry Is Our Quarterback of The Week
Leesburg, FL — Senior quarterback Xavier Irizarry put on a show Friday night, leading Leesburg High to a dominant 40-6 victory over Wildwood Middle High School. Irizarry completed 13 of 18 passes for a career-high 318 yards, throwing three touchdowns in just three quarters of play.
Irizarry’s performance was highlighted by a 62-yard touchdown pass to Don’yea Johnson, who hauled in 3 receptions for 132 yards and a score. Jamarian Clark added to the aerial assault with 2 catches for 57 yards, including a touchdown. Freshman Lamar Garrison also got in on the action and while Leesburg chose the cautious approach with their star wide out and limited his plays, Garrison was able to continue his touchdown streak this season.
On the ground, Lavoctris Patterson provided balance to the offense, rushing 9 times for 59 yards and a touchdown.
“We’re incredibly proud of how the boys executed tonight,” said quarterback coach Max Tucker. “Xavier was sharp, and our receivers made plays when we needed them. This was a team win.”
The Yellow Jackets’ defense was equally impressive, holding Wildwood to just one score which came late in the game when most of the starters were enjoying the rest of the night off for Leesburg. While the offense put up points at will, they built a 40-0 lead before Irizarry and several starters were rested in the fourth quarter to prepare for another rivalry game this Friday night against Eustis High.
(While last year’s Leesburg High team put up historic numbers this team is looking just as capable if not better than last year.)
Leesburg improves to 2-0 on the season and will look to carry this momentum. Eustis comes in 0-2 on the year. It’s been a while since we have seen Eustis in this situation. They are coming off back to back district championships. The trip to Leesburg will certainly pose a challenge for Eustis who hope to get their season back on track.
Photo Credit – Debra Jane Snyder
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.
