By Kyle Coppola
South Sumter Looking To Bounce Back After Tough Loss To Niceville
South Sumter High School started the season off against Niceville. It was a game that came down to the wire. While Niceville won 35-28, there was a lot for the Raiders to build upon for the upcoming season. It’s also worth noting that South Sumter has moved up in class this season to Class 3A. That will provide the Raiders with plenty of strong teams to face in 2024.
(Senior George Mullins is primed for a big year. Mullins is committed to Michigan State. Photo Credit – JOE OTT PHOTOGRAPY)
“We took one on the chin! BUT everything on film can easily be fixed. Game one is not the goal… Play to your potential & strive to perfect your craft! You can learn from this or make excuses! Hats off to Niceville & good luck the rest of your season!” says Coach Chris Gauntlett.
This loss was against a very good opponent. Niceville should make a run in the FHSAA playoffs this year. Niceville plays in Class 5A, so for South Sumter to hold their own against a very good team, was a positive outcome. Raiders running backs Stanley Young, Malakhi Boone, and Ja’Kyrian Turner rushed for nearly 200 yards combined, with Turner having a 101-yard game.
(Mali Boone rushes the ball. South Sumter has a good rushing game in 2024. Photo Credit – JOE OTT PHOTOGRAPY)
Young had 2 touchdowns on the evening, one on the ground and one through the air. Young totaled 123 yards, with 50 yards rushing and 73 through the air.
One impressive part was the defense of South Sumter. Malakhi Boone led the team with 16 total tackles, with 13 assisted and 3 solo. Junior James Laskey had 8 tackles, and the Raiders also contributed 3 interceptions on the evening. Senior Semaj Shines had two interceptions, and Malakhi Boone also added an interception.
Overall, this was a very impressive effort from this group despite the loss. South Sumter will host their first home game of the 2024 season against Forest on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. They will also play Bradford, Wiregrass Ranch, and Hawthorne in the coming weeks.
For South Sumter, they will use this as a learning experience, and I fully expect them to contend for their first victory on Friday night against Forest.
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.
