By Rod Gipson
MaxPreps.com
When Seffner Armwood travels to Tampa Plant on September 5 to kickoff the 2008 prep football season, a huge portion of the Bay area will be watching. Now, the nation will have the chance to watch as well.
The game between the powerhouse Class 4A programs will be televised nationally by ESPNU.
Armwood enters the season ranked No. 1 in Florida in the MaxPreps preseason poll and 14th nationally. Plant, meanwhile, checks in at No. 6 in the state.
Plant topped Armwood 38-20 en route to a state championship in 2006. Last year, the Hawks returned the favor, defeating the Panthers 36-7 while advancing to the state semifinals.
The game has a scheduled 8 p.m. start.
Golf: North Meets South in Junior Florida Cup
Six golfers from Bay area high schools have been named to the North squad for the upcoming Junior Florida Cup.
The event, which pits top junior golfers from north Florida against their counterparts from south Florida in a Ryder Cup-styled format, will take place Aug. 13-14 at Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club in Tampa.
Tampa Plant’s Doug Letson, Riverview’s Ian McConnell, Tampa King’s Chris Biuso, Tampa Sickles’ Alex Milan, Tampa Jesuit’s Jack Twomey and Plant City Durant’s Amy West were all selected to the team based on their Florida Junior Tour point standings.
Letson, McConnell, Biuso, Milan and West were all part of the North team that won the 2007 event 29-11.
Summer Commitments
Tampa Gaither standout running back Jarvis Giles has committed to the University of Tennessee.
Giles, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior-to-be, has led the Cowboys in rushing in each of the past two seasons, surpassing 1,000 yards in each of those campaigns. With nearly two dozen college offers to choose from, Giles picked the Volunteers over fellow final choices Nebraska, Clemson and Florida State.
In other scholarship news, Clearwater Countryside running back Maurice Threatts has committed to Division II Chadron (Neb.) State. Threatts, 5-10 and 175 pounds, ran for 900 yards and 14 touchdowns last season for the Cougars.
Meanwhile, St. Petersburg Lakewood defensive back Jacquez Jenkins committed to the University of South Florida. A senior this fall, Jenkins also was being recruited by Arkansas, North Carolina, Mississippi and Iowa State.
Also, Tampa Freedom baseball player Zac Goodwin has signed with Concordia University, an NAIA program in Nebraska. An outfielder, Goodwin hit .436 last season for the Patriots with a team-high 24 base hits.
Track and Field: Locke Blazes at Nike Nationals
Tampa Chamberlain sprinter Dentarius Locke placed second in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes at the prestigious Nike Outdoor National Track and Field meet June 25 in Greensboro, N.C.
Locke, last season’s Class 4A Florida state champion in the 100 meters, took first in the 100 meters prelim race at the outdoor nationals. He ran a 10.60 time in the final, just behind Hunter Furr (Lewisville, N.C.), who ran a 10.56.
In the 200, Locke posted a 21.52 time, just behind the 21.19 time of Mike Shaw from Trotwood, Ohio.
A senior this fall at Chamberlain, Locke posted a personal best of 10.43 with his 100-meter prelim first-place finish.