Video: Tedarrell Slaton's highlights vs. Colquitt County High
See the star big man in action last week.There are few programs that can match the win-loss record of
American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) in recent years and even fewer that can lay claim to the amount of talent sent off to the next level. One of the coaches who has helped groom boys into young men there is offensive coordinator Mario Perez.
Since the 2012 season, the Patriots have seen the talents of guys line linebacker Walter Tucker (Miami), quarterback Tyler Cogswell (Cincinnati), linebacker Michael Deeb (Notre Dame), defensive back Bryant Gross-Armiento (Rutgers) and defensive tackle Darius Holiday (Bowling Green) come through the program. For those not up to date on the American Heritage football program, the previously mentioned players were all part of the 2013 recruiting class alone.
The list gets gaudy with guys like Georgia running back Sony Michel and receiver Isaiah McKenzie (2014 class) but continues with defensive tackle Edgar Cerenord (Duke) and defensive backs Juwan Dowels (Syracuse) and Carter Jacobs (Cincinnati). Ohio State reached into the American Heritage program in 2015 taking quarterback Torrance Gibson with Florida State adding five-star defensive back Tarvarus McFadden. FSU came back in 2016, signing defensive end Brian Burns while Michigan and Tennessee added tight end Nick Eubanks and receiver Brandon Johnson, respectively.
The 2017 class is loaded with at least 10 recruits who could put pen to paper on National Signing Day highlighted by four-stars in offensive lineman Kai-Leon Herbert (Michigan), defensive back Marco Wilson (Florida) and lineman Tedarrell Slaton (uncommitted). Nebraska has added linebacker Willie Hampton, while Florida has a second Patriot, linebacker James Houston, and Pitt has a verbal from Dontavious Butler. The collection of talent currently on the roster extends to the 2018 class with four-stars Nesta Silvera, Patrick Surtain, Tyson Campbell, Andrew Chatfield and three-star all-purpose back Miles Jones.
Over the past four seasons, all the talent on the roster has produced 46 wins against just eight losses winning a 2013 5A state championship (15-1) and a 2014 5A state championship (13-3). The Patriots lost in the second round of the playoffs to Hallandale a year ago but are frontrunners for another Florida state title in 2016 with a national MaxPreps ranking of No. 6 after a quality 17-14 road win against Colquitt County, Georgia's 7A state champs last season.
Perez is in charge of keeping the chains moving for the Patriots while finding a way to feed the ball to his many offensive talents. American Heritage will get an even bigger test on Friday when New Jersey high school titan Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey) comes to town. Bosco represents a second consecutive defending state title winner the Patriots will face to start the season. The Ironmen won the title topping St. Joseph Regional 21-10 ending with a MaxPreps national ranking of No. 22. There is little drop off in talent and expectations with the Ironmen, as they enter the season ranked No. 29 nationally (MaxPreps) with Heritage being their first game of the 2016 season.
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