Rick Reilly article on Louis Nix

Louis Nix  is the lone DuvALUMNI playing in the BCS National Championship game January 7. ESPN's Rick Reilly has a nice article on the Raines grad. read it here

Tebow to Jacksonville?

Put Tim Tebow's name in a headline and it is guaranteed to get looked at, but this isn't just pandering for web hits. ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting that Tim Tebow to the Jaguars in 2013 is "a virtual certainty."

Mortensen goes on to say "League sources say it is a virtual certainty Tim Tebow will land a job back home with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2013. Tebow reportedly will be traded or released after the season, but league sources say the Jets are likely to honor Tebow's forthcoming request to be released and therefore become an unrestricted free agent.

Circumstances in Jacksonville have changed since Tebow chose the Jets over the Jaguars when he was traded by the Denver Broncos in March.

Jacksonville owner Shad Khan wanted Tebow, but there was no assurance that the former Heisman Trophy winner would get an opportunity to play because the team was still committed to 2011 first-round pick Blaine Gabbert.

In 2013, the Jaguars will have an open quarterback competition and a team source conceded it's a "high likelihood" Tebow will be part of the mix.


An open quarterback competition is fair to Gabbert and to Tebow. Should Gabbert win the job, though,  the worst thing that could happen to the Jags would be to have Tebow as a backup. Every errant throw from Gabbert or every 3-and-out the Jags offense delivers, the roars of "Teeeee-bowwww" throughout Everbank Field would resound more and more, possibly dividing a locker room. Give Tim a chance in camp, if he wins the gig, great. If he doesn't he should not hang around to cast a popularity contest-sized shadow on Gabbert.

Ryan Freel dead

DuvALUMNI Ryan Freel (Englewood) was found dead from an apparent suicide. Freel played the majority of his major league career with the Cincinnati Reds. USA Today story on Freel here

The All DuvALUMNI College Football Team 2012

Some DuvALUMNI have earned awards and All American accolades this year, but nothing compares to being cited by some random blog that covers their hometown...maybe if I gave it a catchy name...{still thinking}...suggestions? holler..

Anyway, not necessarily one player per position, just some serious shout-outs to some local players who made their high schools and their hometown proud.

OFFENSE

QB - Ryan Aplin  (Fleming Island) - Arkansas State.
QB - Kawaun Jakes (St. Augustine) - Western Kentucky
QB - Jake Medlock (Fletcher) - FIU

RB - Jawan Jamison (Bolles) - Rutgers
RB - Andrew Buie (Trinity) - West Virginia

RB - Montel Haris (Trinity) - Temple
WR - Ryan Lankford (Paxon) - Illinois
OL - Frank Souza (Nease) - Wake Forest
OL - John Theus (Bolles) - Georgia
OL - James Wilson (Nease) - Florida
OL - Caleb Johnson (White) - Rutgers
OL - Ryan Seymour (Camden) - Vanderbilt

K - Cairo Santos (St Joe) - Tulane
K - Caleb Sturgis (St Augustine) - Florida

DEFENSE

DL - Tim Jernigan (Columbia) - Florida State
DL - Louis Nix (Raines) - Notre Dame
LB - Sam Barrington (Parker) - USF
LB - Isaiah Bruce (Providence) - West Virginia
LB - Shaq Wilson (First Coast) - South Carolina
LB - Terrance Plummer (Orange Park) - Central Florida

DB - Xavier Brewer (Bartram Trail) - Clemson

DB - Jake Giusti (Fletcher) - Delaware
DB - Jose Cheeseborough (Lee) - FIU
DB - Avis Commack (First Coast) - Akron

2012 Offense Player of the Year - Jawan Jamison
2012 Defensive Player of the Year - Louis Nix
2012 Special Team Player of the Year - Cairo Santos

Creekside Alum Patrick Leonard traded to Rays Organization

 Tampa Bay Rays acquired 3B Patrick Leonard (Creekside)  from the Royals in the James Shields trade.
A fourth-round pick in 2011, Leonard spent last season with the Royals' rookie league affiliate and hit 14 home runs and an .833 OPS.  Leonard played for Creekside High  through his junior year until his dad's job transfer took them to Texas. The Bleacher Report rocked a nice article on Leonard here

St Joseph's Santos wins Groza Award, 1st Team AP All American

Santos

Tulane's Cairo Santos won the Lou Groza Collegiate Place Kicker Award and was named to the first team All America team by the Associated Press

Santos, a graduate of St. Augustine's St Joseph's Academy , beat out fellow finalists Dustin Hopkins from Florida State and  St. Augustine High's Caleb Sturgis from Florida.

The junior, originally from Brazil is the second kicker from Tulane to win the honor, joining Seth Marler in 2001.

Santos converted all 21 of his field-goal attempts this year, including 12 kicks of 40 yards or longer.

Sturgis, Nix make CBSSports.com All America Team

CBSSports.com's College Football All America Team sports two DuvALUMNI; congrats to Florida Kicker Caleb Sturgis (St. Augustine) and Notre Dame Defensive Tackle Louis Nix (Raines), making the second and third team, respectively. The complete list is here . Not only is Nix an All  American, but he is the only DuvALUMNI playing in the national championship game. Alabama's Chris Black (First Coast) apparently has been red-shirted. There was talk of Black playing against Georgia, but he did not enter the game and it looks like a red-shirt year for the Crimson Tide Wide Receiver.

Hezekiah beats hometown team

                                                    

Lee alumnus Matthew Hezekiah's tip-in with one second left Wednesday night gave South Carolina State a 74-72 victory over JU last night in Orangeburg, South Carolina. JU was behind by 15 at the half, but came back to tie the game. Kenny alum Keith McDougald scored four points for the Dolphins.

Harris sets Big East record

Congrats to Trinity alum Montel Harris, setting the Big East record for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns (7) in a game during Temple's big win over Army. Harris had played his first three years at Boston College before an injury, then a transfer to Temple this year. Harris ran for 351 yards Saturday.

DuvALUMNI in D1 College Basketball 2012-13

Patric Young

It is nearly impossible to turn on a college football game and not find some DuvALUMNI on the field. While basketball has always played second fiddle to the gridiron on the first coast, the numbers are growing in the college ranks. From my count, over 30 players are playing D1&2 this season (one waiting for transfer eligibility to begin in early '13, and two sitting out until next year). If I've left out anyone, please let me know. Especially DII players, hard to track them all down. It's all about following our DuvALUMNI long after their high school days are done. Click on names to link to their stats.



By High School graduated, unless *Jr , means graduated out of area but played in previous year

Providence (7)
Patric Young  - Florida
Will Cummings - Temple
JP Kuhlman - Davidson
Cameron Naylor - North Florida
Alex Bodney - Eckerd College
Stacey Poole - Georgia Tech
Wayne Martin - Southeast Missouri (transfer, cannot play until 13-14)

Arlington Country Day (7)
Justin Jackson - Cincinnati
Rodney McGruder - Kansas State
Wally Judge - Rutgers
Kelvin Gaines - Cincinnati
Shawn Smith*Jr - Texas A&M (not on team til 2013-14)
Ronald Wright - Prairie View
John Brown - High Point

Lee (3)
Alex Smith - Bethune Cookman
Matthew Hezekiah - South Carolina St.
Pierre Bland - IUPU - Ft Wayne

Orange Park (2)
Jerome Clyburn - Austin Peay
Patrick Hendley - Savannah St.

First Coast (2)
Ambrose Mosley - Old Dominion
David Williams - UNC Greensboro

Englewood (2)
Admir Sahbegovic - Jacksonville University
Steven Roundtree*Jr - Oral Roberts

Episcopal (2)
Justin (JJ) Kuhlman - Belmont Abbey
Alex Saunders - Flagler

North Florida Educational Institute
Solomon Poole - Georgia Tech

Ponte Vedra 
Beau Beech - North Florida

Bishop Kenny
Keith McDougald - Jacksonville University

University Christian
Chris Spurling - Jacksonville University

RibaultLendward Griffin - West Florida

Wolfson
Aaron Bowen*Jr - Georgetown

Sandalwood
Bradley Hayes - Georgetown

Middleburg
Malcolm Bernard - Charleston Southern

Raines
Dontay Sheppard - Edward Waters College

West NassauDylan Watts - Edward Waters College

Live Oak
Shawn Jackson - Iona

St Augustine
Matt Clark - Flagler

Mandarin
Chad Renfro - Barry University
Charles McRoy - North Florida

Palatka
Jerrell Oxendine - Lynn University

Historic Week for DuvALUMNI QB's ?

Is this historic? Three DuvALUMNI QB's currently rank in the top 50 in passing efficiency: Kawaun Jakes (Western Ky./ St. Augustine) is 19th with a rating of 155.70; Ryan Aplin (Arkansas St. / Fleming Island) is 28th with a 149.09 rating; and Jake Medlock (FIU / Fletcher) is 46th with a 137.78 rating. Can you think of a time when the area had three QB's with such a ranking?

Kawaun Jakes

While we are checking out the NCAA rankings, Rutgers Jawan Jamison (Bolles) is 24th in rushing, averaging over 105 yards per game. Caleb Sturgis (Florida / St. Augustine) is tied for  6th in Field Goals.

Mandarin's Tony Carter Shines on Monday Night!

The Denver Broncos' second-half comeback was a breakout game for former Mandarin High star Tony Carter. more here

DuvALUMNI Star for Rutgers in Thursday night win

It was a Florida homecoming for two DuvALUMNI Thursday night in Tampa, and they made the most of their reunion with their home state. Jawan Jamison (Bolles) and Kyle Federico (Ponte Vedra) led the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to a 23-13 victory over South Florida.

Jamison ran for 151 yards and a touchdown,  Federico hit field goals from 51, 30 and 22 yards and  DuvALUMNI Kaleb Johnson (White) started at left tackle for the Scarlet Knights. Federico's 51-yarder was his career best and tied for fifth longest in Rutgers history.

Fellow DuvALUMNI linebacker Sam Barrington (Parker) led the South Florida defense with 7 tackles and 2 assists. More on the game here.

Regular Season NFL Week 1

C.J. Spiller (Union County) and Stephen Nicholas (Lee) lead the DuvALUMNI in the first week of the NFL regular season. Buffalo's Spiller ran for 169 yards and a touchdown and added 25 yards receiving and the Falcons' Nicholas had a field day as the linebacker accounted for 10 tackles, 2assists, an interception, 2 pass defenses and a fumble recovery.

Leon Washington (Jackson/Seattle) is among the leaders in Kickoff Returns (44.3 avg) and punt returns (28.0 avg); DB Champ Bailey (Camden/Denver) started and had a tackle and a pass defended. DE Cliff Avril (Clay/Detroit) started and was in on 2 tackles and 2 QB hurries; Bradford County's Letroy Guion started for Minnesota at defensive tackle and was in on 2 tackles; Nolan Carroll (Clay/Miami) had a tackle and an assist in a backup DB role. Rashean Mathis (Englewood/Jaguars) had a tackle and a defended pass; Tony Carter (Mandarin/Denver) played but registered no stats.

On offense, Tim Tebow(Nease) was officially a starter at Tight End for the Jets and ran 4 times in the Wildcat, gaining 11 RB Jamie Harper (Trinity/Tennessee) saw backup duty rushing for three yards and  catching one ball for an 8-yard gain. Daniel Thomas (Hilliard/Miami) ran for 11 yards and caught 3 for 32 yards.

Rookie WR A.J. Jenkins (Parker/San Francisco) did not see action; Rusty Smith (Sandalwood/Tennessee) was inactive

For the record, Jabar Gaffney (Raines/New England), Marcus Thomas (Mandarin/NYGiants), Nigel Carr (First Coast/Baltimore) and Brandon Hicks (Forrest/Pittsburgh) were released at the final cuts of the pre-season. Shaun Chapas (Bolles) was released by Dallas and picked up on the practice squad by Detroit. Jason Spitz (Bolles) is on the Injured Reserve list for Jacksonville.

DuvALUMNI College All-Stars Week 1

Opening weekend for college football and some big performances by some of the 250+ area players in FBS and FCS conferences. Here's the best of the best:

Offense
Quarterbacks Ryan Aplin (Ark. St/Fleming Island), Kawaun Jakes (W. Kentucky/St. Aug), and Jake Medlock (FIU/Fletcher) threw for a combined 948 yards; possibly the best weekend for area quarterbacks in history.
Running back Tahj Kimble (Boston College/Fernandina Beach) had 175 total yards and a TD. Jawan Jamison (Rutgers/Bolles) ran for over 100 yards and scored a TD. In FCS play, Lance Byrd (Presbyterian/Stanton) cracked the century mark with 109 yards rushing.
John Theus (Georgia/Bolles) started at tackle as a true freshman.

SCOREBOARD
Complete list of DuvALUMNI TD scorers

Tahj Kimble (BC/Fernandina)
Javontee Herndon WR (Arkansas/Bolles)
Andrew Buie RB (West Virginia / Trinity)
Isaiah Bruce LB (West Virginia / Providence)
Jawan Jamison RB (Rutgers/Bolles)
Ryan Lankford WR (Illinois / Paxon)
Demetre Baker RB (South Alabama / Orange Park)
Tiger Powell RB (New Mexico St / Lake City) 2 TDs


Defense
LB Isaiah Bruce (West Virginia/Providence) was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the week (see entry below). Other linebackers with big games include Riley Haynes (Wake Forest/Nease),  in on 10 tackles; senior Sam Barrington (South Florida/Parker) was in on four tackles including a sack; Shaq Wilson (South Carolina/First Coast) was in on 8 tackles with an interception; Terrance Plummer (UCF / Orange Park) in on 7 tackles.

Isaiah Bruce named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week

West Virginia LB Isaiah Bruce was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week. The Providence School grad, playing in his first game as a redshirt freshman, was in on 16 tackles, including seven solo tackles and capped his stellar debut with a 43-yard scoop and score fumble return in the Mountaineers' romp of Marshall.

Baseball's Home Stretch 2012

It really is the home stretch for Chipper Jones (Bolles), who ends his career after this season. He is going out in solid Chipper fashion: a two homer day on his bobble-head night recently, batting .313 with 13 homers for the Braves who may give Chipper one more post-season as well; the Braves are currently the 1st wildcard in the National League.

Kansas City's DH Billy Butler (Wolfson) is continuing to have a nice second-half of the season after his appearance in the All-Star game. 25 homers, 79 rbis and a .306 batting average.

Pitcher Darren O'Day (Kenny) is having a good season with Baltimore, 6-1 with a 2.49 ERA in 50 appearances for the Orioles in the set-up role.

West Nassau High's Howie Kendrick (2B) continues a good season for the Angels with 6 homers 42 rbi and a.282 average.

Daniel Murphy (Englewood) starts at 2B for the Mets, batting a solid .289 (4 hr 51 rbi).

Glynn Academy's pitcher Adam Wainwright is 11-10 for the Cardinals after missing all of last season with injury.

Mat Gamel (Kenny) made it up to the bigs with Milwaukee this spring before tearing his ACL in May and missing the rest of the season. He batted .246 in his 21 games.

Michael Kirkman (Lake City) is 1-2 with a 4.44 ERA in 21 outings for the Texas Rangers.

Updates on a couple of high round draft picks from last year:
Javier Baez (ACD), the first round pick of the Cubs is batting .184 in High A ball in Daytona; Patrick Leonard (Creekside) has hit 13 homers in 52 games for Burlington (Royals org.) in A ball.

Nigel Carr making the most of his chance

When many of us last heard from  former First Coast High star linebacker Nigel Carr, he was being kicked off the Florida State football team. He is getting a chance at redemption with the Baltimore Ravens. Here is the story.

How They Fared - Weekend of 8/19

Carr

The Falcons' LB Stephen Nicholas,  (Lee) started and registered 1 tackle. Ravens rookie LB Nigel Carr, left (First Coast)  had 6 tackles and 1 assist; Buffalo's RB C.J. Spiller (Union Cty) had -7 total yards; undrafted free agent WR Chris Summers  (Chicago/Ribault) continues to impress with 2 catches for 34 yards. Broncos' CB Champ Bailey (Camden) had 1 pass break-up and CB Tony Carter (Mandarin) registered 2 tackles; Lions' DE Cliff Avril (Clay) had 2 tackles and 1 pass knockdown; QB Tim Tebow (Nease) struggled for the Jets, going 5 of 14 for 69 yards passing and rushing for 5 yards. RB Daniel Thomas (Hilliard) scored a touchdown on 6 total yards for the Dolphins and fellow 'Fin Nolan Carroll (DB/Clay)  had 3 tackles. LB Brandon Hicks (Forrest) had a tackle and pass defense for Pittsburgh; Niners' rookie WR A.J. Jenkins (Parker) had a catch for 32 yards, Titans RB Jamie Harper (Trinity) produced 67 total yards. Seattle's All-purpose Leon Washington (Jackson) had rushes for 20 yards and a 21 yard average on kickoff returns. Titans QB Rusty Smith (Sandalwood) had a good outing, going 5 for 9 for 86 yards and a TD pass. Shaun Chapas (Dallas/Bolles) and Marcus Thomas (NYG/Mandarin) each played with no stats; area players not active this week include all three DuvALUMNI Jaguars: Rashean Mathis (Englewood), Jason Spitz (Bolles) and Mike Holmes (Mandarin); also not active Vikings DT Letroy Guion (Bradford). Jabar Gaffney (New England/Raines) plays tonight.
* CFL DuvALUMNI Dee Webb (White) registered 5 tackles for Hamilton; Vince Anderson(Lake City) had a tackle for Montreal; Bear Woods (Baker Cty) is on the injured list for Montreal.