“The Eagles are up by 14 with a second down and goal… The quarterback throws deep into the endzone…And that’ll be a TOUCHDOWN GOLDEN EAGLES!” As the Golden Eagles kick off the 2023 football season, let’s take a deep dive into the changes made by the team this year and their goals for the new season.
This year, the Fleming Island Football staff gained a new member when they welcomed our new head coach, Coach Chad Parker. Coach Parker was formerly the associate coach at Bartram Trail High School under the leadership of head coach Darrell Sutherland. Parker worked as associate coach there for 9 years and decided to make the move to Fleming Island after Coach Sutherland stepped down. Fleming Islands athletic director Travis Cunningham, and Coach Parker have known each other since high school, making his transition to FIHS even more exciting for the team.
Coach Parker has said that his goal as head coach is to build a culture within the team that will drive them to victory. “I plan to install the culture that we had at Bartram and winning will take care of itself. Coach Springs did a great job of laying the foundation and I just want to build upon that,” says Coach Parker in an interview with High School Sports Illustrated. Over the summer Coach had the team working on wrestling techniques, which he taught at both Orange Park and Bartram Trail High Schools.
The team tested out their newly acquired skills at the Middleburg spring game, which ended in victory for the Golden Eagles with a score of 28-7. Coach Parker explained to Clay Today that they had been working on team camaraderie and building discipline throughout the summer, which led to an explosive offense and strong defense. Senior Ladarius Jackson was moved to defense as a linebacker and showed impressive strength; freshmen Sebastian Cruz and Demhir Jackson also showed confidence on defense.
At the rivalry game against Clay, the Golden Eagles pulled out another impressive victory, ending with a score of 40-20. The team put another win in the books, making the history between Clay and Fleming even more interesting. Since 2009, Fleming Island has now won 11 games against the Blue Devils, which promises an exciting season for the Eagles.
Coming up for the Eagles is a game against the Oakleaf Knights on September 15th, and then for Homecoming, a game against Bartram Trail on the 29th. All in all, the Golden Eagles have been causing a lot of excitement out at The Rock. Go Eagles!
Sources:
Villamarzo, Andy, and Jeff Gardenour. “New Fleming Island Head Coach Chad Parker Aims to Change Golden Eagles …” Fan Nation, Sports Illustrated Media Group, 23 Dec. 2022, highschool.si.com/florida/2022/12/23/new-fleming-island-head-coach-chad-parker-aims-to-change-golden-eagles-culture.
Editor, Randy Lefko Sports. “FIHS Parker Using Some Wrestling Tactics on Gridiron.” Clay Today, Clay Today, 15 June 2023, www.claytodayonline.com/stories/fihs-parker-using-some-wrestling-tactics-on-gridiron,72169.
