'Bama Bound

It seems that Lake Wales, Florida has a large connection with Hernando County football players and their chances of getting a scholarship to play college football.

This winter, Nature Coast Technical Head Football Coach Jamie Joyner made a visit to a football recruiting fair held in the Polk County town where small college and university football coaches come to Florida looking for athletes.

It was at this event that Huntingdon College, located in Montgomery, Ala., decided that NCT safety Jimmy Huang was the kind of player it wanted.

And last week, Huang signed a scholarship to play football with the Division III school.

"My coach had already sent the school some film so we went down to Lake Wales and met the coaches and that's when I decided to visit the school and I liked it and knew that's where I wanted to go," said Huang.

The 5-foot-10, 160-pounder started as the freshman quarterback on the junior varsity squad. "He's played quarterback and a little wide receiver for us," said Joyner. "Then last year he took over the safety job with a great performance in the spring against St. Petersburg and he never looked back and became a leader for us."

Joyner also believes that Huang will make a very good college football player.

"He'll go up there and do whatever they ask of him, just like he did down here for us," described Joyner. "He's a very coachable young man."

While at 150 pounds, Huang does have some growing to do.

"The coaches told me that I have to put on some weight," admitted Huang. "But I don't know if they will redshirt me my first year. When I talked with the coaches, they said I may be able to step in and play as a freshman."

His father Mike and mother Nancy Rich were also at the signing and both said that they are not the least bit worried about their son going off to college.

"He's not a follower," said his father. "He's going to go there and he's going to succeed from day one. He's not a quitter and I have no doubt at all about it."

His mother Nancy also gives a lot of credit to the NCT coaching staff.

"He loves football and being in a program with Jaime and all his coaches has been amazing for him," she said. "We're glad he's getting to go to college and further his education, the fact that he is getting to play football is just icing on the cake."

The former Shark free safety ended the regular season last year for the 7-3 Sharks as the third leading tackler with 39 solo tackles, 35 assists, one sack, two fumble recoveries, five passes defended and two interceptions.

His head coach also says that Huang is a great example of the kind of player they want at both NCT and in college.

"We continually tell our kids about being billboards for our program," said Joyner. "In the community and in the classroom, we want our players to be leaders and good examples and Jimmy is that."

Huang says he hopes to major in education at the Alabama school.

"What I really want to be able to do is come back here after college and coach," Huang said.

Joyner also says he's not worried about Huang leaving for school.

"Jimmy's not the kind of guy you worry about going off to college," Joyner said. "He loves football and he likes the coaching staff and the environment up there."

His parents said this week they already are starting to make plans to see their son play football this fall.

"We've already set the schedule up and I've gotten my days off for the fall," said his father. "It's seven hours away and they have five home games and play two away games that are close, so we're going to try and get to all the games we can."

By the Numbers: Jimmy Huang
- Compiled by TONY CASTRO

YEAR SOLO ASST TTK TFL SK QBP CF FR BLK PB INT
2006 04 08 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2007 45 40 85 1 1.0 0 2 2 0 6 2
TOTALS 49 48 97 1 1.0 0 2 2 0 6 2