Tropical storms have been known to wreak havoc on houses, living arrangements and communities. Now a tropical storm has greatly impacted this Saturday’s National High School Gridiron Challenge at North Gwinnett. Pine Forest (Fla.) was originally scheduled to face Stephenson in Saturday’s event; however, with Tropical Storm Isaac currently impaling the Pensacola area, Pine Forest decided to play it safe and cancel its appearance in Suwanee.
With the Eagles backing out, organizers were hustling to find another team to fill the void earlier in the week. One of the teams that was targeted as a potential replacement was Lincoln High School out of Tallahassee. Score was able to reach Lincoln head coach Yusif Shakir Tuesday to discuss the ongoing development.
“We are in discussions with playing in the National High School Gridiron Challenge,” Shakir told Score Tuesday. “The outlier is we are already in a contract with a team. So, we are in the process of seeing how things work out this week.”
Shakir acknowledged that his team is scheduled to play Pensacola High School on Thursday.
Score spoke with Shakir Thursday, who confirmed that Lincoln would not be participating in the event due to financial reasons. Lincoln will play in an event next week in Louisiana’s Superdome. Todd Holcomb of the AJC Prep Zone reported Wednesday that Stephenson’s game in the National High School Gridiron Challenge will likely be canceled due to a lack of an opponent.
Lincoln would have been a great get for the NHSGC as the Trojans are coming off a Class 7A playoff appearance and a 2010 state title. The offense was full of playmakers last year as the Trojans put up nearly 40 point per game. Shakir’s 2012 squad returns quarterback Cameron Joseph and his duo of star receivers in Taj Williams and Reggie Davis. Williams is being heavily recruited by several BCS schools and Davis has already committed to the University of Georgia.
On the defensive side, impact linebacker James Hearns should take on the role of leader in his senior season according to Shakir. One interesting note about Hearns, a Florida pledge: he was recently kicked out of a Florida State camp for doing the Gator Chomp. The defense will hope to rebound from its struggles towards the end of last year, including giving up 39 points in a first-round playoff loss. The Trojans also have a history of playing teams from the Peach State. In each of the last two seasons, Lincoln has faced Valdosta, falling both times by a combined seven points.
The Jaguars will now turns their attention to next week’s opponent Arabia Mountain. Stephenson lost its final two games last season after starting the season 9-0. Ron Gartrell’s squad will have new players in key roles all over the field as the DeKalb County school will be without 18 starters from last season. They do return starting quarterback Justin Holman, who has already committed to UCF for 2013. Holman accounted for nearly 900 yards last season and 10 touchdowns as the offense flowed through running back Mike Davis in 2011.
Valdosta will face North Augusta (S.C.) and North Gwinnett will face AC Flora (S.C.) in the two remaining games of the National High School Gridiron Challenge, which will take place Saturday at North Gwinnett’s Tom Robinson Stadium.
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