By: Orlando Greenwald
BOCA RATON — Something new has begun at Corey Lewis Stadium. The Olympic Heights Lions took the field early Saturday morning for their intrasquad scrimmage. The two teams were split in two – Black and Gold. As the Lions took the field, there was one major change that could be seen by all -a new coach.
Coach Travis Johnson was hired just over a month ago to replace Coach Mitch Henghold who resigned after 6 years at OH. The former defensive coordinator of Pope John Paul II has plenty of prior experience, including playing at the college level and working at many high schools across the South Florida area
With the change at head coach, a new play book is installed. Moving away from the Wing T formation, Coach Johnson has integrated a new system which he personally calls, “Fast & Furious.” This new offense is very high-paced, resembling the University of Oregon’s style. The offense even goes as far as including the large posters with different pictures that represent a certain play just like the Ducks do. This hurry up offense features a lot more passing which was practically never seen during the past seasons under the Wing T.
A new coach, a new system, and 6 weeks worth of hard practice lead the Lions into their spring game. Playing in front of parents, students, and former players, Coach Johnson installed his new approach to the game, and pleased a pretty good crowd Saturday morning.
Right from the beginning it was evident that the “Gold Squad” was there to dominate the game. The squad was led by returning quarterback, Matt Kelly, who threw his first pass of the game as a quick slant to wide receiver, Richard Thompson that went in for 6 points. He had another hookup with Richard and ended the game with 4 touchdown passes in total.
Another player who stood out for the Gold squad was number 80, Walvenski “Wally” Alme. Wally had a big 11 yard sack, a fumble recovery and plenty of chase down tackles that saved would be big plays. The Gold squad was able to put 35 points up on the board.
The Black Squad came out a shaky, with many bobbled snaps, and some that just went over the quarterback’s head. With many broken plays, Kwame Clea did his best to escape and try to get as many yards as he could. The bright spot of the scrimmage for the Black Squad was towards the end when they finally were able to score their first and second touchdowns, both on passes from Kwame to Jimmy Derival and Kwame to Austin Redinger respectively. On defense will be senior Mike Kosoy who led the team with 2 big sacks, one that resulted in stalling a late drive by the Gold team. Kicker Tolga Onur was perfect from field goals and PATs.
The game ended 35 to 17 with Gold coming up victorious. Coach Johnson said after the game that that this summer will be dedicated to getting “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” and the student athletes will begin this summer workouts right after classes end.
Throughout the summer, there will be updates on your Olympic Heights Football team.