Congratulations to Naples!

The Golden Eagles of Naples High School are the Florida Class 3A state champions after beating St. Augustine 17-10 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on Friday. Quarterback Criag Wingate, hobbled by an ankle injury, showed guts inn rushing for 38 yards while going 5 of 12 for 51 yards through the air. The Eagles needed to come back to win the game, as they got a safety on a bad punt snap and a 34-yard touchdown run by Greg Pratt (remember him, Cardinals fans?) to take the lead.

Among the scoring by St. Augustine was a 51-yard field goal by Caleb Sturgis, who will go on to play at Florida. I once saw Dennis Bien kick a 48-yarder for Greenwich, but kickers like that are rare.

And how about fan support? Check out this quote from Adam Fisher in the Naples Dilay News:

Naples High School had 484 absences Friday. That’s about 25.6 of the school’s total population, most of whom went to Orlando. Students were excused from school to go to the game, but classes were not canceled.

Seven busloads of Naples fans went to the game, which was played on a school day, in front of an announced crowd of 5484.

So congrats to the Golden Eagles - they and the Cardinals of Greenwich both won state titles. Now I want a rematch at Cardinal Stadium!