Lightning and rain didn’t put a damper on Garrett Kruczek’s first game as The Master’s Academy head football coach.
After waiting out an hour and 42 minute weather delay due to lightning, the Eagles rolled past Pierson Taylor in a 64-6 homefield spring exhibition victory on Thursday night. The game, alongside the Tohopekaliga at Hagerty matchup, marked the kickoff for spring football games in the Orlando area.
“It was a very humbling experience being able to come back here in Oviedo down where I’m from and be in front of my home people in a town that raised me. And it was very nice to do it alongside my father,“ Garrett said. “Fortunately, we were able to get out here and get some sort of work in and feel good coming out of the game.”
His father, former UCF head coach Mike Kruczek, is the team’s offensive coordinator and Master’s displayed a lot of offense against the overwhelmed. Wildcats.
“We’ve always shared an offensive mind,“ said Garrett, who played quarterback for Lake Howell High School. “Just having him on the sideline, our minds link in that regard. He’s just an extension of me, and I’m an extension of him. Sharing play-calling duties and ideas, it makes it really neat to be able to go out and execute it together, with him being my mentor and my role model.”
Mike, a former NFL quarterback, was previously the head coach at Trinity Prep for 10 seasons. He was head coach at UCF for six seasons (1998-2003) after 13 years as a Knights assistant.
Rising senior wide receiver and defensive back Zion Mitchell did it all on both sides of the ball for TMA. The two-sport athlete had 3 receiving touchdowns, and an interception in the end zone. Mitchell’s receiving touchdowns went for 52, 54 and 26 yards.
Mitchell also stars for the Eagles basketball team.
“Zion is a playmaker,“ Garrett said. “He’s a guy that’s going to get it done in the classroom, and he’s going to get it done on the basketball court. Seeing him make plays with his feet, with the ball in space is pretty substantial. Seeing it live and in person was really exciting to see what his future holds, even after high school.”
Rising sophomore O’Shea Faison and incoming freshman D’Marion Simmons and Josh Saad also had interceptions for TMA. The defense added a fumble recovery and forced two turnovers on downs.
Sophomore-to-be quarterback Nazir McMillan had 2 passing and 2 rushing touchdowns in the victory, while rising freshman Jackson Stecher had a 10-yard touchdown run. Rising sophomore running back and linebacker Leandro Gutierrez and rising freshman D’Marion Simmons also scored for the Eagles.
Master’s went 5-4 last season under former UCF offensive lineman Bailey Granier, who left to become head coach for Northside Christian of St. Petersburg.
Garrett noted that his team was only able to have 11 practices due to inclement weather, which he said makes him excited for the future with more time to prepare ahead of the 2023 season.
“I’m really looking forward to having three months in the offseason to really install offensively and defensively, and really changing the culture here.“ Garrett said. “Coming together as a team for the common goal, and that’s to win, expect to win and doing it through Christ.”
Hagerty, Tohopekaliga call it a day
After a slow start to Thursday’s rain-delayed game at Hagerty, Tohopekaliga quarterback Sabby Meassick showed why he’s already getting college looks from the likes of Florida, Marshall and Wake Forest as just a sophomore-to-be.
Two plays and just 19 seconds after the host Huskies scored on a methodic drive with a four-yard touchdown run by Anthony White in the second quarter, Meassick passed to Osceola transfer Delvin Pryor for a 75-yard TD reception.
Hagerty came right back with another time-consuming drive to score on a 14-yard TD run by Jalon Lewis with 51 seconds left. Like clockwork, Meassick hit rising senior Julian Nasco for 57 yards down the sideline on the very next play.
That picture-perfect pass play didn’t result in a score before halftime, but the 132 yards of passing on back-to-back attempts showed Meassick is ready to follow up his eye-popping freshman campaign.
“We came out a little shaky, but we tightened it up in the end,” said Meassick, who threw for 3,044 yards and 38 TDs while completing 65 percent of his passes last season. “I just wanted to make sure my timing is great and I’m going to work hard during the summer.”
The game was called to an end in a 14-14 tie midway through the third quarter after it started an hour and 20 minutes late due to multiple lightning delays. The tying TD for the Tigers came on a 40-yard fumble return by Louis Figueroa after Anthony Paradiso Jr., son of head coach Anthony Paradiso, forced the fumble.
“It wasn’t a normal football game, but we’ll take it as a scrimmage and get more film to study,” coach Paradiso said.
Hagerty coach Steve Mikles also had a lot of focus on his quarterback, but for different reasons.
Junior-to-be Caden Mitchell transferred to the Huskies from Winter Park midway through the school year and received an FHSAA exemption to play in the spring game.
“It was his first varsity game, and I thought he looked good,” Mikles said.
It helped to have some balance on offense with White and Lewis combining for more than 100 yards rushing.
