Without a doubt the Brandon Eagles 2007-08 athletic seasons will go down in history as one of the best in years promising an even better one next season. Besides talent and ability, Brandon High School student athletes showed a huge improvement in every program as they made their way toward the coveted district or state titles.
The year began with the Eagles’ revitalized football season featuring a great line of coaches and a bunch of victory hungry varsity football players who were on the roll. After finishing the regular season as district champions Brandon (7-3) moved on only to fall short of their quest suffering a 31-17 loss to Lakeland during the regional quarter finals.
Basketball has also brought a number of highlights to look back on. But, out of all the amazingly talented young players on the team, the Eagles seem to have one player who stood out from the rest. The six- foot tall senior guard Blake Allen commended respect on the court from the moment the game began turning in 18 points per game. The Eagles managed to reach the state semifinals but were defeated by Lakewood 56-50.
Brandon girls varsity soccer coach Guillermo Ruiz had every reason to be confident about the Eagles 2007-08 soccer program.
True for every school, senior athletes move on, making room for newcomers. While this kind of change in the make-up of each team is inevitable it remains to be a constant challenge for every coach as each season begins.
But soccer fans were by no means disappointed as the girls worked hard without letting up all season.
With renewed energy, the Eagles softball program, with the addition of a few talented freshmen and the unified desire to prove their talent, were ready for a new season.
Leading the pack of the players to look out for was Eagles’ sophomore pitcher Emily Mitchell who has worked hard all summer and was ready to turn on the heat.
Baseball had a much better run as Brandon’s 5-3 victory over the Hillsborough High Terriers was the highlight of this season. The win gave Brandon its sixth Saladino title since the event started. Moments before the final game Eagles’ coach Matt Stallbaumer said that he was very proud of his team.
“We are such a young team so just to get to the championship game is definitely a huge accomplishment,” he said.
For more results please visit www.fhsaa.org.
