East Ridge Knights
Head coach: Ashour Peera (3rd, 7-14)
Last year: 7-4 – 4th in 7A, District 4
Last playoff appearance: 2011
Key Returners: QB BeSean McCray (1,516 pass yds, 9 TD; 963 rush yds, 14 TD), WR/DB Benny McCray IV (30 rec, 354 yds, 7 TD; 39 tk), LB Elijah James (33 tk), RB Simmian Mitchell (transfer – Wekiva), WR David Shannon (transfer – Lake Mary), RB/LB Bryan Lumsden, DL Amari Ryals (3 tk), OL J.C. Taylor
The Scoop: After going winless in 2014, East Ridge showed significant progress last year by winning seven games. Third year coach Ashour Peera will face a challenge replacing Tirrek Hooten, who rushed for 1,696 yards and 16 touchdowns and was one of Central Florida’s top running backs. The team returns starting quarterback BeSean McCray, who accounted for 23 touchdowns last year. Peera expects to have a dynamic receiving corps with Besean’s older brother Benny and Lake Mary transfer David Shannon. The Knights also project to have a strong defensive line led by Amari Ryals. East Ridge opens the season with a game against four-time defending state champion Miami Central.
Quotable: “You can’t be the best not playing the best. If we want to reach that level, we have to play teams like that.” -Peera
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Successful programs like Apopka, Dr. Phillips and cocoa seem like ideal candidates for a regular season matchup with powerhouse Miami Central.
But the four-time defending state champions aren’t coming to Central Florida for a showdown with the Blue Darters, Panthers or Tigers.
Instead, it’s East Ridge that will step up and challenge one of the nation’s premier programs in the season opener.
“We would like to be a Miami Central somewhere down the line,” Knights coach Ashour Peera said. “We’re a long way from it but I think seeing that competition and seeing how we stack up and how we can do against it is important to our program.”
“It’s going to be a fight. We’re going to put up a fight,” junior quarterback BeSean McCray said. “I mean, they’re the best team in Florida.”
It’s a measuring stick game for an East Ridge program that aspires to return to prominence.
The Knights were a regular in the playoffs during the mid 2000’s, but they haven’t reached the postseason since 2011. A 7-4 record last year creates optimism for the future.
“Everything is going really good this summer and I feel like we’re going to be back where East Ridge used to be,” senior defensive back Benny McCray IV said.
Said Peera: “Our focus has become how far can this team go, how far can our program go, how big can we become, how many kids can we get to the next level.”
And few programs in the country send more players to college than Miami Central.
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SCHEDULE:
8/26 vs. Miami Central
9/2 at St. Cloud
9/9 vs. Gateway
9/16 at South Lake
9/23 vs. Ocoee*
9/29 at Lake Minneola*
10/7 vs. Hagerty*
10/13 vs. Ocala West Port*
10/21 at Edgewater*
10/28 at Lake Howell*
*7A-4 game