STA Blue-Gold Scrimmage

The buzz across South Florida the past few days has focused on a 3:15 p.m. meeting Thursday just off Davie Boulevard, time and place of the St. Thomas Aquinas Blue-Gold Scrimmage. Plenty of division one prospects all over the field, and plenty of college coaches littered the sidelines. Schools from a across the nation were there to see the action from Miami to Purdue, Florida to Tennessee, Central Michigan to Eastern Illinois.

SoFLAfootball brings you some of the players that performed well during the scrimmage.

Giovanni Bernard 2010 RB 5′9″ 195: Bernard has separated himself from the other running backs in SoFLA this spring, and will be the #1 running back in SoFLAfootball’s Top 100. He has showed great speed this spring to match is quickness and vision. Today was vintage Bernard breaking off long runs, displaying excellent balance, and more power than one would expect from a 5-foot-9 back. Bernard took a middle screen and exploded to the end zone for a touchdown.

Jacob Rudock 2011 QB 6′2″ 170: Rudock looks like he will be the quarterback for STA this coming fall. He throws the ball with some zip, and is a threat to run the ball as well. One of very few questions coming into this season for STA was the quarterback position, and Rudock looks he will fill in that void nicely.

Lamarcus Joyner 2010 WR/DB 5′9″ 165: Joyner worked out exclusively as a receiver once again, and looks to be their number one target in the passing game. Joyner housed a bubble screen and took a jet sweep for a long run.

Reynaldo Kirton 2010 S 6′1″ 190: Kirton has a nice day from his safety position delivering a few big hits and coming away with several tackles in the scrimmage. Kirton is the overlooked defensive back at STA, but today he stood out the most. Look for Kirton to get a BCS offer in the coming weeks.

Keion Payne 2010 CB 6′0″ 165: Payne had a lot of eyes on him today, recently landing an offer from Miami and rumblings of more to come. Again Payne was not tested much, but he did a good job in run support and looked very smooth in pass coverage. Even with his slight build Payne does a pretty good job jamming receivers.

Jermaine Barton 2010 OT 6′6″ 280: As discussed last week Barton has lapses in technique, but his athleticism is impressive for a kid his size. Plenty of coaches have taken notice of Barton, and more offers should be on the way. Barton has moved from a “project” last December at the state title game to a “prospect” this spring.

Jelani Hamilton 2012 DE 6′4″ 220: Hamilton came away with two sacks in the scrimmage and should be a key player along the STA defensive front next fall. Hamilton plays like a freshman at times, but looks good physically and runs well.