LAKELAND — Aaron Day kicked a 23-yard field goal in overtime as Edgewater beat Lake Gibson 17-14 in overtime in the Class 4A regional semifinals at Virgil Ramage Stadium Friday night.

  Lake Gibson drove the ball 45 yards in the final minutes to get inside the Edgewater 10-yard line. The game went into overtime when the Eagles defense blocked a 27-yard Braves field goal with six seconds left on the clock. In overtime, the Eagles defense blocked another Braves field goal, from 16 yards out, that allowed the Eagles to take the game on the next possession.

  Edgewater quarterback Kent Gainous rushed and threw for a touchdown leading the Eagles offense. Gainous threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Williams and rushed for a 28-yard score each in the third quarter. Gainous was 7-of-15 for 93 yards.

  Gainous led the team in rushing as he ran for 115 yards on 16 carries.

  The Eagles stopped the Braves passing game from getting off the ground allowing only three completions for the entire game. The Eagles secondary forced an interception with no time left at the end of the third quarter as senior C.J. Stevens picked off Braves quarterback Quinshon Odom in the back of the end zone.

  The Eagles (9-3) defense allowed only 23 yards passing.

  On the opening drive, Lake Gibson drove79 yards and scored when Remi Watson threw a 5-yard touchdown to Markus Harper putting the Braves on the board first.
 
  Watson finished the game with 127 yards on 17 carries including a 19-yard scamper touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Braves backs combined for 230 yards rushing.

  Lake Gibson ends its season with a record of 7-4.

  - ORLANDO SENTINEL

August 24, 2008

LAKELAND | Keith DeMyer was something of a coaching nomad.

After interning at Hudson High School Pasco County in 1976, it was up to Muscle Shoals, Ala., down to Lakeland, over to Santa Fe Catholic, across to Bartow, back to Santa Fe, down to George Jenkins, over to Lake Wales, back to George Jenkins and finally ...

DeMyer has found a home.

The longtime high school coach, who has led baseball and football teams during his 32-year career, is starting his 10th year at Lake Gibson, including his sixth as the head football coach. His days of bouncing to different schools appear to be over.

He was part of a coaching staff that built the Braves into a state power and has kept themthat way, being the only football coach in Lake Gibson history to take the team to the state championship game (in 2003 and 2004).

"You want to know a lot of it on why I'm still here?" DeMyer said. "It's Mr. G. (Ralph Gilchrest). He's the best principal I've ever worked under - supportive, will bend over backward to get what he can get for you. He's been real supportive of the football program, and he's real supportive of all athletics. He knows what it takes to build a football program, and he knows how important a football program can be to a school."

Coaching was in his blood from his early days. That early list of coaching jobs didn't include his first stint as a head coach when he and a high school teammate coached a youth league team when they were high school sophomores.

"We would go to football practice, then go home and eat, then go coach the youth team," DeMyer said. "I guess that's where it all started."

THE INSPIRATION

Adolph "Sonny" Santorine might not know it, but he's a major reason why DeMyer is coaching Lake Gibson today.

Keith Thomas DeMyer was born Nov. 28, 1951, in Patterson, N.J., and knew all about Santorine long before becoming a three-sport star for him at Midland Park High School. Santorine coached football, basketball and baseball, so DeMyer got to know him very well.

"I liked him growing up," DeMyer said. "It was a small town. He was the head coach there for like 100 years. I remember when I was in the fifth or sixth grade, we lived two blocks from the high school, I would go watch them practice, and I wouldn't miss a dadgum game. My dad would take me and my brother to every away game."

Santorine's impact on DeMyer as a coach wasn't the X's and O's, but rather how he communicated with players.

"A lot of times it was easier to go talk to him than it was to talk to my parents," he said.

When DeMyer went on college recruiting trips, he wanted to go by himself and enlisted his coach's help in convincing his father, who wanted to accompany him. DeMyer wanted to make the decision on his own.

DeMyer tries to be that kind of coach to his players today.

"He probably doesn't even know that I feel like I do about him," DeMyer said. "He was a big part of my life."

FROM SCHOOL TO SCHOOL

DeMyer played three years at Waynesburg College, an NAIA school in western Pennsylvania where he met his wife, Sandy. He finished college at the University of Tampa, where he earned his degree.

It was contacts he made while interning at Hudson that got him started on his coaching career. His first coaching job came when he followed Hudson assistant Paul Lombardo to Muscle Shoals. He was there a year before returning to Florida, where he joined the staff at Lakeland as the junior varsity coach. The connection was Sid Kimbrell, who was then an assistant under Bill Castle but was at Hudson when DeMyer was interning.

DeMyer got his first head coaching job at Santa Fe Catholic.

Five years later, he went to Bartow, where he coached with Richard Tate (now head coach at Ridge Community) under current Winter Haven coach Charlie Tate. One year later, it was back to Santa Fe.

DeMyer joined the George Jenkins staff in 1994 and later moved his family to Lake Wales so his son, Doug, a junior in high school, could play for Rod Shafer. DeMyer was an assistant football coach and head baseball coach at Lake Wales for two years.

DeMyer moved back to Lakeland after Doug graduated and eventually followed Dane Damron to Lake Gibson.

DeMyer's time at Lake Gibson was nearly short-lived. When Damron left following the 2001 season, DeMyer, who also teaches algebra, applied for the job. But it was given instead to Brian Armstrong, and DeMyer seriously considered moving on.

Gilchrest said he remembers walking down to the baseball field and talking to DeMyer and telling him he didn't want him to leave. As it turned out, a year later, Armstrong left for a college position, and this time, DeMyer got the job.

"He's such a quality man," Gilchrest said. "He exhibits the character you want in a head football coach. He's willing to roll up his sleeves and do whatever needs to be done. That's reflected in his record and how others look at him. I've never heard anyone say anything negative about him."

DeMyer was part of the staff that turned around the Lake Gibson program, and when he took over as head coach, he kept the Braves strong. In his first year as head coach with Matt Grothe as his quarterback, he took Lake Gibson to the state championship game for the first time in 2003. The Braves went back in 2004. They lost to Seffner Armwood both years.

Lake Gibson made the playoffs seven years in a row, reaching at least the regional finals each year, until that streak came to an end last year despite an 8-2 season. At one point in the season when the Braves were ranked No. 5, district rivals Lakeland and Osceola were ranked No. 1 and No. 3 respectively.

"A tradition was started here roughly about nine years ago, and I think being able to continue the tradition, that's the hardest thing to do," DeMyer said. "It's easier to come into a program that doesn't have squat and build it up. It's tougher to say I'm going to a great program and I've got to continue that because if I don't, it's a reflection on me on how I can handle kids, how I can handle a coaching staff and how I can coach. I think I feel prouder that I can continue what was started."

LOVE OF COACHING

While he enjoys the X's and O's, breaking down film and game planning, it's the camaraderie with the coaches and dealing with the players that DeMyer enjoys the most. He's said he's learned to adapt to how things have changed since he began coaching in the 1970s.

"Sometimes I think I've gotten a little softer in my old age, but it isn't that," he said. "The change in society, the change in morals, the change in what's going on with these kids' families - it's so different than it was 30 years ago that you've got to understand where the kids are coming from."

After all his coaching moves during his career, DeMyer now couldn't see himself coaching anywhere else.

"You know every Friday it's going to be competitive, at least you hope," he said. "There's some great football programs out there. Those are the type of things that get you going on Friday night. At any given time, if you're not playing well, any of those jokers are going to beat your butt. There are good football coaches at all those places.

"That's exciting. It makes you nervous. You're not sure how your kids are going to do. You don't know if you're going to control the great athletes that other teams might have. You don't know how your knuckleheads are going to play that night.

"That's part of high school football. It's really what it's all about."

 The Lakeland Ledger

Published: Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 10:10 p.m.

November 1, 2008

 LAKELAND | Lake Gibson rallied from a 20-point, first-half deficit to take a one-point, fourth-quarter lead, but it wasn't enough.

 Gainesville drove 69 yards in the fourth to set up Dallas Stubbs' 27-yard field goal with 6:19 to play that gave the Hurricanes their winning points in a 23-21 victory over Lakeland Lake Gibson Friday night before a homecoming crowd of 1,000 at Virgil Ramage Stadium.

 Lake Gibson (3-5) had two chances to score following Stubbs' field goal, but Gainesville's defense held.

 The first time, the Hurricanes stopped Shawndell Artis for no gain on a fourth-down screen pass. Then after Lake Gibson came up with a fumble with 2:22 to play near midfield, the Hurricanes held the Braves to minus-3 yards.

 "It takes time to build it back up,'' Lake Gibson coach Keith DeMyer said. "These kids have never been through tough times."

 Gainesville (4-4) used three plays to jump out to a 20-point lead. On the Hurricanes' first play, Trevor Wooten hooked up with Otis Brown for a 58-yard touchdown pass.

 On the first play of Lake Gibson's next possession, Michael Duggans picked off a bubble pass behind the line of scrimmage and ran in for the score from 23 yards out.

 On the last play of the first quarter, the Braves had a high snap on a punt attempt and Gainesville recovered at the 3.

 Corey Hodges scored for the 20-0 lead.

 Lake Gibson began its comeback late in the half, driving 51 yards on 11 plays and scoring on Quinshon Odom's 2-yard pass to Jesse Fernandez.

Odom finished with 179 yards on 16 of 29 passing.

 Lake Gibson then scored on its first two possessions of the second half.

 In the third quarter, the Braves drove 92 yards on five plays. Artis, who rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries, had a 48-yard run to set up Odom's 31-yard scoring pass to Leon Woods.

 Lake Gibson then drove 72 yards in the fourth quarter on six plays, scoring on Artis's 28-yard run.

 Lake Gibson plays at George Jenkins next week.

 THE LEDGER

October 25, 2008

LAKELAND | Kissimmee Osceola earned a return trip to the Class 5A state playoffs with a 28-14 victory over District 8 rival Lake Gibson on Friday night before about 500 fans at Virgil Ramage Stadium.

 With the loss, the Braves fail to make the playoffs for the second straight season.

 The Braves (3-4, 0-2) scored the game's first two touchdowns on a quarterback keeper by Quinshon Odom and a reverse from Anthony Woods from 16 yards out late in the first quarter.

 "We played well the first 12 minutes," coach Keith DeMyer said. "Our tackling was ugly tonight."

 The Kowboys (6-2, 2-0) put on their running shoes after the second Brave touchdown and rushed for 264 yards and four unanswered touchdowns in a little bit more than three quarters.

 "Running the ball is what we do," Kowboy coach Jeff Rolson said. "We got the breaks tonight."

 Down 21-14 late in the third quarter, the Braves got the ball to the Osceola one-yard line but a bad quarterback exchange resulted in a lost fumble.

 The Braves host Gainesville High School for homecoming next week, while Osceola has a off week before hosting Lakeland for the district championship.

THE LEDGER

October 18, 2008

AUBURNDALE | Lake Gibson may have had some frustration to get out.

A week after taking a narrow loss to No. 2 Lakeland, the Braves beat Auburndale, 42-7, in the Bloodhounds' homecoming game.

 "It was hard for our kids to come back for a game like this," Braves coach Keith DeMyer said. "It's hard after the struggle. Our kids played great and it's hard to get them up. It took us a while to get it going."

 Lake Gibson (3-3) was clicking on both sides of the ball, racking up 350 yards of offense and holding Auburndale to 137 yards.

 On their first possession, the Braves held the ball for almost five minutes and drove 87 yards for a touchdown.

 With the ball just outside the 20-yard line, quarterback Quinshon Odom had to fall on the ball after a bad snap.

 The play lost 13 yards and forced a fourth-and-22 from the 34-yard line.

 Odom connected with Shawndell Artis for a 34-yard touchdown on a screen play.

 A minute later, the Lake Gibson defense forced Bloodhound (2-4) quarterback Sean O'Neal to fumble and Adarius Glanton recovered the ball in the end zone.

 Auburndale responded on its next possession with a 77-yard drive capped by a 26-yard touchdown pass from O'Neal to Jeamiah Crawford.

 Odom connected with Anthony Woods on a 15-yard touchdown pass and Remi Watson ended the first half scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run.

 Odom finished the day with 184 passing yards, three touchdown passes and a touchdown run.

 Artis led the ground attack for Lake Gibson with 118 yards on 16 carries.

 Woods was the top receiver for the Braves with seven catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

 Devonta London was the top player for the Auburndale offense. He ran for 47 yards on nine carries.

 The Braves return to district action next Friday when they host Osceola High School.

THE LEDGER

October 11, 2008

LAKELAND -  With his team trailing, 14-13, with 2:33 left in the game against Class 5A-8 district rival Lake Gibson, Lakeland's head coach Bill Castle sent his offense out for a two-point conversion attempt.

 Aaron Truedell proved his coach right, barreling through the line for the conversion and Lakeland's first lead of the game at 15-14.

 The No. 2 Dreadnaughts' defense made the lead stand over the final two minutes, holding off the Braves' desperation drive for the victory in front of about 9,000 fans Friday night at Virgil Ramage Stadium.

 Castle said he didn't second-guess the call, which came after an offsides penalty on the Braves on the point-after attempt.

 "If the game's on the line, and you can't punch it in right there with a yard and a half …" Castle said. "You don't get much better odds than that."

 Lake Gibson (2-3, 0-1) had the Dreadnaughts on the ropes from the opening drive, when the Braves went 86 yards in eight minutes, 17 seconds to take a 7-0 lead on Quinshon Odom's 37-yard pass to Anthony Woods.

 The score remained 7-0 at the half, when Lake Gibson left the field celebrating a dominant opening 24 minutes.

 Lake Gibson coach Keith DeMyer said his players' youth may have led them to get ahead of themselves.

 "Our kids have to act like they've been there before," DeMyer said.

 Lakeland opened the second half with a 31-yard run by Steward Butler to the Braves' 43-yard line. But two penalties and two incompletions forced Lakeland to punt and took away its momentum.

 After a Lake Gibson three-and-out, Truedell, who played for the Braves last season, scored his first touchdown of the game, running 27 yards to tie the score at 7.

 Lake Gibson took the lead again on an Odom shovel pass to David Richardson from 45 yards out, but the defense couldn't hold the lead.

 DeMyer said his team can build on the close game.

 "Our kids I think believe in themselves now," he said.

 Lakeland's mental errors, including 17 penalties, nearly cost it the game.

 "We can play a lot better than we did," Castle said.

 Lakeland held the Braves to 74 yards rushing, while running for over 200 yards itself. Truedell had 66 yards on 13 carries.

 Odom was 10-of-15 for 152 yards and two touchdowns for Lake Gibson.

 Lake Gibson travels to Auburndale next week.

THE LEDGER

October 4, 2008

 HAINES CITY | Lake Gibson's offense had a steady day and its defense held Haines City High School scoreless to claim a 35-0 victory at Joe Stangry Stadium on Friday night.

 The Braves (2-2) scored a touchdown in each quarter and two touchdowns in the fourth to pull away from the Hornets.

 "It was a big win for these young kids that we got," Lake Gibson coach Keith DeMyer said. "We needed it to get rolling going into district play with Lakeland and then Kissimmee."

 Shawndell Artis started the scoring for Lake Gibson with a 25-yard run two minutes into the game.

 Haines City's (3-2) best opportunity of the first half came when quarterback Greg Burden completed a 48-yard pass to T.C. Robinson down to the 26-yard line. But the drive came to a close with four incomplete passes.

 Lake Gibson added a score before halftime with a 52-yard punt return for a touchdown by James Fullwood. On the extra point attempt, the snap was bobbled by Fullwood, but he ran around the left side and scored two points.

 The Braves opened the second half with another quick score when Artis broke a few tackles and got in the end zone for a 24-yard score. Artis had 148 rushing yards on 15 carries.

 Haines City drove deep again in the third quarter but fumbled inside the Braves' 20. Lake Gibson took possession and marched 74 yards for a touchdown, capped by a 15-yard run by Remi Watson.

 The Braves finished the scoring with a 55-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Woods from Remi Watson.

NEWS CHIEF

September 26, 2008

GAINESVILLE | The Buchholz football team has played only four games this year, but the team feels like it's already seen it all.

 After two heart-breaking losses to start the season, the Bobcats battled back to beat Ocala North Marion last week and made it back-to-back revenge victories with a 37-20 homecoming win over Lake Gibson Thursday at Citizen's Field.

 "We've already been through four wars," Buchholz coach Jay Godwin said. "At least we aren't tucking our tails between our legs too badly."

 The Bobcats (2-2) used a heavy dose of defense in the first half and a barrage of offense in the second to seal the victory.

 The Braves (1-2) were on a roll early, driving to the Bobcat 10-yard-line on their opening possession, until quarterback Remi Watson made a costly mistake. An errant pass, while Watson was getting hit, bounced off of linebacker Kyle Oehlbeck and into the arms of fellow linebacker Antwan Hughes, who returned it 92 yards for the opening score.

 Lake Gibson rushed for nearly 250 yards, but couldn't finish a pair of drives that ended inside the Buccholtz 10 yardline.

 Buchholz quarterbacks Kevin Prindle and Aaron Grant each completed only one pass in the first half, but both went for touchdowns, to give the Bobcats a 20-13 halftime lead.

 Watson sat out the second half after complaining of chest pains during the break.

 With backup Albert Monroe at quarterback, Lake Gibson drove into Buchholz territory only twice in the half, resulting in one score.

 Buchholz running back Jordan Labby, who was held to 37 yards in the first half, exploded for 131 in the second.

 He finished with 168 yards and two touchdowns .

NYT Regional Newspapers

September 20, 2008

September 6, 2008

August August 27, 2008

May 31, 2008

Lake Gibson 21, Edgewater 10


Lake Gibson coach Keith DeMyer has something of a major overhaul to do with his team, especially on offense where the Braves are replacing the entire offensive line, their top two rushers and second-leading receiver.

Still, the Braves will head into the summer on a positive note after defeating Orlando Edgewater, 21-10, in Orlando.

The Braves' Anthony Woods, who was one of the top receivers in the county last year with 37 receptions for 698 yards, caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Quinshon Odom, who is one of the candidates for starting quarterback. Woods also had kickoff returns of 80 yards and 65 yards.

R.J. Watson, another quarterback candidate, ran for 67 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown run.

Shawndell Artis, who could emerge as the top running back to replace Aaron Truedell and Deadrian Moore, ran for 112 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown run. He ran behind a brand new offensive line led by Robert Wallace.

Defensively, middle linebacker Adarious Glanton led the Braves with 12 solo tackles, and defensive back J.J. Fullwood had eight solo tackles and an interception.

Champ Lee shut down Edgewater's star receiver Quincy McDuffy, who is a D-I prospect.

--ROY FUOCO | THE LEDGER

February 7, 2008

LAKELAND | Florida lost one of its top recruits, Lake Gibson offensive lineman Ricky Barnum, to Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez.

Barnum didn't make his final decision until late Tuesday night, and he didn't let anyone know about the decision until Wednesday morning. Sitting at a table with his parents in the Lake Gibson auditorium, he set three caps in front of him, one from Florida International, one from Florida and one from Michigan. After picking up the first two and making a brief state, Barnum put on the last cap. He's headed to Michigan.

Barnum (6-2, 265), who had committed to Florida, was one of three Lake Gibson football players to sign letters of intent Wednesday with Division I programs and the second one to switch schools.

Defensive end James Jones, who verbally committed to South Florida last summer, signed with FIU, while offensive guard Josh Garvin signed with USF. All three expressed relief that the process was finally over.

"I'm glad it's over," Barnum said. "When I got here this morning, the phones were just ringing off the hook - nonstop. They were just ringing, ringing, ringing. They had to hide me out for a little bit. Now that it's over, I can sleep at night."

Barnum began having doubts about going to Florida shortly after he committed. He was getting different opinions. His mother wanted him to go to FIU, his father Florida, and his brothers and uncle Michigan.

Rodriguez, who visited Lake Gibson after Barnum committed to Florida, was a major factor in his decision. Barnum noted that he likely would have gone to West Virginia had Rodriguez stayed there. His visit to Michigan also played a part.

"When I went up to Michigan, everything was nice," he said. "They run the same offense we ran, the spread offense. They graduated three starting offensive lineman and four backups. Where could you go possibly wrong with that one?"

Barnum called the Florida coaches Tuesday night to tell them of his decision and noted that they were a bit upset.

"You've got to go with that gut feeling, and wherever you feel happy," he said.

That ultimately played a factor in Jones' decision to go to FIU.

Jones said he didn't hear from the USF coaches for four months after he committed and then had trouble reaching them when he called them. He said he called three times and left two messages.

"I felt if I went over there, I wouldn't have gotten treated right," said Jones, who was The Ledger's defensive player of the year.

He later made his visit to FIU. His experience with the coaches and players made a big enough impact for him to change his mind.

Jones also said he feels that he'll have a better chance of playing early at FIU. Not bad for a player who didn't exactly have dreams of playing big-time college football when he was growing up.

"I never pictured myself signing to play college football," Jones said. "I always wanted to play baseball. I wanted to be like Barry Bonds or somebody like that. This day means a lot to me because it means a lot to my mom, my family, my friends. I think it's like the best decision for me."

Jones will join former Kathleen and Lakeland linebacker Scott Bryant at FIU.

Garvin, a 6-4, 280-pound offensive tackle, had the least stressful experience in the recruiting process. He also was being recruited by Alabama, FSU, Florida and Auburn.

"It took me a couple of months to look at other schools. But in the end, that is where I wanted to go," said Garvin, who committed in July.

"I'll be the first one to ever go to college for sports in my family," said Garvin, who is a two-year starter at Lake Gibson.

Garvin, who grew up in Ohio, will play either guard or tackle in college

By Roy Fuoco
The Ledger, Lakeland, FL

Published: Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 3:05 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 7:20 a.m