Mason Cole
East Lake 2014 OT

Notre Dame Fighting Irish sealed their National Championship invitation Saturday night by defeating cross-country rival, Southern California. In one of the highest rated televised games in years, the Irish drew the attention of not only Irish alum, fans and foes, but also prospects being recruited by Notre Dame.

Last season, former Berkeley Prep 5 star prospect and now USC Trojan, Nelson Agholor had Notre Dame and USC at the top of his list before the Notre Dame vs. USC game in South Bend where the Trojans defeated the Irish. It was not the loss that hurt the Irish recruiting efforts with Agholor, but the way they lost. Lifeless in the second half and out hustled by the more talented Trojans, it was rumored that the Southern Cal win over Notre Dame moved USC to the #1 spot on Nelson Agholor’s list.

2014 prospect, Mason Cole, East Lake offensive tackle will be in a similar situation in due time. Both Southern Cal and Notre Dame are recruiting the 6-5 offensive tackle extremely hard. So naturally, Cole was glued to the nationally televised game between the two rivals last Saturday night. “Notre Dame impacts my recruitment a lot because they play different then any other team, they’re something special,” says Cole.

Now that a full season of college football is nearly complete, what school has impressed Mason the most with their play on the field? “I’m most impressed with Notre Dame, they aren’t the most skilled or most athletic team but they play together as a team and that’s good to see. Seeing Monti Te’o (Notre Dame, senior LB) and what happened to his grandma and girlfriend yet seeing him play so well was really inspirational”.

Since September, Cole has taken unofficial visits to Michigan, Notre Dame and Southern California. “This winter I plan to see Alabama and Georgia first”. Before that happens he and fellow teammates must complete their team mission of winning a state championship.

East Lake is on a 7 game winning streak after losing to 10-1 Largo (defeated by Armwood, round 1 of the playoffs). Cole says the loss helped more than hurt, “After the Largo loss we just regrouped and came together, we figured out this is a team thing and that each of us need all of us”. Last Friday night the Eagles took down Vero in impressive fashion winning 29-7 with the dominant play of the defense.

This Friday, East Lake will travel to Dr. Phillips for the third round match-up of the state playoffs. The Panthers defeated defending 8A state champion, Plant Panthers 24-7. Plant concluded East Lake’s season last year with a 28-21 late game score. That loss was motivation for the returning players who vowed to avenge the loss in 2012. They won’t have that chance and the East Lake Eagles are not complaining said Cole. “The whole team was just excited, but we know it’s only going to get tougher. We wanted that rematch with Plant but finding out Plant lost and Dr. Phillips won, it’s all good! We just got to keep working”.