The Storm may have to find some new playmakers this season to replace the ones that helped them earn a State Championship in Class 2A last season, but one issue they won’t have to worry about is senior leadership that also produced when it comes to QB/OLB Deondre Pride. This 6-foot-2, 215-pound all-around athlete was a major factor on defense alongside his family member Cecil Cherry, who is now off to the University of Texas to play for Charlie Strong.
On offense, Pride has some pretty big shoes to fill from the departure of QB Caleb Lewis. The son of Head Coach Tommy Lewis is now off at LSU as a preferred walk-on and put up sensational numbers en route to VCA’s title. Lewis was responsible for over 2,500 yards last season. The silver lining is Pride has seen time at the position having completed 9-of-15 passes for 105 yards. He also rushed 15 times for 65 yards. Pride’s frame and athleticism certainly allow him to give the Storm plenty of reason to hope when it comes to running the offense efficiently.
On defense, Pride put up 69 tackles with 40 of them being solo. He also sacked the quarterback twice, picked off two passes and caused three fumbles. He shows natural talent from his OLB/SS position for sure. He attacks the play without hesitation along with great anticipation when in pass coverage. Pride also shows great strength when stacking-and-shedding blockers to get to the QB or running back. Pride also shows great pursuit speed with long strides to make up ground in hurry.
Here is Pride in his own words as he prepared for Victory Christian’s game at Pahokee.
What last year was like…
“Coming in as a transfer from the public school environment and into the private setting and being around guys like Tremel Coleman and Jaylyn McKinney along with Cecil motivating me to get into the weight room and get better at my skills and all those things really taught me a lot. At Victory, they taught me how to become a better football player all-around.”
That was last year; now it’s time to start a new chapter…
“Playing last year and going to states, playing as a new kid it helped me a lot, especially with guys like Caleb (Lewis), a four-time all-state player, it just taught me how to get better at being a leader. Coach Lewis pulled me aside and talked to me about having to play both ways and he just told me to win their hearts, and you’ll win a championship. I want to just go out and be that great leader with that belief and have my teammates see that.”
What should we expect to see from the reigning 2A State Champs?
“Our expectations for the spring are pretty simple. We just want to stay healthy and since we’ve got a couple of new guys coming in I wouldn’t say we’re cramming anything new into the plays, we’re basically refreshing our guys and taking the mindset that we’ll probably get tired some plays having to play both sides, but if we keep that mindset that we won’t back down and we won’t stop playing, with the guys we have we will be fine.”