Forests Austin leaning toward baseball in college

Jordon Austin runs a drill during Friday Night Lights at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Friday, July 27, 2012 in Gainesville.

Matt Stamey/Staff photographer

Published: Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 5:48 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 5:48 p.m.

Forest senior Jordon Austin has been busy this summer.

The two-sport standout has drawn interest from colleges for his talent in both baseball and football.

Austin?s recruitment is far from finished, but it?s starting to take shape.

?Right now, I am leaning toward playing baseball in college,? Austin said. ?I also want to stay in Florida.?

Over the summer, Austin participated in the Perfect Game National Showcase in Minnesota.

?There were over 100 scouts at each game and I thought I did pretty well,? said Austin, whose 6.55 time in the 60-yard dash and 88-mile per hour throw from the outfield were among the best for outfielders at the event.

The first school to offer Austin in baseball was Florida International, but he also has plenty of interest on the gridiron.

Austin earned a football offer from Wofford earlier this year and has also heard from Florida, UCF, Marshall, Samford and Akron.

He said most schools recruiting him in football want him as a safety or outside linebacker.

At 6 feet and 195 pounds, Austin runs a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash and also has a bench press of 330 pounds, giving him an impressive combination of speed and power.

Overall, Austin said he has heard from more than 20 Division I schools for football.

He was set to take part in a camp at UCF, but the Golden Knights cancelled the event. UCF has kept in continuous contact with Austin, while Samford and Akron are the newest schools on his radar.

TOUGH SLATE: West Port High has one of the toughest two-game stretches of any program in the state. The Wolf Pack will visit Class 3A state runner-up Madison County on Oct. 5 and, after a bye week, will travel to face district rival Tallahassee Lincoln, another state power.

?We?ve got one of the toughest schedules around, but I really want to go out and play the best teams that we can play,? said West Port coach Ryan Hearn. ?(Madison County) is a great football team and you?ve got that name recognition with them. Our guys know who they are and it?s making them work harder.?

The open date came up for West Port after Crystal River dropped the Wolf Pack from their schedule.

Hearn said he had the chance to face Trinity Catholic, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas or Madison County and opted to travel to Boot Hill Stadium in the always-tough Big Bend area to face the Cowboys.

?We wanted to get out of the county and play someone different,? he said. ?We really didn?t want to go down to Fort Lauderdale and I really like the opportunity that Madison County gave us.?

UP FRONT THAT COUNTS: Dunnellon coach Frank Beasley has been impressed with the effort his offensive line has given over the summer.

?Our offensive line is really going to be a special group,? said Beasley, who praised the efforts of line coach Tommy Sutton. ?They are big, strong and physical.?

Alex Stetz (270 pounds), Cody Ingals (250), Will Thomas (260), Nick Weissman (245), Keandre Brooks (285) and Alan Perotta (290) will team with tight ends Connor Wentz (245) and Bo Dewitz (210) to give the Tigers an imposing front wall.

?All have had outstanding summers and we expect big things from those kids,? Beasley said. ?We?ve had some great offensive lines here and this group is the most complete from top to bottom.?

Dunnellon has also moved away from the wing-T offense and gone exclusively to the pistol formation.

?This fits our players? skill set and allows us to maintain the downhill run mentality we have developed over the years,? Beasley said. ?We?ve created a system to control the tempo of the game and have worked extremely hard to install and develop this offense throughout the summer.?

Led by the offensive line, the Tigers also averaged 97 percent attendance in the weight room at workouts in July.

?This shows we have outstanding senior leadership and our kids fully understand the process,? Beasley said. ?We?ve got a very mature group that serve as role models for our younger kids.?

Source: http://www.ocala.com/article/20120729/sports/120729676

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