By Gary Curreri
Sun Sentinel Correspondent
Aug 26, 2021 4:01 PM
Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Sun Sentinel.
Boca Raton High football coach David Angell talks to junior quarterback Jacob Cashion, left, and senior running back Trey Rainey at a recent football practice. (Gary Curreri/Contributor)
In his first year, Boca Raton High football coach David Angell did not get a chance to compete for a state championship due to the pandemic.
The Bobcats still had a strong season going 6-1 and closed with a 24-17 win over Palm Beach Gardens in the tri-county playoffs.
Palm Beach County public schools did not participate in the FHSAA state series due to COVID-19 and participated in the tri-county playoffs, which included Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade County public schools.
Boca Raton returns seniors Gavin Joseph (OL/DL), James Kildea (DL), Valentino Diaz (DL) and Barrett Joy (DB), along with juniors Jacob Cashion (QB), Collin Bender (WR), Sebastien Saint Louis (WR) and Brock Anderson (LB).
Top newcomers include seniors Trey Rainey (RB who holds an offer from Penn), Luanu Roschek (OL who holds an offer from Graceland), Artur Chagaev (OL), David Litvak (DL) and junior David Williams (DB).
Angell said Boca Raton will have some new teams in its region this year but still has to take out perennial power Deerfield Beach.
Morning Update Newsletter
Weekdays
Start your day with the top stories in South Florida.
“We feel like we will be extremely competitive throughout our district and our region,” Angell said. “We need to win the games we are supposed to win and have a little stroke of good luck to win the district outright.
“Deerfield Beach will be the team that we circle heavily on our schedule,” he said. “They are in our district, it is the last game of the year, it’s our senior night. So, it will hold a lot of implications in terms of the postseason.”
Angell said he feels like they are reloading not rebuilding from last year’s squad. He said they changed some things up offensively and defensively and feel like they are prepared to tackle a favorable schedule in 2021.
“Our offense will be disciplined and balanced between the run game and the throw game,” he said. “We have a lot of strength in the interior offensive line and our skill positions.”
Angell said the team is hopeful of building off its success defensively from last year.
“We have a few guys that can share the load in terms of replacing Ashton Gillotte, and we feel like we are deeper than we’ve ever been at certain positions,” Angell said. “We are incredibly excited about this season.”
