Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 12-14-18

Feature
Blake High Grad Will Be Among Alcorn Players In Celebration Bowl
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
When the players from Alcorn State University (ASU) take to the field on Saturday, December 15, 2018, one of them will be an alumnus representing Tampa’s Howard W. Blake High School.
Randall Tucker, bet- ter known to family and friends as “Frosty,” will be joining other teammates at the Celebration Bowl, the football game to determine the national champion of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The game to kick off the col- lege bowl season will be played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
The Braves of Alcorn State defeated the Tigers of Southern University to cap- ture the title for the South- western Athletic Conference (SWAC).
The Braves will take on the Aggies of North Carolina
A&T, who defeated North Carolina Central to earn the title of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) cham- pions. By losing the Florida Classic to Bethune-Cook- man, FAMU lost its bid to go to the Celebration Bowl.
Alcorn State’s win over Southern sets up a rematch of the very first Celebration Bowl in 2015. The Braves will be looking for their first Celebration Bowl victory, while the Aggies will be looking for their third.
Tucker, first in his fam- ily to attend college, “chased his dream,” said Tyrone Keys of All Sports Commu- nity Service (ASCS). “He saved his money and pur- chased a one-way bus ticket to attend Alcorn State, sight unseen,” he said.
Raised by his mother Ariane James, and his grandmother, Patricia James, Tucker, who wears #59, will graduate this May with a de- gree in History. His plans
RANDALL ‘FROSTY’ TUCKER (DL, Senior)
are to come home to follow in the footsteps of other ASCS alum such as, Yinka Alege, Deon Maddox, and Tee Tramel, who be- came educators after their college careers.
Tucker expresses grati- tude to Howard W. Blake
DEONTE BROOKS (OL, Senior)
High School educators, Principals Jacqueline Kennedy Haynes and Jesse A. Salters, Coach Anthony Davis, Calvin Barrs, K. L. Muldrow, and Counselor, Ms. Stacy Bishop for laying the foun- dation, and ASCS Jordan
Keys Scholarship for assist- ing him on his athletic and educational quests.
Former Blake High Prin- cipal, Jacqueline Kennedy Haynes, said: “I am so proud of Randall Tucker! He was deter- mined! I must celebrate with him! He has an amaz- ing story! My heart is over- whelmed with joy and happiness!”
“This is why we need the community to be involved and support the younger generation. I am so proud of this young man!,” Blake HS Principal, Jesse Salters said.
Another Player With Tampa Ties
Another player on the Alcorn team with Tampa ties is Deonte Brooks, who lived in Tampa until he was 9 years old and his fam- ily moved to Meridian, Mis- sissippi. He still has family in Tampa, and as a matter of fact, his mother, Shonda Brooks, and siblings moved back to Tampa about 3 years ago.
His grandparents are:
Hattye McGlothin Jones, Mississippi, Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Brooks, and Dan and Pat Harris, all of Tampa.
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2018