Today’s Rising Senior is Elijah Flanders of the Chiefland High School football team.
Flanders plays on both sides of the ball. He’s an offensive guard and a defensive tackle for the Indians. As a sophomore, Flanders was the top graded offensive lineman at 87 percent.
He was a Gainesville Sun first team All-Area offensive guard and 2nd Team All-State selection after blocking for an offense that averaged 223.6 yards rushing per game. This past year as a junior, Flanders was both a first team All-Area and first team All-State selection as a defensive tackle after recording a team-leading 95 tackles with 34 solo tackles and he also led the team with 12 tackles for a loss. He averaged 7.9 tackles per game for Chiefland and recorded a season-high with 12 tackles against Dixie County.
His favorite high school sports moment was rallying in the fourth quarter against Newberry in the second round of the Class 1A state playoffs after being down for most of the game. The Indians trailed 13-0 at the half but outscored the Panthers, 20-6, in the second half to advance to the Region Final.
Flanders finished with eight tackles, including two tackles for a loss in the win at Newberry.
His favorite quote is by former Alabama football coach Bear Bryant who said, “Never quit. It is the easiest cop-out in the world. Set a goal and don’t quit until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don’t quit until you reach it. Never quit.”
Flanders’ personal goals are to be All-Area and All-State. His team goal is to be the best team in the area and make a deep run in the playoffs. Rising senior Elijah Flanders currently has an offer to play football at Albany State.
Chiefland faces Union County in Kickoff Classic
We’re two weeks away from the start of fall football practice and just over four weeks away from the Kickoff Classics.
Chiefland is scheduled to play at Union County on Friday, August 14th. Union County is coached by former Trenton football coach Andrew Thomas, who went 60-5 with the Tigers and won two Class 1A state titles.
If you or someone you know is a student-athlete, and rising senior, we want to hear from you. You can either send us an audio shout out which we will play on the radio, or send us your bio and I will voice it for you. For more information, please email mike@ThePrepZone.com.
Mike Ridaught is the founder and publisher of ThePrepZone.com, the foremost website for high school sports in northeast Florida.