Gadsden County (Florida) to travel north and face Illinois' Class 6A champ in September

The Jaguars may have finished as the Class 2A state runnerups, but they are looking to take the next step this fall
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Just because the Gadsden County Jaguars didn't win it all in Florida's Class 2A state championship last month doesn't mean they don't feel prepared to take the next step as a high school football program.

In an announcement by East St. Louis (Illinois) head coach Darren Sunkett, Gadsden County and the Flyers have reached an agreement to face off on Sep. 5th, 2025. The Jaguars would travel from Havana up to East St. Louis, Illinois to take on the Class 6A state champion Flyers.

"We are very excited and humbled by the opportunity to test our program against a top 25 nationally ranked opponent," Gadsden County head coach Russell Ellington said. "We really want Gadsden County to become a powerhouse in the state of Florida and the only way to get there is to play the best competition in the state and nationally!"

The Jaguars impressed all season long and it started in the preseason in a loss to Venice, who eventually ended up winning Florida's Class 7A state championship.

Ellington's push to play better competition received high praise from Venice head coach John Peacock.


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Andy Villamarzo
ANDY VILLAMARZO

Andy Villamarzo has been a sports writer in the Tampa Bay (FL) Area since 2007, writing for publications such as Tampa Bay Times, The Tampa Tribune, The Suncoast News, Tampa Beacon, Hernando Sun to name a few. Andy resides out of the Tarpon Springs, FL area and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in the summer of 2022 covering the Tampa Bay Area. He has quickly become one of Florida's foremost authorities on high school sports, appearing frequently on podcasts, radio programs and digital broadcasts as an expert on team rankings, recruiting and much more.