Miami Northwestern makes big impact on Florida Memorial’s first football class

With most of the thunder having rolled through on early signing day before the holidays, things were a little more sedate than usual at Miami Northwestern High School when National Signing Day, Take II, arrived.

But that didn’t mean there still wasn’t a table full of Bulls lined up with pen and contracts in hand when it came time to commit their talents to the next level.

And away they went on Wednesday afternoon in the school’s library as five different players signed their respective letters of intent. And it probably made former Miami Booker T. Washington coach Tim “Ice” Harris, now the new head coach at Florida Memorial University, extremely happy.

That’s because four of the five, defensive back Keane Lewis, DT Travis Lark, RB Andre Stringfield and OL Justyn Mack, all put their FMU hats on and signed to go play for the Lions as they embark on their maiden season next fall.

Running back Nathaniel Noel was the lone exception. After pretty much flying under the radar most of the season, Noel had very few offers and appeared to be headed to Tennessee State. But two weeks ago, Appalachian State, a Top 25 FBS team last season, gave him a call. Noel went on a visit, fell in love and signed up to be a Mountaineer on Wednesday.

“I really wasn’t too worried because I knew I already had a home in Tennessee State and would’ve been happy to settle in with them,” said Noel, who ran for 1,353 yards last season and scored 18 touchdowns to help lead the Bulls to a third consecutive state title. “But a few weeks ago Appalachian State called and that’s something I really felt like I might fit in. When I went on a visit, I fell in love with the school, and that made it an easy decision, I’m excited to be moving on.”

The other four will continue to be teammates. They will also be joined by Tyrik Collins and Terry Smith of Central along with a slew of other Miami-Dade County players that Florida Memorial nailed down Wednesday.

“All of us are really close on this team,” Lark said. “We’re a family and now there’s nothing better than us all staying together. When you’ve got family with you, you want to see them do better and you all pull for each other and now we’re going to be able to continue to do that. Coach Ice being there is big plus as well.”

“It’s a great day for Florida Memorial football and we’re excited to have the four Northwestern players on their way to help our program along with so many others from South Florida,” said Harris. “Having coached for so many years down here, I’m aware of how much talent there is, even on the secondary level. A lot of these kids who might normally slip through the cracks have demonstrated they can play at a very high level and now we want to give them that chance and help build our program.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 5:52 PM.