Booker High football gets talent injection for 2024 season

How did the Booker High football program follow a 9-5 season and a trip to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2S state semifinals?

By putting together a team that, on paper, has even more potential. 

The Tornadoes are entering year three under Head Coach Scottie Littles and have shown improvement each season. In 2023, thanks to a hard-charging running game, a big-play passing game and an athletic defense, Booker put together a successful season and got better as the year moved forward, peaking in a 38-32 regional final road win over Bishop Verot High and quarterback Carter Smith, a University of Michigan commit. Though the Tornadoes' dream postseason run came to an end with a 41-3 loss to Cocoa High the following week, it was a level of success Booker had not seen in a long time. 

In 2024, the Tornadoes expectations are to match and exceed what it accomplished a year ago. Thanks to a slew of transfers on both sides of the ball, Booker feels like it is ready to be a real contender for the Class 2S crown. 

"The expectations are high," Littles said at a Suncoast Gridiron Media Day event July 26. "We're excited to see how we can build this and take it to the next level." 

Photo by Ryan Kohn

It starts under center. Last season, the Booker offense was able to create big plays based on the strength of weapons like wideout Josiah Booker, who now plays for Central Michigan University. But the passing game overall was inconsistent; Tornadoes quarterbacks completed just 48.8% of their passes in 2023. 

The team believes it has a solution to that problem in Ryan Downes, a senior who transferred into the program from Venice High. Downes split time with Venice quarterback Jadyn Glasser last year before an injury ended his season after five games; he saw significant action in three of them and finished with 231 passing yards and two touchdowns. He will get a shot at hanging onto the starting spot with the Tornadoes. 

Downes will have no shortage of weapons to use. Though Josiah Booker is gone, returnees include 6-foot-2 sophomore receiver Tyren Wortham, who caught 15 passes for 272 yards and six touchdowns and earned scholarship offers from Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University and East Carolina University among other Division I schools. Senior Rashawn Peterson was used as a running back last year, but is traditionally a wide receiver with offers from the University of South Florida and others. The Tornadoes could use him at either or both positions in 2024.

On top of those returnees, Booker added junior Dylan Wester, who previously played at Palmetto High and caught 26 passes for 433 yards and a touchdown in 2023. Wester holds offers from South Florida, Marshall University and the University of Toledo. 

The defense is a similar story. Senior defensive lineman Jordan Radkey, the team's leading tackler in 2023 (100 total, 22.5 tackles for loss), is back, as is the second-leading tackler in senior linebacker Dajien Walton (73 total, 3.5 tackles for loss). But the Tornadoes also added junior defensive back Chauncey "Chuck" Kennon from Southeast High, one of the fastest-rising prospects in the country this summer; Kennon, a consensus four-star player, has offers from the University of Georgia and the University of Michigan among his extensive list of suitors.

Junior safety Karaijus Hayes (50 tackles, four interceptions), junior defensive lineman Kevontay Hugan (46 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks) and junior defensive back Jason Thomas (five interceptions) are among other names to watch on the Booker defense, which could be an impactful unit if all the pieces work in cohesion. 

"Booker has always been a place that has talented players," Littles said. "We are continuing to build our program and to be a brand that people want to be a part of and get behind. We are not going to sneak up on anybody (this year). We're going to get everybody's best shot." 

The Tornadoes schedule will reflect the program's expectations. Early regular-season games against reigning Class 2M state champion Berkeley Prep (13-2 in 2023), Carrollwood Day School (8-2) and Riverview High (8-5) will test Booker's ability to quickly mesh its new talent with its returning talent, as will its preseason game against Class 1S champion Cardinal Mooney High (12-2). It's going to be even tougher without Littles on the sideline for the first four regular-season games. He was suspended by the FHSAA for having improper contact with a transfer player — though he is appealing the decision. Upheld or not, Littles will be back by the end of September and there for the stretch run. 

Booker's new quarterback believes his team will meet whatever challenge it faces. 

"I think we have the best talent pool in the county, if not this side of the state, if not the whole state," Downes said at the Media Day event. "We have a bunch of younger guys and a bunch of older guys. My job, solely, is to get them the ball as much as I can, as efficiently as I can. That is why Booker was such an appealing place for me. Where else are you going to find talent like this?"