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The First Academy (Fla.) wins finale over Lakeland with eighth grader at QB

IMG_8358by: Andy Villamarzo11/01/25Andy_Villamarzo

The First Academy quarterback Anthony ‘Deuce’ Woods Jr. just had himself a night.

Haven’t heard of the signal caller? You probably haven’t because the 13-year old signal caller has seen very limited time on the field. Woods Jr’s coming out party happened on Friday night against Florida’s No. 18 ranked Lakeland Dreadnaughts at Bryant Stadium. Oh and by the way, Woods Jr. is an eighth grader.

In the Royals’ 35-28 double overtime win over the Dreadnaughts, Woods Jr. led the way with a strong performance in significant playing time, completing 19 of 21 for 255 yards and three touchdowns.

“This was a first for me and I believe all of us on our staff,” The First Academy head coach Jeff Conaway said.

“It’s very uncommon to have a young man in eighth grade, 13 years old that is physically prepared to play at the high school level, but even more uncommon to be mentally, emotionally, spiritually prepared to play at that level and Deuce (Woods Jr.) is special.”

For Woods Jr., it wasn’t the first time the quarterback has seen the field as the youngster saw the field in the Royals 41-40 loss to The St. James Academy (Va.). The eighth grader against the Strivers completed five passes for 55 yards and a touchdown.

When it comes to interest from colleges for the 6-foot-3, 185-pound quarterback is already there as Woods Jr. has offers from Miami (FL) and Syracuse.

The First Academy finish the season with a 5-5 record after playing a national schedule, which included the likes of nationally ranked IMG Academy in the preseason and St. Frances Academy (Md.). Conaway touched on his team’s first season playing a national schedule and finishing on a good note.

“We feel like we’re close,” Conaway said. “In football, it doesn’t matter if you’re close, it’s either a win or a loss. We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We lost those games, but we did receive a little bit of confidence in that. We know we’re close.”

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