PLANTATION, FLA. (WSVN) - Two local South Florida football players from the same high school are headed to play for the Buckeyes.
When their high school playing days come to an end, a pair of American Heritage Patriots, Mark Fletcher and Brandon Inniss, are set to take their talents to Ohio State University.
“It’s gonna be great, you know, I have my brother with me,” said Fletcher. “I’m just happy we both excelled in this football things. It’s crazy, it’ll be great, and it’s gonna be a great experience for both of us. We’ll just give the Ohio people a little South Florida flavor.”
Fletcher and Inniss have known each other since the age of 9.
“We’ve been playing against each other, and now we’re playing with each other. To me, [Fletcher] is the best back of the nation. I mean, he comes in every day in here and goes to work. I mean, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us,” said Inniss.
The two young men are the best prospects in their positions, and their high school coach, Mike Smith, thinks they are both complete packages.
“Having guys like that makes the job really easy,” said Smith.” They’re special players, and they’re playmakers. The example they set for the younger guys, you know, it’s a blessing to have guys like that.”
Inniss believes what they do on the field is going to speak a lot about South Floridians.
“We’re gonna be household names up there because we already know what we can do on the field, but just helping people off the field, that’ll even get us more attention off the field, things like that,” he said.
Although representing their home state is important to both Fletcher and Inniss, it was Ohio State’s coaching staff and the university’s rich history of producing NFL talent that won them over.
“Because they have running back coach Tony Alfred, that’s a big part of my recruitment,” said Fletcher. “He sat me down and showed me things I never even thought of or seen before. I just took the leap.”
Both players have big dreams to make it to the NFL.
“It’s been a dream of mine since I was 7. Me picking Ohio State was the best decision, for me and my family, to get to that goal,” said Inniss.
In the future, the Miami Hurricanes might try to flip the two Patriots, but for right now, they seem to be committed to Ohio State.
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