Honor Roll: Jaguars honor Super 11, girls flag football players during final home preseason game

The Jacksonville Jaguars honored and hosted the 43rd edition of the Times-Union Super 11 at Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As a part of the NFL Play Football month, the Jaguars’ Foundation and Prep divisions have shined a light on local athletes, inviting them to participate in different pregame and in-game activities at TIAA Bank Field.

More Prep Sports Coverage:

• The Next 11: Northeast Florida high school football prospects in the Class of 2023

• Team Schedules: 2022 Northeast Florida high school football regular season schedules, team by team

• All-First Coast: From baseball to football to soccer to tennis, see complete 2021-22 lists

During the home opening preseason contest against the Cleveland Browns, the Terry Parker football team held the flag during the national anthem and several other programs such as Ed White and St. Augustine were admitted into the game for free.

Saturday’s contest saw local girls flag football players hold the flag during the National Anthem as more than 200 other youth female flag football athletes look on from the endzone. At halftime of the game against the Steelers, the Fleming Island Athletic Association 8U Pop Warner team was featured in an exhibition game against mascots.

The Jaguars held training camp at Episcopal School of Jacksonville’s Knight Campus while construction is being done for their own practice facilities. Episcopal’s football team was able to come out to one of the practices as a featured guest for the team and interact with several Jaguars, including Josh Allen.

“I just think it's encouraging to see the youth level, and really for them to be a part of our guys and for us to kind of rub shoulders with them and see what it's all about,” head coach Doug Pederson said after the game. “Some of these young kids have hopes and dreams to one day be on this stage, and to see our guys do it and what they go through I think can be motivating to them to work hard at it.”

Doubling down on highlighting prep sports, the “First Duval” was delivered before the game by Florida High School Athletic Association’s Executive Director, Craig Damon. Damon was elected to the position in April and is the 11th person to hold the position.

For the contest, the Super 11 selections were invited to watch the game from the east club suites and featured on the jumbotron during halftime. It was a time of fellowship and gave the athletes a moment they won’t soon forget.

Members of the Super 11 have been showing their appreciation for being selected to the elite lineage of Northeast Florida’s best and brightest stars.

In an interview with Sharif Denson, the four-star rated cornerback said it was something he wanted to happen after Bartram Trail drew in three selections ahead of the 2021 season. Now, he’s in the same company as his former teammates.

“It’s just a blessing honestly. I used to see my teammates from last year make it and it’s like — next year is going to be my year and that’s what happened. I’m blessed to be here,” he said.

Linebacker Grayson Howard said he’d accomplished something he’s been working towards since ninth grade year. He’s made several social media posts about the feat, including one from Saturday’s game featuring the players who attended it.

“I was really excited. Me and coach [Christopher] Foy talked about it since he got [to Jackson],” Howard said in early August. “It was always a goal and having achieved it is an unbelievable feeling. Hard work really pays off and with coach Foy it’s easy to do.”

For Treyaun Webb, making Super 11 means he’s keeping it in the family. Exactly 20 years since his older cousin, Dee Webb, made the historical group, Treyaun is a marquee running back in the state and a staple of Northeast Florida high school football.

And he’s following his cousin’s path with the Florida Gators.

“My signing year, 2023, it’ll be exactly 20 years since he signed with Florida,” Treyaun said in an interview with the Times-Union during July. “It’s a 20-year anniversary between me and him on our signing period. I’m pretty sure that’ll make the papers. That’s kind of cool, 20 years later and now I’m going to Florida, too.”

Meet the 2022 Super 11 Selections

The Times-Union Super 11 is annually compiled ahead of the high school football season to honor the 11 senior players in Northeast Florida who’ve attained the most college recruiting interest during their playing careers.

This year, the promotion of the Super 11 drew inspiration and paid homage to the 1948 Leaf Trading Cards set with graphic illustrations done by photographer Corey Perrine. A unique graphic resembling a trading card was created for each player, with a bio and feature story accompanying the daily release on our website and in print.

Click the links below for the stories on of each of the 2022 Super 11 members. Players are listed alphabetically by school:

Bartram Trail, Sharif Denson: Lockdown corner carving out a path to college football elites

Bolles, Connor Cox: Bolles' star looking to become latest star TE on the first coast 

Jackson, Grayson Howard: The numbers game is in Jackson's favor this season

Fleming Island, Samuel Singleton: Speeding his way into an elite echelon of high school football

Mandarin, Jeremiah Shack: Early lessons guided star receiver to Super 11 selection 

Middleburg, Mike Mitchell: Mitchell looking to run past expectations during senior season

Nease, Marcus Stokes: From shadows to stand out, Nease QB calls own shot

Orange Park, Roderick Kearney: The social media mogul who'll give you the work on the field

Trinity Christian, Treyaun Webb: Trinity star still has goals to check off before signing off 

William M. Raines, Kenton Kirkland: All in the family, Kirkland's establish Duval legacy

Westside, Jordan Hall: Westside's first Super 11 selection since 2006 makes impact for Wolverines

Juston Lewis is a sports reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @JustonLewis_.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Super 11 players honored by Jacksonville Jaguars