Canterbury's Brent O'Neal Is a Very Big Fish in a Small Program

ST. PETERSBURG – How important is Brent O'Neal to the Canterbury School's football squad? Very.

The bruising running back very likely will be the school's first Division-I college football player next year. He has The Citadel, Florida International and Wake Forest among his suitors.

But it's more than that. With the Crusaders in the middle of what could be the school's first playoff run, O'Neal means just about everything to Canterbury.

The Crusaders' win over Carrollwood Day in St. Petersburg recently was a good example of why O'Neal is invaluable.

Early in the game between the two rivals, O'Neal scored on a 61-yard run. Later, with the score tied late in the game and Carrollwood Day mounting a drive, O'Neal picked off a Duece Gruden pass (son of former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden) and returned it to midfield. 

On that drive, O'Neal scored from 20 yards out for the winning score.

"Sooner or later, we knew he was going to make plays," Carrollwood Day coach Lane Mclaughlin said of O'Neal.

O'Neal finished the night with 270 yards rushing. In short, O'Neal took over the game.

It's ironic that a player with the talents of O'Neal would play at Canterbury. There are far larger schools with legitimate state championship hopes that O'Neal not only could start for, but star for.

O'Neal admits he and his family have talked about that very subject. 

Canterbury "is a better fit for me academically," O'Neal said. "Playing for other schools, yeah, it would be awesome to run behind a huge offensive line."

O'Neal is soft-spoken. He doesn't much like to talk for himself. He lets others – and his feet – do the talking.

"He's the best running back in Pinellas County, and I think he's the best running back in the Tampa Bay area," Canterbury coach Bill Jones said.

Hard to argue.