OCALA – If nothing else, Ocala Trinity Catholic head coach John Brantley won’t have to worry about the state of the last line of his defense this fall.
It has already been well-documented that rising senior defensive back Chris “Juice” Johnson (5-9, 185, Ocala, Fla. / Trinity Catholic) is a prospect getting plenty of interest this spring. His ability to contribute as a rover and linebacker for the Celtics earned him first-team all-state honors in Class 2B last fall.
However, he isn’t the only big-time prospect in the secondary for Trinity Catholic.
Enter TyJuan Fray (6-1, 195) who doesn’t have a lot of experience at the prep level, but certainly has the tools to earn some big-time looks from schools this spring and fall.
“Last year was my first season on varsity,” Fray said of his junior year for the Celtics. “I picked up a lot of experience that will help me going into this year.”
Fray described his role for Trinity Catholic that will make him one of the key players on the defense. He is expected to play both free and strong safety this fall.
“I’m going to be back there (at safety) pretty much by myself,” he said. “It’s going to be up to me to help carry the defense in the secondary.”
With an impressive frame that looks to have considerable room to expand, Fray is attractive to schools as player who could stay back at safety or potentially grow into a linebacker in time.
“I’m just building a relationship with schools right now,” Fray said. “But most of them are telling me I can play free safety, strong safety or linebacker. Pretty much wherever I want.”
As a part of the 4×100 relay team which recently took first place in the FHSAA Class 2A state meet in Winter Park a few weeks ago, Fray talked about the effort it took to get Trinity Catholic on top of the medal stand.
“We’ve been working hard since December,” said Fray, who has been timed at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard line and has a bench press max of 300 pounds. “We even spent spring break working on our handoffs and getting things just right. We just went out and took it (at the state finals).”
Getting a chance to work on his speed and conditioning over the course of the spring is something that Fray believes will aid him greatly when the fall rolls around.
“It’s helped a lot as far as not getting tired in the fourth quarter,” Fray noted of the role track plays in helping prepare him for football. “It’s also helped in terms of when I need to run somebody down on the field too.”
With the summer coming around very shortly, Fray hopes to get out and start seeing some of the colleges recruiting him in person. While he has yet to receive an offer, Fray is receiving interest from a number of schools, including Auburn, Boston College, Louisiana-Lafayette, Maryland, South Florida and UCF.
“I’m just going to get out there, start taking some visits to colleges and get ready for the season,” he said.