Merritt Island Mustangs Offensive Lineman Gabe Arnold Commits to Western Kentucky University

Mustangs will open the season against Deltona

I want to thank God first of for this opportunity and keeping me on the right path. And I’m glad to say I committed to Western Kentucky University!@CoachMurray47 @BHerring60 @Coach_Shaq_ @CoachZLankford pic.twitter.com/dQt3HPsVW0

— Gabriel Maximus A Arnold (@GabrielArnold0) August 4, 2023

Merritt Island finished 6-5 last season and is ranked sixth in the Space Coast Daily-Friday Night Locker Room 2023 Brevard High School Football Preseason Top 7 Power Rankings – see the full story and complete 2023 prep football schedule below.

BREVARD COUNTY • MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA – Merritt Island Mustangs offensive lineman Gabe Arnold committed to play college football at Western Kentucky University.

The 6-foot-6-inch offensive tackle had multiple offers and chose Western Kentucky over Florida International, USF, and Marshall to name a few.

Arnold is entering his senior season, the Mustangs will open the season with a Kickoff Classic contest Aug. 18 at New Smyrna Beach, and will open the regular season Aug. 25 at Deltona.

Merritt Island finished 6-5 last season and is ranked sixth in the Space Coast Daily-Friday Night Locker Room 2023 Brevard High School Football Preseason Top 7 Power Rankings – see the full story and complete 2023 prep football schedule below.

Below: Cocoa, Rockledge Lead SCD–FNLR 2023 Brevard High School Football Preseason Top 7 Power Rankings

ABOVE VIDEO: Cocoa Tigers head football coach Ryan Schneider sat down with sports editor Juan Rodriguez for a one-on-one interview from the Space Coast Daily studio in Cocoa. Ranked first in the SCD–FNLR Power 7 Ranking, the Tigers enter the 2023 season as the defending state champions and look to repeat this season. The Tigers will be put to the test early with matchups against programs like St. Thomas Aquinas, Jones, and Venice to start the season. With the consistency and improvement, we have seen year in and year out from the Tigers. You can expect another strong season this year for Cocoa.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The Space Coast Daily–Friday Night Locker Room team released the 2023 Top 7 Power Preseason Rankings for Brevard County high school football.

This is the 29th season of high school football coverage for the principals of Space Coast Daily and the Friday Night Locker Room – brought you by Erdman Automotive, Health First and All Points.

The 2023 season is filled with talented student-athletes all across Brevard County and many are being sought after some of the best college football teams across the country. You can see the full 2023 Space Coast prep football schedule below.

With many decisions to be made by numerous athletes on where to pursue their college dreams, the Space Coast Daily – Friday Night Locker Room team is your go-to source for the latest announcements and commitments made by the athletes.

SEE THE FULL 2023 PREP FOOTBALL SCHEDULE BELOW.

2023 Brevard County High School Football Top 7 Power Ranking:

■ 1. Cocoa Tigers: The Tigers enter the 2023 season as the defending State Champions. Cocoa will look to repeat this season and will be put to the test with early season matchups against programs like St. Thomas Aquinas, Jones and Venice to start the season. With the consistency and improvement, we have seen year in and year out from the Tigers. You can expect another strong season this year for Cocoa.

■ 2. Rockledge Raiders: The Raiders finished their 2022 campaign 9-3 overall and fell short in the second round of the playoffs. That’s a good season for most programs but it doesn’t cut it for the expectation set by the Rockledge faithful. Rockledge enters this season with arguably the best defense in the county led by 4-star safety Jaylen Heyward and UCF commit DJ Mccormick. With the culture Coach Wayne Younger has instilled in his football program they’ll be in the mix for the top spot throughout the season.

■ 3. Eau Gallie: Last year we saw the Commodores bounce back from a down season back in 2021 where they finished 3-7. Coach Sands led his team to a 7-4 record in 2022 and a playoff appearance for the second time in three seasons. With Eau Gallie trending in the right direction, and the amount of talent on their roster. The Commodores should have a strong 2023 campaign.

■ 4. Heritage Panthers: Heritage spent the offseason revamping its football program after a 5-5 season in 2022. Panthers will be led by first-year head coach Mykel Benson who was recently the team’s offensive coordinator. Heritage has several transfers that will play a big role this year in Clemson commit Adam Kassayi and Isaiah Cordero who both came from Bayside. Quarterback Joseph Tenta looks to have a career year as he enters his junior season. This team has the chance to surprise a lot of people in 2023.

■ 5. Palm Bay: The Pirates went through a coaching change this off-season. Palm Bay made an in-house hire by promoting Space Coast Sports Hall of Famer Dan Burke to Head Coach of the program once again. spent the last few seasons as defensive coordinator for Palm Bay. The team finished 8-4 in 2022, with a change at head coach and some key pieces moving onto the next level. It is hard to put the Pirates ahead of the other teams listed above.

■ 6. Merritt Island: The Mustangs finished last season 6-5 under first-year Head Coach Tyler Murray. With a second season under the current leadership, Merritt Island will likely be much higher on this list down the line. The Mustangs will have a good opportunity early on with 4-straight home games to start the season.

ABOVE VIDEO: Coach John Holmes and the Titusville Terriers football team hit the weight room this summer. The Friday Night Locker Room’s Orville Susong and Steve Wilson talk with Coach Holmes and a couple of the players.

■ 7. Titusville: Titusville will be entering its second season under Heach Coach John Holmes. The Terrier made a tremendous leap in 2022 after finishing the season 1-10 the season before. Last season the team finished 7-4 overall along with a playoff berth. Coach Holmes and the Terries will look to build off last season’s success and continue to establish a culture at Titusville High School.

JUST MISSED THE CUT:

■ Melbourne Bulldogs

■ Melbourne Central Catholic Hustlers

■ Satellite Scorpions

This year’s coverage on Space Coast Daily TV will once again feature a dynamic broadcast lineup that was the first official media entity to bring prep football play-by-play coverage on radio and TV to Brevard County.

The Space Coast Daily – Friday Night Locker Room principals and broadcast team have more than 100 years of experience covering youth and high school sports in Brevard County.

Space Coast Sports Hall of Famers Steve Wilson and Orville Susong of the Friday Night Locker Room will once again bring you all the live action from the broadcast booth. In addition, Tom Palermo, Jim Palermo, Giles Malone, Zach Clark, Juan Rodriguez, Ron Lighthall, Terry Spain, Matt O’Hern, Gavin Keith and Brian Dillon will anchor or produce play-by-play broadcasts this season.

Don’t miss these live sports broadcasts featuring cutting-edge coverage on the streaming Space Coast Daily TV, along with player interviews, replays, highlights, pre-game and post-game analysis, and much more!

Space Coast Daily’s Professional, Experienced and Dedicated Staff Provides Brevard’s Most Trusted News and Sports Coverage

The Space Coast Daily team brings you the very best Brevard County news and sports coverage. This is the fourth decade of high school sports coverage for the principals of Space Coast Daily and the Friday Night Locker Room.

In 1997, Dr. Jim Palermo, now Editor-in-Chief of Space Coast Daily, and Tom Palermo, now Space Coast Daily president and publisher, called the first-ever Brevard County high school football game on the radio.

From 1997 through 2000, the Palermo brothers called high school football action on WMEL and below is a clipping promoting the broadcasts out of the August 26, 1999 edition of Space Coast Press newspaper, which was owned and published by Tom Palermo. Gannett purchased the Press from Palermo in July 2000.

“One of the most memorable moments during those years was when we broadcast the Palm Bay – Dillard 2000 state championship game back to Brevard from the Swamp in Gainesville,” said Jim Palermo.

Dan Burke’s Palm Bay Pirates defeated Dillard 10-6 to win the 6A title that year.

The Palermo’s turned over the reins of the broadcasts to the Friday Night Locker Room team beginning in 2001. Since then, the Friday Night Locker Room hasn’t missed a beat as Steve Wilson and Orville Susong begin their 22nd full season broadcasting prep sports on the Space Coast.

In 2012, Space Coast Daily and the Friday Night Locker Room forged a partnership to bring Brevard County a one-of-a-kind comprehensive, cutting-edge multimedia youth and high school sports coverage, including football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, track and field, wrestling, bowling and more.

Ever the innovators, the Space Coast Daily – Friday Night Locker Room team provided Space Coast sports fans the first web live streams and Facebook Live play-by-play action and are dedicated to being the preeminent purveyor of multimedia sports coverage on the Space Coast for many years to come.

Space Coast Daily excels across all mediums, including social media, the web, print and grassroots events, such as the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame, which Space Coast Daily founded in 2011.

SEE THE FULL 2023 PREP FOOTBALL SCHEDULE BELOW.

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2023 PREP FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Astronaut War Eagles

2022 Record: 2-8

August 18 – @ East River
August 25 – MCC
September 1 – @Sebastian River
September 8 – @ Merritt Island
September 15 – New Smyrna Beach
September 22 – Satellite
September 29 – Palm Bay
October 6 – @ Winter Springs
October 13 – Space Coast
October 20 – @ Cocoa
October 27 – @ Titusville

Bayside Bears

2022 Record: 4-6

August 17 – Sebastian River
August 25 – Palm Bay
September 1 – Holy Trinity
September 8 – Open
September 15 – @ Rockledge
September 29 – Satellite
October 6 – @ Viera
October 13 – @ Merritt Island
October 20 – Eau Gallie
October 27 – @ Jensen Beach
November 3 – @ Heritage

Cocoa Tigers

2022 Record: 11-3 (reigning state champs 2-S)

August 18 – @ Satellite
August 25 – @ Jones
September 1 – Venice
September 8 – @ St. Thomas Aquinas
September 22 – Eau Gallie
September 29 – Treasure Coast
October 6 – Seminole
October 13 – @ Titusville
October 20 – Astronaut
October 27 – Palm Bay
November 3 – @ Rockledge

Cocoa Beach Minutemen

2022 Record: 6-3

August 18 – @ Orangewood Christian
August 25 – @ Holy Trinity
September 1 – Foundation Academy
September 8 – Taylor
September 22 – Halifax Academy
September 29 – Windemere Prep
October 6 – St. Edward’s
October 13 – Out of Door Academy
October 20 – MCC

Eau Gallie Commodores

2022 Record: 7-4

August 18 – Titusville
August 25 – @ Springstead
September 1 – @ Bishop Moore
September 8 – Winter Haven
September 15 – Satellite
September 22 – @ Cocoa
September 29 – @ Merritt Island
October 6 – Flagler Palm Coast
October 20 – @ Bayside
October 27 – Rockledge
November 3 – @ Melbourne

Heritage Panthers

2022 Record: 5-5

August 18 – @ Jensen Beach
August 25 – @ Satellite Beach
September 1 – Palm Bay
September 8 – Centennial
September 14 – @ Oviedo
September 22 – Merritt Island
September 29 – @ Viera
October 6 – @ Central
October 13 – @ Melbourne
October 27 – Harmony
November 3 – Bayside

Holy Trinity Tigers

2022 Record: 6-5

August 25 – Cocoa Beach
September 1 – @ Bayside
September 15 – @ Merritt Island
September 22 – @ @Father Lopez
September 29 – @ Halifax Academy
October 6 – Space Coast
October 13 – MCC
October 20 – @ American Heritage
November 3 – Calvary Christian

Melbourne Bulldogs

2022 Record: 9-3

August 18 – Lake Brantley
August 25 – @ Titusville
September 1 – @ Merritt Island
September 8 – Satellite Beach
September 14 – Orange Park
September 22 – @ Tohopekaliga
September 29 – Harmony
October 6 – @ Palm Bay
October 13 – Heritage
October 27 – @ Viera
November 3 – Eau Gallie

Melbourne Central Catholic Hustlers

2022 Record: 2-8

August 18 – Atlantic
August 25 – @ Astronaut
September 1 – @ Space Coast
September 8 – Cypress Creek
September 15 – @ Viera
September 22 – St. Joseph Academy
September 29 – @ Father Lopez
October 6 – @ Mount Dora Christian Academy
October 13 – @ Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy
October 20 – Cocoa Beach
October 27 – Halifax Academy

Merritt Island Christian Cougars

2022 Record: 6-4

August 18 – Old Plank Christian Academy
August 25 – @ Donahue Catholic
September 1 – @ City of Life Christian Academy
September 7 – @ Florida School for the Deaf & Blind
September 15 – @ Calvary Chapel Academy
September 22 – Geneva
September 29 – Master’s Academy
October 6 – Liberty Christian Prep
October 13 – Hernando Christian Academy
October 20 – Lake Mary Prep

Merritt Island Mustangs

2022 Record: 6-5

August 18 – New Smyrna Beach
August 25 – Deltona
September 1 – Melbourne
September 8 – Astronaut
September 15 – Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy
September 22 – @ Heritage
September 29 – Eau Gallie
October 13 – Bayside
October 20 – @ Rockledge
October 27 – @ Satellite
November 3 – Eustis

Palm Bay Pirates

2022 Record 8-4

August 25 – @ Bayside
September 1 – @ Heritage
September 8 – Harmony
September 15 – Titusville
September 22 – @ Central
September 29 – @ Astronaut
October 6 – Melbourne
October 13 – @ Sebastian River
October 27 – @ Cocoa
November 3 – Satellite

Rockledge Raiders

2022 Record 9-3

August 18 – Carrollwood Day
August 25 – @ Seminole
September 1 – @ Duncanville (TX)
September 8 – @ Viera
September 15 – Bayside
September 22 – @ Osceola
September 29 – @ Trinity Christian Academy (JAX)
October 13 – @ Satellite
October 27 – Merritt Island
October 27 – @ Eau Gallie
November 3 – Cocoa

Satellite Scorpions

2022 Record 5-6

August 18 – @ Cocoa
August 25 –  Heritage
September 1 – Viera
September 8 – @ Melbourne
September 15 – @ Eau Gallie
September 22 – @ Astronaut
September 29 – @ Bayside
October 6 – @ Seabreeze
October 13 – Rockledge
October 27 – Merritt Island
November 3 – @ Palm Bay

Space Coast Vipers

2022 Record 1-9

August 18 – Atlantic
August 25 –  @ Lake Howell
September 1 – @ MCC
September 8 – Holy Trinity
September 15 – @ Cocoa
September 22 – Tohopekaliga
September 29 – @ Titusville
October 6 – @ Palatka
October 13 – Astronaut
October 20 – Palm Bay
November 3 – @ Satellite

Titusville Terriers

2022 Record 7-4

August 18 – @ Eau Gallie
August 25 – Melbourne
September 1 – @ Yulee
September 8 – Celebration
September 15 – @ Palm Bay
September 22 – Fleming Island
September 29 – @ Space Coast
October 6 – Calvary Christian Academy
October 13 – Cocoa
October 20 – Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy
October 27 – Astronaut
November 3 – @ Viera

Viera Hawks

2022 Record 0-10

August 18 – @ New Smyrna Beach
August 25 – South Fork
September 1 – Satellite
September 8 – Rockledge
September 15 – MCC
September 22 – @ Baker County
September 29 – Heritage
October 6 – Bayside
October 13 – @ Harmony
October 27 – Melbourne
November 3 – Titusville

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