PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – When you take a look at the Ponte Vedra offensive line, you can’t miss the big guy at center. That’s Jake Guarnera who played in his final regular season game for the Sharks Friday night.
“Our team and our bond is really something that put us over the top this year,” Guarnera said.
Guarnera says the team has had a steady progression over the past four seasons.
“It’s been awesome, I mean first year we had a couple ups and downs,” Guarnera said. “I had a good first half of the season, but wasn’t able to finish through. Last two to three years we’ve just been working to this moment trying to win a state title.”
Now the 6-foot-4, 285-pound offensive lineman will continue playing football in college.
“I’m just really blessed to be in the spot that I am right now and I think that all the hard work that I put in kind of shows that my projection to the next level,” Guarnera said.
This past April, he committed to the University of Michigan.
“I thought that the development there and the relationships I had with other commits was something I couldn’t find anywhere else,” he said.
Guarnera will be returning to the north where he is from (he grew up in New Jersey). Guarnera will follow in his father’s footsteps playing in the Big Ten East. His father played for Rutgers University and then played for the San Francisco 49ers. Guarnera plans to early enroll at Michigan in January.
“I think I’m just trying to take it all in right now,” Guarnera said. “You know, two more months left so I’m trying to enjoy my senior year.”
Guarnera has not always been an offensive lineman. He started playing football when he was 5 years old and he was in fact the man under center.
“Yeah, I was pretty fast back then, this is in flag football when I was younger,” Guarnera said. “Now I’m kind of bigger, a little bit slower.”
When Guarnera started tackle football he became an offensive and defensive lineman. Then decided to focus on offensive line when he started high school football.