Maurice Frost Jr. signed to play at the Naval Academy.

The Bloomingdale football program had a busy National Signing Day (early signing period) with four players signing to play college football. Maurice Frost Jr. (Navy), Dominic Gonnella (North Dakota State), Gabe Jones (Davidson) and Quinton McCoy (Illinois) are all going to play at the next level.

Receiver Maurice Frost Jr. signed to play at the Naval Academy.

“There’s a brotherhood, a family, and the people there, the culture and the history behind it, it’s amazing,” Frost said.

He plans on going into the medical corps and will serve his five years of military duty after school.

“I’m so grateful for this opportunity. It’s breathtaking, because this has been my dream since I was little,” Frost said. “I’m actually moving on and going to a D1 school that is top 25. We are on the map.”

Dominic Gonnella signed to play at North Dakota State University.

Running back Dominic Gonnella is going to play for the most accomplished FCS program in North Dakota State University.

“I’m happy and I’m proud of myself and my teammates for making it this far and putting in the extra work to get to where we’re at,” said Gonnella.

He wants to get better every year and see where that takes him. His main goal is to go pro after college.

“I want to thank Bloomingdale, because I feel like that step of coming here helped me a lot and put me in a position to sign and make it to where I can choose where I want to go,” he said.

Gabe Jones signed to play at Davidson University.

Linebacker Gabe Jones battled back through two ACL reconstruction surgeries to sign at Davidson University.

“Growing up, football honestly wasn’t a big dream of mine,” said Jones. “I got to high school and fell in love with the sport and knew that I wanted to do it at the next level. My main passion has always been medical school, and Davidson has a great pre-med program, so I can follow both of my dreams at the same time.”

Jones wants to get reps as a freshman and battle for a starting job, while keeping up with academics. He eventually wants to go to Duke Medical and become an orthopedic surgeon.

Quinton McCoy will play for Coach Lovie Smith at the University of Illinois.

Defensive tackle Quinton McCoy will play for Coach Lovie Smith at the University of Illinois.

“I’ve been working since I was a kid to achieve this and being able to choose means everything to me,” he said.

He has lofty goals and expectations for his football career, wanting to make All-Big 10 First Team and eventually going pro. He will study business management.

“I’m excited to be here and can’t wait,” said Jones.

Frost, Gonnella, Jones, McCoy and the rest of the 2020 class will leave Bloomingdale as the winningest class in school history with 33-13 overall record, setting a precedent for the program.

“They are going to be missed, and I appreciate everything they have done for us,” said Bloomingdale Head Coach Jake Coulson. “That group of kids bought in and never questioned, you knew they were going to put in what they needed to do to be successful. These guys set the bar, and so we just need to keep it going.”

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Nick Nahas
Nick Nahas has written for the Osprey Observer since 2016. He has lived in the Valrico area since 2002 and has his bachelor’s degree in mass communications from the University of South Florida. He is dedicated to covering sports in Hillsborough County at every level.