CLEWISTON- The Clewiston High School football program is entering the 2023 season under the leadership of a new head coach.

In March CHS hired Andrew Powell as the new head coach of the Clewiston football program. Powell is a former Tiger and played football in Clewiston under head coach Al Morrell and Pete Walker on both the offensive and defensive lines.

During his three seasons with the program the Tigers had a 28-13 record. Powell was ranked one of the top linemen in the state, earning all-league and all-district awards. After graduating from Clewiston Powell attended college at Mississippi State, where he played on the defensive line. He closed out his collegiate career starting 11 of the 12 games he played. He was a free agent signing of the Baltimore Ravens in 2007, and spent time with the Green Bay Blizzard arena football team.

The Clewiston defense held Okeechobee scoreless for the first half. [Photo by Richard Marion]

The Tigers will officially hit the field for the first time when they host Benjamin in the kickoff classic on Aug. 18. The Clewiston faithful will get a good preview of the team during that preseason game before the regular season begins in earnest when the Tigers host the Key West Conchs on Aug. 25.

Clewiston’s first road game of the season will be against a very good Sebring team on Sept. 1. It’ll be a rematch of a game from last season that Sebring won 20-10. That game was certainly winnable for the Tigers, but mistakes an self-inflicted errors by Clewiston ultimately let Sebring secure the win.

Clewiston shares a district with Lake Placid, Avon Park and Hardee. Last year the Tigers swept all three teams to go 3-0 in the division. Lake Placid will be the only district game held in Clewiston this season, with the Tigers battling the Dragons on Oct. 13. Both Hardee and Avon Park will host the Tigers on Sept. 29 and Oct. 27, respectively.

A few Tigers made an appearance at Heartland Media Day on July 27. [Photo courtesy CHS Athletics]

Of course the final game of the regular season is the traditional rivalry game against the Okeechobee Brahmans on Nov. 3, which will be held in Clewiston this year. The rivalry has been historically one-sided, with the Tigers usually getting the best of the Brahmans. Last year’s game saw Clewiston take a 38-21 win.

The Brahmans were down  24-0 at halftime and it looked like the game was headed towards a blowout win for Clewiston. But Okeechobee managed to makes things interesting in the third quarter by scoring two touchdowns to make it 24-14. Ultimately, Clewiston’s Chauncy Cobb was able to put the game away in the fourth quarter for the Tigers.

Clewiston hosts the Benjamin Buccaneers in the kickoff classic at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 18 at Cane Field.