CELEBRATIONS
FORT PIERCE CENTRAL’S SCORES 1970-1971
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1970
Preseason Jamboree at Citrus Bowl in Vero Beach
Fort Pierce Central 20, Melbourne Central Catholic 0
Fort Pierce Central 12, Vero Beach 0
REGULAR SEASON 9-1
Fort Pierce Central 18, Satellite Beach 0
Fort Pierce Central 20, Lake Worth 0
Fort Pierce Central 26, Riviera Beach Suncoast 24
Fort Pierce Central 14, Winter Haven 20
Fort Pierce Central 30, Martin County 8
Fort Pierce Central 22, Delray Beach Atlantic 6
Fort Pierce Central 22, WPB Twin Lakes 15
Fort Pierce Central 34, WPB Forest Hill 8
Fort Pierce Central 48, Merritt Island 6
Fort Pierce Central 28, Vero Beach 6
STATE PLAYOFFS
Fort Pierce Central 28, Orlando Oak Ridge 0
Fort Pierce Central 26, Tallahassee Leon 7
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Fort Pierce Central 22, Miami Edison 44
1971
Regular season 10-0
Fort Pierce Central 8, Delray Beach Atlantic 7
Fort Pierce Central 19, Lake Worth 0
Fort Pierce Central 21, Riviera Beach Suncoast 16
Fort Pierce Central 13, Winter Haven 6
Fort Pierce Central 26, Palm Beach Gardens 0
Fort Pierce Central 36, Lake Worth John I. Leonard 7
Fort Pierce Central 38, WPB Twin Lakes 14
Fort Pierce Central 14, WPB Forest Hill 0
Fort Pierce Central 27, Merritt Island 25
Fort Pierce Central 20, Vero Beach 6
STATE PLAYOFFS
Fort Pierce Central 8, Winter Park 0
Fort Pierce Central 14, Miami Norland 13
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Fort Pierce Central 29, Tampa Robinson 13
1972 FORT PIERCE CENTRAL YEARBOOK, HAMADRYAD
Head Coach Calvin Triplett gestures from the sideline during a game in that
1971 championship season while assistant coaches Phil Farinella, left, and
Ed Tuttle, center, sporting the wide ties of the day, watch the action.
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RUSTY DURHAM PHOTOS
In 2011, 40 years after the state championship season, players from the
early Fort Pierce Central High School football teams convinced county
leaders to dedicate the football field at Lawnwood Sports Complex
to their head coach, Calvin R. Triplett. The players also funded an engraved
granite marker honoring their outstanding coach and mentor.
included Cobbs, Mark Goodwin, Van Anderson and Justin
Ritchie, who was named Florida Lineman of the Year by the
Orlando Sentinel.
The 1971 defense was stocked with outstanding players,
including linemen Don Latimer, a sophomore, and Edwards,
a junior. Joining them on the line were end Phillip Jenkins
and tackle Earl Richardson. Zinter was the leading tackler
and was named All-State.
Zinter, a retired Realtor living in Port St. Lucie, is humble
about his high school football honors.
“When you have Eddie Edwards and Don Latimer in front
of you taking players out, you get to make a lot of tackles,”
Zinter said. His grandson started in the recent season at offensive
guard for the University of Michigan Wolverines, one
of the top teams in the country.
In 2007, Edwards and Don Latimer were named two of
the top 100 high school football players in state history by
the Florida High School Athletic Association. Edwards was
the third player picked in the entire 1977 NFL draft and was
a key member of the Cincinnati Bengals Super Bowl team
after the 1981 season. He retired as the Bengals’ all-time sack
leader. Latimer was picked in the first round in 1978 by the
Denver Broncos.
Robbie Jenkins started on offense, as tight end, and was
part of a robust linebacking corps that included Zinter, Lee
and Greg Pressley.
COACH HIGHLY REGARDED
Before the 1969 season, St. Lucie County school leaders
were able to entice a 46-year-old former Winter Haven High
School football coach named Calvin Triplett to come to Fort
Pierce to take over the head coaching job at Dan McCarty.
The World War II veteran whose feet froze in the Battle of the
Bulge knew that he was going to a place where two schools