Nease wide receiver Maddox Spencer, one of the state’s leading pass catchers, has been voted the ITG Next Florida Male Athlete of the Month for October 2023. Based on his on-field play in September, Spencer received 83.90% of the possible votes over three additional finalists: Wakulla quarterback Haden Klees, Ocoee linebacker Michael McClenton, and Lake Mary quarterback Noah Grubbs.
For a Nease program that sits at 4-3 overall in Class 4S-District 4, the impact Spencer has made as a receiver is evident. Through seven games, Spencer has compiled 55 receptions, which he has turned into 969 yards and 11 touchdowns to rank among Florida’s top pass catchers. Spencer also has completed 2 passes at quarterback, good for 26 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“He’s had a major impact,” Nease head football coach Collin Drafts said. “We knew he was going to be our top receiver coming in, but just the way things have worked out, he’s been playing so well that we’re really kind of force-feeding him the ball. Up to this point, it hasn’t really mattered too much if teams try to double-cover him or not. He’s getting his touches and doing a phenomenal job, so our offense is really flowing through him, and he’s been the catalyst for our success this year on offense for sure.
“He was a sophomore last year, and we knew he was going to be good, but he didn’t come into the year as our No. 1 receiver,” Drafts added. “We were going to target him repeatedly, but as the season wore on, by the third or fourth game we realized pretty quickly that he was going to be our guy. He was able to rack up a little over 700 yards, with a majority of that coming in the second half of the season, so that success he had as a sophomore helped his confidence and he realized he can play with anybody. You can tell he has a mindset about him when he takes the field Friday night, that he feels like he can’t be stopped, and that obviously helps him in his performance.”
Included in Spencer’s strong season was an impressive September in which he was one of the state’s most productive wide receivers. The month began with his best game of the 2023 season so far: a season-high 302 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 receptions.
The following week, in Nease’s 48-6 win over Ridge Community on September 8, Spencer had 4 receptions for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had another impressive showing on September 15, totaling 9 catches for 119 yards and a touchdown in a 27-21 loss to Fletcher.
The Panthers returned to the win column on September 22 with a 21-14 victory over Orange Park, with Spencer posting another one of his more impressive outings of the season, compiling 11 receptions for 175 yards and 2 TDs. He concluded the month on September 29 with a 6-reception performance for 91 yards and a touchdown in a 21-14 win over Sandalwood.
Across those five games, Spencer had 44 receptions for 789 yards and 8 touchdowns, and he made a big impact for the Panthers offense overall.
“When you know you have a dude like Maddox where you can always have him as a fall back, it’s a game-changer,” Drafts said. “That definitely helps the quarterback’s confidence, and also helps the other receivers as well, because we can only throw him the ball so much, and teams are ultimately going to gameplan to stop him. You can’t double-cover everybody, though, so if they’re double-covering him, somebody else is going to pop open and we’ve had some other guys step up.
“Everything we’re doing formationally starts with Maddox,” Drafts added. “We can draw a formation up on the board and know where he’s going to be, and the defense has to adjust to that. Step one is how can we get him the ball, and step two is once they overcompensate for him, where does the ball go next? It makes game planning a lot of fun, and it makes calling plays a lot of fun when you have really good players like Maddox Spencer.”
As the season continues to roll on, Spencer only continues to get better. This means one thing, not only for the remainder of the year, but also for the 2024 season at Nease: the junior receiver is no longer flying under the radar.
“We’re looking forward to playing for a district championship,” Drafts said. “Maddox knows that he’s going to have to continue to get better week after week for us to reach that goal. As good as he’s played, there are still areas of his game where he can improve, and he knows that, so we challenge him week-in and week-out as a coaching staff to try to get the most out of him on the field, and off the field as a leader as well, where he can continue to grow.
“We’re lucky to have him here at Nease. He’s only a junior, so we’ve got all of this and next year. Next year’s going to be even more of a challenge for him, because he’s definitely not going to be flying under the radar any more. Everybody is going to know where No. 14 is moving forward for this year and next year.”
Congratulations to Nease wide receiver Maddox Spencer, the ITG Next Florida Male Athlete of the Month for October 2023.
