Dec. 16, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. - Mike Cullison was the starting quarterback for the first game in UCF's football history as the then-Golden Knights downed St. Leo's on Sept. 22, 1979. He threw the school's first touchdown pass (a 13-yard toss to Bobby Joe Plain) and scored the school's first rushing touchdown as well, leading UCF to its first-ever win. Cullison is about to get reacquainted with setting school firsts on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Now the head coach at Sanford's Seminole High School, Cullison will take his team to its first-ever state championship game on Saturday night as the Seminoles (12-2) face defending state champion Miami Northwestern (13-1) for Florida's 6A title, the highest classification in the state.
The contest will be played at the Florida Citrus Bowl, the same field Cullison roamed as UCF's starting quarterback for the 1979 and 1980 seasons. Cullison went 8-2-1 as UCF's starter at what was then known as the Tangerine Bowl and hopes some of that magic will carry over to Saturday night. Seminole battled valiantly just to make it to the Florida Citrus Bowl for the upcoming championship game against Northwestern. The team rallied from a 10-0 halftime deficit, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 44 seconds remaining, to defeat Boone 21-17 in the state semifinals this past Friday night.
"I'm really excited for Mike," UCF head coach George O'Leary said. "He's been a great ambassador and friend of this program since the day it started. I wish him the best of luck on Saturday night."
Cullison has been a fixture on the Florida high school coaching ranks since his graduation and, in addition to Seminole, has served as the head coach at Olympia, Jones and Palm Bay.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.