A couple of former high school football standouts from Orlando took to the big stage on Thursday night as a matchup between Top-25 teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference was featured on national television.

No. 20 Miami dominated No. 14 Georgia Tech, 33-17, in front of their home crowd.

Joe Joseph

Former Oak Ridge four-year starter Joe Joseph (Class of 2005) helped Miami’s defensive unit hold the Yellow Jackets’ rushing attack to just 95 yards on 39 attempts. Feeling the effects of that effort while lined up on the other side of the ball was former Dr. Phillips all-purpose running back Embry Peeples (Class of 2008).

Joseph is an experienced redshirt senior tackle and one of several defensive linemen who are rotated in and out for the Hurricanes. His massive size (6-3, 304 pounds) has been used to plug up the middle over the past three seasons, where as a sophomore and junior he compiled 42 tackles (13 for loss) and was in on four quarterback sacks. A career high of nine total tackles came at Florida State in 2007 while four solo tackles were recorded twice so far in his college career (against FSU and at Georgia Tech in 2008).

Peeples is a sophomore A-back (slot player in an option attack used to carry the ball, run-block or go out for a passes) who is considered an “extremely fast player and an elusive back” that may one day be returning kicks for the Yellow Jackets. Born in Miami, the 5-10, 173-pounder earned the first start of his collegiate career against Jacksonville State during the opening weekend of the 2009 season after playing in eight games as a freshman (and missing five with an ankle injury.) His best statistical outing came on Sept. 20, 2008 against Mississippi State when he took six carries for 56 yards and scored his only touchdown. For the season he averaged 6.9 yards per carry on 14 attempts.

More on Joseph –

Coached by current Timber Creek Defensive Coordinator Marc Jackson, Joseph made 68 total tackles (nine for loss) as a senior at Oak Ridge, which helped him rank as the No. 32 defensive tackle in the nation by Rivals.com. On Thursday night he meet Georgia Tech running back Jonathan Dwyer at the line of scrimmage in the second quarter for his only tackle of the night. He later celebrated in front of ESPN cameras on the sideline near the end of the fourth quarter. Joseph also had one tackle in Miami’s Week 1 win over No. 18 Florida State.

Embry Peeples

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Coached by current DeLand Head Coach Kevin Pettis and current Olympia Head Coach Bob Head, Peeples fought through injuries his senior year at Dr. Phillips to average over six yards a carry after running for eight consecutive games of 100 yards or more as a junior. Ranked as the No. 38 all-purpose back in the nation by Rivals.com, he ended his freshman year at Georgia Tech with two carries against LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. On Thursday night his lone carry of three yards, in the second quarter, ended with a helmet-removing hit by a defender. Later that quarter a pass sent in his direction hit the ground before reaching its target.