District title races rev up Friday night with 14 of the Sentinel Super 16 teams playing games that count in the chase for automatic state playoff berths. FHSAA district champions are guaranteed to make the playoffs.
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The winner of tonight’s West Orange at Edgewater game is in the driver’s seat for Class 6A District 9. Other pivotal games include Spruce Creek at area No. 1 DeLand, St. Cloud at Lake Nona, and Hagerty at Winter Park.
Three games were played Thursday with Tohopekaliga, Windermere High and undefeated Kissimmee Gateway, scoring decisive wins (details below).
We’ll be posting live updates right here once Friday’s games kick off. Check back often.
CHECK HERE FOR SCOREBOARD UPDATES ON ALL GAMES
Go to the Sentinel Varsity home page for news on all high school sports. Games listed are scheduled for 7 p.m. kickoffs unless noted otherwise.
Rankings in bold are from this week’s Sentinel Super 16 coaches poll. Teams are listed with win-loss records in parentheses. Asterisks denote district games. District records are included for teams that have played previous district games:
Marquee matchups
Spruce Creek (4-1) at No. 1 DeLand (3-1)*
Coverage by Chris Martucci
Spruce Creek wins the coin toss and elects to receive. We are just about set to get underway here at Spec Martin Stadium.
Checking in from DeLand. Clear skies, a slight chill in the air. A perfect night for football.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
DeLand romped to a 42-0 win last season and is 26-5 against the Hawks since 2008. But Bulldogs have rushed for 1,128 yards. Taihj Moore has 488 of that.
No. 4 West Orange (5-0) at No. 10 Edgewater (2-2)*
Coverage by Chris Hays
West Orange senior kicker Rodrigo Bigio is injured tonight. So the kicking duties will be up to sophomore Jordan Heffernan.
Beautiful night for Football here at Edgewater.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
They’ve met only three times since 2017, with Edgewater winning those games. The Eagles, seeking their ninth consecutive district title, have lost two regular season games for the first time since 2020.
West Orange quarterback AJ Chung has thrown 17 TD passes, 7 to Yuto Kawamura-Johnson. Both are juniors.
No. 11 St. Cloud (3-1) at No. 8. Lake Nona (4-1)*
Coverage by Ken Jackson
St. Cloud and Lake Nona are greeted with the best weather of the season thus far in tonight’s key 6A District 5 matchup.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
St. Cloud beat the Lions en route to a district title last year. But the Lions got revenge by winning a playoff rematch 29-0.
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Hagerty (2-1) at Winter Park (2-3)*
Coverage by Jean Racine
PRE-GAME NOTES:
Winter Park is 6-1 vs. Hagerty and shut the Huskies out in the two recent meetings (2021-2022).
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Other Super 16 games
No. 3 Jones (2-1) at Kathleen (0-4), 7:30 p.m.*
Jones hasn’t lost a district game to anybody but Edgewater (twice) since 2016.
Apopka (2-3) at No. 5 Seminole (5-0)*
The last time these teams were district foes, Seminole beat the Blue Darters twice in 2023 — including a playoff game.
Deltona (2-2) at No. 6 Bishop Moore (3-2, 1-0)*
Host Hornets look to stretch their three-game win streak. Quarterback Blake McCullough has thrown 16 touchdown passes.
No. 7 Oviedo (3-2) at East River (0-5)*
Oviedo, on a three-game win streak of its own, averages 188 rushing yards and 177 passing yards.
No. 9 Evans (2-3) at Lake Minneola (1-4)*
Evans, which has lost three games by six points or less, beat the Hawks in 2011 and 2012 in their only previous meetings.
Lake Gibson (2-2, 0-1) at No. 12 (tie) Osceola (2-3, 0-1)*
Osceola has lost two in a row and might have to win this to stay in the playoff picture.
No. 13 Lake Brantley (2-3) at No. 12 (tie) Lake Mary (1-3)*
Lake Mary spanked the Patriots 51-17 en route to its big-school state championship last year.
Cypress Creek (1-4) at No. 15 Innovation (5-0)
Innovation is No. 1 in the FHSAA Independent League rankings.
No. 16 Ocoee (2-2) at Horizon (2-3)*
Horizon moved up to the big-school class (6A) this year and plays Ocoee for the first time.
Thursday games
Gateway defeats Nova Lakes 42-0
Gateway continued its historic start to the season, moving to 5-0 for the first time since the school opened in 1985. Running back Nydrell Thigpen also continued his torrid pace, running for 200 yards or more in his third straight game. Nova Lakes is 2-4.
Thigpen had 202 yards and scored five touchdowns, making him the Orlando-area leader in TDs with 12. Thigpen has 963 yards in five games. Johnny Reyes also scored and had 72 yards rushing.
Senior defensive end Tavian Martinez had a big game with 5 sacks and 12 tackles, and the Panthers had 9 sacks as a team. Rocco Demando had 11 tackles and 3 sacks, Dylan Dingle had 11 tackles and a sack for a safety and Yannis Dowd had an interception.
Windermere defeats Liberty 55-0
Jabari Anderson rushed for 3 touchdowns and over 100 yards and Dean Munroe passed for 3 touchdowns and ran for another as Windermere moved to 4-2. Liberty is 1-4.
Week 6 Football Preview: St. Cloud, Lake Nona clash in week of district openers
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at [email protected]. Steve Gorches contributed to this report.
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