District play opens for most teams this week and the biggest matchup Friday night will be in Class 6A at Lake Nona (4-1). The Lions, ranked No. 8 in the Sentinel’s Super 16 Coaches Poll, renew a rivalry with No. 11 St. Cloud (3-1).
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Those two teams met twice last year, with St. Cloud winning the regular-season game that allowed the Bulldogs to go on and win the district title. But Lake Nona got its payback, eliminating St. Cloud in the first round of the playoffs in a 29-0 rout.
St. Cloud coach Mike Short says revenge can be a motivating factor, but also said his team has a district title to defend.
“That’s the easy thing that we’ve kind of talked about, that we split last year, but at the end of the day, we’re the defending champ. So they have to beat us to take that away from us,” Short said. “But I have really told the kids that last year is last year. That team is gone. Those kids who played last year are off at college.
“These are two totally different teams this year. They look totally different. Their quarterback play is a lot better. They’re defense is more dynamic. Revenge is an easy motivator, but not one that we have used this week. I’m excited. This is one of those games I have had circled since November 13th last year.”
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Short ramped up the early portion of St. Cloud’s schedule this season with more difficult opponents, including a trip to play at Marietta, Georgia, where the Bulldogs lost to former Edgewater coach Cameron Duke’s team 42-7. St. Cloud also played Osceola, defeating the Kowboys for the first time in 20 years, and went overtime to beat a tough South Sumter squad.
“I feel like we’re battle tested with some hard games and tough competition,” Short said.
St. Cloud is also coming off a bye week, which Short hopes helped his squad prepare.
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“We set it for a good week and not just to prepare for Lake Nona,” Short said. “We’ve played a bunch of hard games and had travel. And with some of that stuff, you need a week to kinda recharge and reset and take care of some boo-boos and ouchies. We should be pretty fresh.”
There are several other big district matchups this week. Class 6A features another doozy at No. 10 Edgewater (2-2), where the Eagles will host undefeated No. 4 West Orange (5-0). The Warriors feature a high-flying offense with area touchdown passing co-leader AJ Chung, who has thrown 17 TD passes.
Edgewater will, once again, be without standout running back Jahmari Hammonds, who suffered a high-ankle sprain in a Week 2 loss to The First Academy. He has not played since. Coach Patrick Browning said it will probably be two to three weeks before Hammonds is ready.
Also opening district play, in 6A, No. 1 DeLand (3-1) will host Spruce Creek (4-1). Undefeated Seminole (5-0) hosts Apopka (2-3). No. 13 Lake Brantley (2-3) plays at No. 12 Lake Mary (1-3). Hagerty (2-1) is at Winter Park (2-3). In 4A, No. 3 Jones (2-1) plays Kathleen (0-4) in Lakeland and Bishop Moore (3-2, 1-0), which opened district play last week, hosts Deltona (2-2).
District champions earn automatic berths into the FHSAA state playoffs.
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Week 6 Football Schedule
All games are set for 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Teams are listed with their win-loss record in parenthesis. District records are included for teams that have played a previous district game:
Thursday’s games
Liberty (1-3) at Windermere (3-2)
Harmony (1-4, 0-1) at Tohopekaliga (3-1)*
Gateway (4-0) at Nova Lakes (2-3)
Friday’s Super 16 games
Spruce Creek (4-1) at No.1 DeLand (3-1)*#
No. 3 Jones (2-1) at Kathleen (Lakeland) (0-4), 7:30 p.m.*
No. 4 West Orange (5-0) at No. 10 Edgewater (2-2).*
Apopka (2-3) at No. 5 Seminole (5-0)*
Deltona (2-2) at No. 6 Bishop Moore (3-2, 1-0)*
No. 7 Oviedo (3-2) at East River (0-5).*
No. 11 St. Cloud (3-1) at No. 8. Lake Nona (4-1)*
No. 9. Evans (2-3) at Lake Minneola (1-4).*
Lake Gibson (2-2, 0-1) at No. 12 Osceola (2-3, 0-1)*
No. 13 Lake Brantley (2-3) at No. 12 Lake Mary (1-3)*
Cypress Creek (1-4) at No.15 Innovation (5-0)
No. 16. Ocoee (2-2) at Horizon (2-3)*
Friday’s other games
Hagerty (2-1) at Winter Park (2-3)*#
East Ridge (3-2) at Celebration (0-4)*
Lake Howell (3-2, 1-0) at Lyman (1-4, 0-1)*
Dr. Phillips (2-2) at Olympia (2-3)*
Timber Creek (2-2) at Boone (2-2)*
Colonial (2-3) at Lake Buena Vista (0-5)
Freedom (2-2) at University (Orlando) (3-1)
Poinciana (3-2, 1-0) at Winter Haven (3-1, 1-0), 7:30 p.m.
Mainland (1-2) at Orange City University (1-3)*
Pine Ridge (0-4) at Matanzas (0-4)
Leesburg (0-4, 0-1) at Mount Dora (1-3, 0-1)*
Hardee (5-0) at Umatilla (2-3)
Eustis (1-3) at South Sumter (4-1), 7:30 p.m.*
Villages Charter (4-0) at Tavares (3-1)*
Wekiva (2-3) at South Lake (0-4)*
Mount Dora Christian (3-1) at Master’s Academy (3-2), 7:30 p.m.
Orangewood (4-1) at Lake Highland Prep (2-2), 6 p.m.
Trinity Prep (2-2) at Windermere Prep (2-2), 4:00 p.m.
Cornerstone Charter (2-2) at Geneva School (3-2)
Legacy Charter (0-6) at CFCA (2-2)
Boca Raton Christian (5-0) at Faith Christian (0-3)
Zarephath Academy (0-4) at West Oaks (2-3), 6 p.m.#
Friday’s 8-man games
Calvary Chapel Academy (4-0) at City of Life Christian (1-2)
Eastland Christian (0-0) at Riverview Academy (0-4), 6 p.m.
Four Corners (0-0) at First Academy-Leesburg (3-2)#
Lake Mary Prep (1-4) at Merritt Island Christian (5-0)
Real Life Christian (3-1) at Ocala Christian (1-4)
*— denotes district game.
# — Winter Park game at Showalter Field, DeLand at Spec Martin Stadium, First Academy-Leesburg at Sleepy Holllow Sports Complex, West Oaks at Northwest Recreation Complex in Apopka.
OPEN DATE: The First Academy (Orlando), Foundation Academy, Innovation, Oak Ridge, South Lake, Winter Springs.
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Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.