The FHSAA revealed the set-up for its new Independent Football League on Wednesday and at first glance, it appears that Windermere and Mount Dora Christian are likely favorites in the two-tiered lineup.
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The new league, which consists of teams that declared their intention to compete separate from that of the FHSAA district competition, will compete for postseason play from within two “Pools.” Pool A (teams with more than 900 enrollment) and Pool B (teams with less than 859) are divided into North and South divisions in each.
The teams will vie for 16 playoff spots, eight in each division, and the postseason qualifiers will be determined by the MaxPreps power rankings. The seasons will culminate with championship games at The Villages on Dec. 4. Schools are not limited to regular-season competition within the new Independent League, although some independent teams are limited in scheduling, like some teams within Orange County Public Schools. Independent OCPS schools must face at least seven OCPS Independent foes. Windermere is excluded, and will only face one independent team — Orlando Freedom — this season.
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The other OCPS Independent teams are Colonial, Cypress Creek, Innovation, Lake Buena Vista, Oak Ridge and University.
Windermere, led by fifth-year coach Riki Smith, will be putting its 20-game winning streak on the line as it heads into a season full of much more difficult competition, with the likes of 2025 playoff teams Edgewater, Dr. Phillips, St. Cloud and Winter Park on the schedule. Based on rankings from the end of last season, Windermere enters as the highest-ranked team in the Independent Pool A.
The Wolverines, coming off back-to-back 10-0 seasons, were ranked 111 at the end of last season, and were the highest-ranked team among all of the 78 Independent League teams.
Smith is quick to point out, however, that those are last year’s numbers and with the ramped-up schedule this season, things could be a lot different for the Wolverines.
“I think it’s part of the growth process, maturation process here at Windermere High. We’re playing a really tough schedule,” Smith said. “I told the players this week that true growth comes from adversity,” Smith said. “Adversity is coming. Hard is coming. So, just embrace the moment and we’re gonna attack it one day at a time and the goal is to qualify for the postseason.”
He does know, however, that the upgraded schedule will give Windermere an added boost in the rankings due to its schedule strength.
“I think it’s part of the growth process or maturation process for Windermere football,” Smith said. “If you look back to my first year, we were 2-8. We’re just building and you can’t skip steps. This is the next step.
“I’m excited now that it’s official. I’ve always wanted the players to have an opportunity to play in the postseason, and we’re thankful for that,” said. Smith, who’s back-to-back 10-0 teams did not have postseason options the past two years. “I’m thankful for that.”
Smith said the team’s hashtag for this season is #TheOcean.
“I told the kids we were in the Butler Chain (of Lakes) and we ate all the fish in the Butler Chain,” Smith said. “Now, they’re taking the shark out of the Butler Chain and dropping it in the ocean. The difference between the lake and the ocean is that there’s carnivores in there, there’s high tides, the temperature of the water changes, you can’t see the land, you don’t know what’s beneath you, so for us moving forward, it’s a challenge.
“I just told the kids to think of it as an opportunity to (face) these elite teams and become battle-tested and then qualify for the Independent playoffs.”
Mount Dora Christian finished last season 12-2 and with the second-highest ranking of all Independent teams at 143 and is the highest-ranked team among those in Pool B.
The Bulldogs moved back into FHSAA play after three seasons in the Sunshine State Athletic Association, in which they played for the 11-man championship a year ago. MDCA lost to Jupiter Christian in the final 41-19.
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Fifth-year coach Kolby Tackett likes the new league, which was a big reason why the Bulldogs opted to return to FHSAA play, although he still said he thinks the separation by enrollment is an antiquated philosophy.
“I think throwing out enrollment as a measuring stick and just using MaxPreps rankings, in my opinion, that probably would have provided a little bit better competitive balance,” Tackett said. “I don’t think your enrollment dictates how good you are. Like First Academy is a 2A school by enrollment, but they can beat anybody in the state any given day.
“Enrollment is not what it used to be. In the transfer world, it’s a lot different.”
He did, however, say he thought the association did a good job dividing the teams based on its criteria.
“They did decide to go with (enrollment) and, yeah, I thought it was good. I think they did a good job listening to the needs,” Tackett said. “We’re really excited about it because we’re back under the FHSAA umbrella, which ultimately, is what we wanted to be. That was the easy motivator for us.”
Tackett welcomes the target on the Bulldogs backs, although he said it doesn’t really change things for his team.
“We definitely noticed that and I also know there are a lot of teams who might have a lower ranking, but I know what they’ve done this offseason and I know the kids they’ve brought back and developed, so I expect a few more teams to be cranked up and ready to go,” Tackett said. “I don’t put a lot of stock into (the rankings). You gotta play the games to figure out where you are.
“It’s been a change of pace here. We’ve always embraced the hunt and now I guess we’re more of the hunted. It’s been a shift in thinking but we don’t change up what we do. We’re kind of boring.”
Like Windermere, MDCA has also had a good run. Tackett is 49-20 at MDCA heading into his seventh season.
“Mount Dora Christian presented a really good picture here of what I felt was like Tennessee and Georgia, to where we have alignment. My president wants football to be good, and our head of school wants football to be good,” Tackett said of one of the smaller schools in the FHSAA, with about 270 enrollment 9-through-12. “It’s a team effort to be able to continue to have success. We take pride in that we’ve got 55 guys out for varsity football right now and 45 out for JV. Our numbers have never been better.
“Our goal is to have every boy at our school playing football and we’re dang near close to it.”
Tackett also takes pride in his ability to keep kids around, which is a huge task in this transfer era.
“In the last four years here at Mount Dora Christian, we have not lost a kid to a transfer,” Tackett said of his 17 fourth-year seniors. “We’ve added some kids, but we have not lost a single kid to a transfer.”
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Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.