With spring football—and the 2024-25 athletic season— wrapped up, head coaches said that for the most part they accomplished everything they wanted to in the allotted 14 practices.
“We never place any emphasis on the scores of spring games,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said after his team defeated Windermere, 7-0, and lost to Edgewater, 14-0, in halves last Thursday.
Osceola after playing for the Class 6A state championship last year, has to replace 17 graduated starters and key reserves. But the Kowboys have always clicked ‘reload’ rather than rebuild, and 2025 should be no different.
“Offensively, we have some playmakers to replace,” Pinellas said, noting UCF signee and 6A state player of the year Taevion Swint. “This spring, we had to hold Jeff Sinophat out after surgery, but transfer Jaxson Hardnett (Tohopekaliga) looked good running the ball.”
Although the Kowboys offensive line took a big hit with the graduation of Connor Howes (Ole Miss), the line same line got a boost when former Dr. Phillips massive tackle and rising junior Masen Price (6-7, 345) transferred in; as well as the return of rising senior Marcus Ferrer.
Defensively, Osceola used the spring game to build depth.
“We rotated 12 defensive linemen, seven linebackers and eight defensive backs. Everyone got a lot of work and although we did lose a lot of talent, I believe the defense can once again be the strength of our team,” Pinellas added.
Although Harmony’s spring game against East Ridge was played under game conditions, “new old coach” Don Simon also said he wasn’t scoreboard watching.
“The varsity played a just a few plays more than a half, so we weren’t concerned too much with the final score,” the veteran coach said. “It was more important to get the younger kids some experience.”
Simon returned to Harmony’s sideline after two years as Tohopekaliga’s Athletic Director and noted that he could not have been happier with the way his offense and quarterback Landon Hayes have picked up a new system.
“It’s pretty much the same one I used before I left, but it is new to these kids.” Simon noted, adding rising junior fullback Nicholas Bertolani has looked good all spring, as has senior running back Jackson Munns.
Harmony’s defensive line performed well this spring and Simon said that phase of the game would be a key moving into fall camp.
“We got some really good pressure up front in the spring game and that something that we are going to need next fall,” he noted. “Although I like our secondary, we’re not very deep back there and the D-line can do a lot to take some pressure off of those guys.”
St. Cloud looked impressive in its jamboree, dominating both Viera (21-7) and Leesburg (210). The Bulldogs have found an answer to replacing the departing record-setting quarterback Logan King, as rising sophomore transfer Jeremiah Lattier from Lake Minneola threw four TD passes as the Bulldogs showed a quick-strike offense.
“It’s tough to complain about scoring too fast but I sort of wished we could have sustained some longer drives,” Short said.
Defensively tackle Tristan Burnish and Steve Stephens were solid up front and transfer linebacker Chase Gilbert (Tohopekaliga) had a big game, as did the secondary—which Short called the “strength of the defense” heading into spring ball.
Celebration wrapped up its spring sessions with a 6-3 loss to Haines City.
“I thought we played pretty well on defense. The field goals were not live so, you don’t know whether they would have been good under game conditions,” Storm coach Chris Blanton said. “Offensively, we still have a lot of work to do on finishing drives.”
Look for QB Landon Yaw, QB/WR Sean Nuzzi and WR Kobe Orr to spur the Celebration offense this season; while solid two-way player DE/TE Justin Berry should also be a top player this fall.
“I think we took some positive steps in building an identity last year,” Blanton said of his first season at the Storm helm. “We have a long way to go, but want to continue to build off of that momentum.”
Under first year head coach Janko Beras, Liberty took on Teneroc and Mulberry in a jamboree, playing Mulberry to a 0-0 tie and beating Teneroc, 7-0.
“Solid effort especially on defense,” Beras said after the game. “We’re have a lot of young kids playing but they came into the spring with a great attitude and they have an understanding of how we want to run things.
“We will play a lot of sophomores and juniors this season. The key will be their continued development. We’ve made some great strides over the last year in changing the culture of Liberty football, we just need to keep it moving in that direction.”
Gateway lost to Williston, 140, and beat Oak Ridge, 14-0, in jamboree halves. Veteran coach Marlin Roberts cited the play of Nydrell Thigpen and Nathaniel Cadogan—who each scored against Oak Ridge.
“It’s been a tough five years for Gateway football,” Roberts said. “But I really have enjoyed and appreciated the effort and commitment of these kids this spring. We lost some close games last year, we did win four times and I believe that we are on the cusp of respectability again.”
