STARTING TO BELIEVE: Lake Buena Vista Vipers turning the page

The Lake Buena Vista High School football team currently owns its first winning record since the team first took the field in 2021.

The Vipers have looked dominant this year, with two shutouts (Gateway Aug. 25 and Cypress Creek Sept. 29), and they got the best of Windermere, 12-7, in a tough defensive battle. Lake Buena Vista’s only loss came Sept. 8 at the hands of Freedom, 24-7.

“These kids work hard, and they deserve everything they got, and we are not done,” head football coach Brant Peddy said. “I hope people still keep writing negative things about us and about the other teams when we win. That just gives me plenty of bullet points to keep these kids level-headed and humbled — and show them that it’s just us and nobody else.” 

Senior quarterback and inside corner Tyson Tran, 17, has been a part of the Vipers since its first season. Seeing how much the team has grown over the last two seasons — especially during his last season as a Viper — is exciting for him. 

“It’s been great, because I’ve been here since the beginning but our first year, we didn’t do well at all,” he said. “Then our second year, we started to progress. Then, this year is showing that we actually progressed the last two years and that LBV is going to start to make a name (for itself). I think the players have had more improvement, and they have started to understand the game more and that’s how we have succeeded.” 

Tran started playing football at age 5. The sport piqued his interest after seeing how much his stepfather enjoyed watching the game. 

“They put me in it, and I really started to enjoy it, so I just continued playing football,” he said. 

Despite being Lake Buena Vista’s quarterback, Tran leads the Vipers in rushing yards per game with an average of 130 yards. 

“I took the step to help out my team (as quarterback because) we all agreed that it would be the best option for me to play that position for us to be able to succeed throughout the season,” he said. 

One of the big challenges Tran has faced when improving his play style is to learn how to control his thought process when on the field. 

“It’s controlling the team; it’s understanding how everyone is going to react to what we are doing,” he said. “So, being in that position, there’s a lot you have to think about and overthinking it’s something I have still to work on.” 

This season, Tran has grown alongside his teammates, and one of the big thing the team has been working on is learning how to stay competitive through the four quarters and finish each game. 

“These kids did not know how to finish; they did not know how to compete; they weren’t disciplined,” Peddy said. “They lacked structure and toughness, and that’s something I’ve been focusing on through the four quarters. … We go out there to do our job and not worry about what everybody else is doing — what we can’t control. That’s what we do in practice. We do all that right, and we respect our opponent, and it pays off in the end. I know they are starting to see it, and they are starting to believe it, and that’s the biggest thing.”