Sam’s spring football stops: Lake Buena Vista High

Week 3 of the high school spring football session means one thing: Strap on your helmet and shoulder pads; it’s time for spring football games. 

In West Orange and Southwest Orange, six teams went out on the gridiron to see how the work they have put in this spring measured up against another team, West Orange High hosted Lyman High, Lake Buena Vista High went to Ocoee High, Windermere Prep traveled to Trinity Prep, Dr. Phillips High faced Winter Park High, and Olympia High went on the road to Oviedo High. 

The team featured in this edition of Sam’s spring football stops is Lake Buena Vista High.

More from Sam's spring football stops: Dr. Phillips High | The First Academy | Foundation Academy | Olympia High | West Orange High | Windermere High | Windermere Prep

Lake Buena Vista High

2023 record: 5-4

Coach: Brant Peddy, second season

Key returners, additions: OL/DL Jonathan Robinson, ATH Micah Winslow and LB Sean Adekunle

In its spring game against Ocoee High, the Vipers lost 28-7. But for coach Brant Peddy and his Vipers, this spring wasn’t about topping its Class 7A opponent in a meaningless spring game. It was about establishing a culture.

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No. 1: Year Two for Peddy is about growth

With most of its players lining up on both sides of the ball, this season’s Lake Buena Vista team is going to have to push itself and that’s exactly what Peddy wants to see out his team.

“The biggest thing is there’s not a whole lot of us,” Peddy said. “We’ve got a little over 35 kids. That’s not a whole lot of depth, but the biggest thing for me is that this spring, we saw our guys just go out there and give effort. We wanted to see them fight, finish and not stop. That’s the biggest thing with us — discipline.” 

No. 2: It’ll be a three-way battle for starting quarterback 

In its spring game, Lake Buena Vista played three quarterbacks — Max Imber, Stoly Cenemat and Thomas Restrepo. Each brought a different flavor to the position, but regardless of their performances, Peddy won’t make a decision until the fall. 

“It’s an open competition,” he said. “We won’t know who’s going into the QB1 slot until the fall. So, we’re just going to keep getting better.”

No. 3: Independent schedule could see a more even slate for Vipers

Like Windermere High, Lake Buena Vista is an independent program for the next two seasons — meaning it won’t play in an FHSAA district nor be eligible to play in the playoffs. 

The schedule that comes with independence means the Vipers may have an easier run of competition in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. 

“We play a lot of great teams in that independent schedule,” Peddy said. “We’re all right there; I feel like we’re all even. But you know, they all have great coaches, they have great players, I just hope that we can keep doing what we do and keep giving effort. Hopefully, we can compete with those teams and maybe we can sneak in a win or two (in) there somewhere.”

Sam Albuquerque is the Sports Editor for the Orange Observer. Please contact him with story ideas, results and statistics.

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Twitter: @SamBAlbuquerque

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