FRIDAY NIGHT FIVE: Windermere football's perfect season is on the horizon

Week Nine of the high school football season in West Orange and Southwest Orange County returned to its regularly scheduled programming of high-level ball without weather-related interruptions. 

With all but one of the 11 originally scheduled Friday night games going off without a hitch — due to transportation issues, Foundation Academy's game was canceled — there was plenty of news, notes and tidbits for Observer Sports Editor Sam Albuquerque to pick from.  

This week's top observation? Windermere High's perfect season is within reach; it just needs to accomplish one more historic feat. 

Let's get into it.

Monday Night Five

No. 1: Windermere's perfect season is on the horizon

The Wolverines are a perfect 8-0, the area's lone remaining undefeated team, and with two games left in the regular season, finishing without a loss is not out of the question — if anything getting to 10-0 seems like an inevitability given how well Windermere has played.

However, despite the Wolverines being able to see that perfect season right across the horizon, Windermere still needs to go on the road in back-to-back games and pull out victories to reach that milestone. 

First, it must go to Innovation High in Week 10, which has managed to have an impressive 5-3 record as a first-year program, then the Wolverines have to do something no other Windermere team has managed to do before: Win the Battle of the Groves by beating its rivals Horizon High. 

Although Horizon (1-7) has been on the opposite side of the spectrum this season, winning its first game of the season this past week, we all know the old adage when it comes to rivalry games — throw the records out, because anything can happen on the gridiron when these two teams line up across each other. 

No. 2: The First Academy proved it's ready to win a state championship

In a conversation with a friend linked to the Royals program, he told me that he would have laughed at the idea that this team would have reached Week 10 of the season with a 7-1 record — especially considering the murderer's row of a schedule TFA had in its 2024 path. 

I told him after seeing them a few times during spring and fall camp, I expected the Royals to have a 5-3 record at this point. 

After the Royals took down Central Florida powerhouse Seminole High (6-2), 36-25, not only is it obvious that both of us underestimated just how good this team is, but I'm also ready to say something I've thought for a little while: The First Academy will beat whichever team is its way — probably South Florida's Chaminade-Madonna Prep — to win the FHSAA Class 1A state title.

Photo by Sam Albuquerque

No. 3: Dr. Phillips loss to Edgewater wasn't as bad as score suggests

45-18 is an ugly scoreline; no one is going to debate that. But it doesn't tell the whole story behind Dr. Phillips High's Week Nine loss to Edgewater. 

The biggest factor to consider when evaluating what happened in this game is rust. Thanks to Hurricane Milton, the Panthers had to reschedule their Class 7A, District 9 game against East Ridge in Week Eight, leading them to go into this game without playing a competitive game in 17 days — something coach Rodney Wells feared going into one of DP's toughest games of the season. 

That rust flipped the script on its head, and in Edgewater's favor, early in the game during a nightmare first quarter that saw Dr. Phillips go down 17-0 and have to play catch up all night. 

I'm not trying to make excuses for the Panthers or take anything away from the Eagles; they dug themselves in that hole and didn't play well enough to pull themselves out of it. What I am trying to say is this: From my vantage point on the sideline, I didn't see a Dr. Phillips team that was getting dominated by a superior opponent. What I saw was two near-evenly matched teams duking it out, with one of those teams being forced to play out of structure due to uncharacteristic mistakes in the opening quarter.

No. 4: Horizon wins first game of the season 

After a 5-5 finish last year and a 7-3 record in 2022, the 2024 season hasn't been ideal for coach Dennis Thomas and his Horizon Hawks football program, as it lost seven consecutive games to start the year. 

However, if you know anything about Thomas and how he builds his team, giving up on the season isn't in their DNA. Led by its always innovative and tricky run game, the Hawks held on to top Lake Minneola (3-5), 35-27, on the road for its first win of the season. With this breakthrough, don't be surprised if Horizon uses this momentum to keep the winning going with a pair of games left in the season. 

No. 5: The 20th Battle for the Shield is going to be fun

The Week 10 slate of games is headlined by one of the most intense, fun and prestigious rivalry games in not just the West Orange and Southwest Orange County area, but in all of Central Florida: The Battle for the Shield, Ocoee High (5-3) at West Orange High (7-1). 

No matter when or where this game is played, it's always one to circle on your calendar, but the 2024 version will have a few more reasons to make sure you make your way to Raymond Screws Field for the 2024 edition. 

First, it's the 20th edition of the game — who doesn't love a good anniversary? Next, both of these teams are good and have talent littered up and down their rosters, and finally, this game determines the District 5 champion. 

This is going to be a whole lot of fun, with even more at stake.