By Dean L. Smith
Herald Staff
Only a miraculous second half rally by Lake Mary kept Seminole County from suffering a losing Week 1 in the 2025 High School Football Season.
It was beginning to look like Opening Night was going to be an extremely strange for the locals as the top three programs from the past few seasons, Lake Mary High, Oviedo and Seminole, were all trailing big at halftime.
But behind All-American Senior Quarterback Noah Grubbs, an amazing defense that pitched a shutout in the second half and a monster Special Teams play on the game’s final play, the host Rams (1-0) erased a 29-7 halftime deficit to pull out a 30-29 victory over powerful Miami-Norland, the 2023 Class 2M state champ.
The guests led 13-0 before Grubbs, a Notre Dame commit, got Lake Mary on the board with a touchdown pass to Barrett Shulz.
Norland answered right back with a long drive for a score, a pick 6 and a field goal to make the score 29-7 at intermission.
But it was all Rams in the second half as Grubbs sandwiched two more scoring strikes to Shulz with a quarterback sneak for a score. Those three TD’s and a 2-point conversion left Lake Mary down by one with 46-seconds left.
Rams veteran coach Scott Perry eschewed the tie in favor of going for the lead and it worked out in another 2-point conversion that gave the hosts the lead.
Despite very little time on the clock Norland was able to get down to the 20-yard-line and lined up for a game-winning 27-yard field goal attempt.
But for the second time in the game, the Rams were able to block a kick as Richie Crouse III came right up the middle and got a big mitt on the ball to send the crowd into a frenzy. Ashton Sylvain had earlier blocked a crucial extra point kick.
Things did not go as well for the other two powers, as Seminole (0-1) was blanked for the second week in a row, they were humbled by Jones in the Kickoff classic, falling to Georgia powerhouse Creekside, 32-0, while Oviedo (0-1), which had beat Lake Mary in its Kickoff Classic, ran into a buzzsaw in Bishop Moore Catholic and were outscored, 68-35.
The other big surprise came in Altamonte Springs where host Lake Brantley (1-0) gave new Head Coach Garrett Kruczek, who moved over from 2-time defending Sunshine State Athletic Association Champion The Master’s Academy, a monster win in his debut, 75-0, over rival Lyman (0-1).
Sophomore quarterback Jackson Stecher, who came over from TMA with Kruczek, was perfect on the evening, going 8-for-8 passing for 202-yards and four touchdowns before departing.
Lake Brantley, which led 41-0 after the first quarter, also got three rushing touchdowns and three defensive touchdowns to avenge losses the past two years to the Greyhounds, 28-12 in 2023 and 27-0 last year.
Hagerty (1-0) also got off to a strong start against a county rival, rolling over Lake Howell (0-1), 40-21, behind five touchdowns from junior quarterback Royce Jenkins.
The Huskies, who led 26-0 at halftime, got three passing touchdowns from Jenkins, who was 14-17 for 241-yards, and two rushing TD’s from the new signal-caller, who carried the ball 12 times for 87-yards.
Winter Springs (1-0) got off to a fast start as it goes looking for its second straight winning season, whitewashing visiting Pine Ridge (0-1), 34-0, on the strength of five rushing touchdowns, three by Omar Scott and one each from Tristen Raines and K’Drien Bullard.
The Sunshine State Athletic Association schools had actually started their seasons last week and Orangewood Christian became the first local team to go to 2-0, finishing strong to pull away from Pierson-Taylor, 37-20, on Thursday night.
The Rams led just 21-20 with four minutes left in the third quarter before rolling up three touchdowns in the final 16 minutes. Jack Benson ran for three touchdowns, Grayson Hilinski also ran for a score and Tre Roach tossed a 21-yard scoring strike to Ian Steuber.
In other games, Trinity Prep (0-2) fell to powerful Central Florida Christian Academy and 37-9 and The Geneva School (0-2) was outscored, 42-23, by Lecanto-Seven Rivers Christian in the Knights’ second game as an 11-man football team.
Lake Mary Prep (1-0), which plays 8-man football, had the week off.
Here are the Week 1 results:
Thursday, August 21
* Orangewood Christian 37, Pierson-Taylor 20.
Friday, August 22
* Bishop Moore Catholic 68, Oviedo 35.
* Central Florida Christian Academy 37, Trinity Prep 9.
* Creekside, Georgia 32, Seminole 0.
* Hagerty 40, Lake Howell 21.
* Lake Brantley 75, Lyman 0.
* Lake Mary 30, Miami-Norland 29.
* Lake Mary Prep was idle.
* The Master’s Academy 43, Father Lopez Catholic 20.
* Winter Springs 34, Pine Ridge 0.
Saturday, August 23
* Lecanto-Seven Rivers Christian 42, The Geneva School 23.
Here is the schedule for Week 2:
Friday, August 29
* Orlando-Boone High School at Hagerty High School, 7 p.m.
* Celebration High School at Winter Springs High School, 7 p.m.
* Orlando-Faith Christian School at The Master’s Academy, 7:30 p.m.
* Lake Brantley High School at Orlando-East River High School, 7 p.m.
* Lake Howell High School at Bunnell-Flagler Palm Coast High School, 7 p.m.
* Lake Mary High School at Kissimmee-Osceola High School, 7 p.m.
* Lyman High School at Orlando-Tohopekaliga High School, 7 p.m.
* Orangewood Christian School at Winter Garden-Cornerstone Christian Academy, 7 p.m.
* Clermont-Real Life Christian Academy at Lake Mary Prep, 6:30 p.m.
* St. Augustine-St. Joseph Academy at The Geneva School, 6:30 p.m.
* Seminole High School at Palm Bay-Heritage High School, 7 p.m.
* Tampa-Sickles High School at Oviedo High School, 7 p.m.
* Windermere Preparatory School at Trinity Preparatory, 7 p.m.
