By Kyle Coppola
Lake & Sumter County High School Football Scores 10.14.22
District Games! Playoffs On The Line! What A Week!
So many playoff implications on the line! See how your local High School team did this weekend as we gear up for playoff runs!
The Bulldogs have nothing to hang their heads over in this game. Holding Lake Highland to 28 points is no easy feat and this game was a lot closer than people think. MDCA had some moments in the game where we believed an upset May be brewing but The Highlander’s just proved to be too much for the Bulldogs. MDCA now moves to 3-3 on the season with another game against Masters Academy on Tuesday. This is a delayed game due to Hurricane Ian so MDCA has to prepare quickly against a Masters Academy team that’s also sitting at 3-3 this season. The Highlanders continue their perfect season and are now 6-0 as they get set to take on Saint Andrew’s who are 5-2 next week.
Eustis got a much needed win tonight. The win gives the Panthers their second win of the season and they are now 2-4 on the year. As for Umatilla this was a tough loss and they came up just short. Eustis has a game against Lessburg next week which could potentially lead to another win. Umatilla faces a tough road ahead with games against Lake Weir, The Villages and Bronson to finish the year.
South Sumter moves to 8-0 on the season and are closing in on the perfect season. This was an easy win for the Raiders. They were never challenged. QB Eian Finkley had a nice evening as did RB Jamare Dorsey and Kaden Payne. This team is on an absolute streak of carnage right now. South Sumter heads into a bye next week. They then have 2 easy games at the tail end of the season that are winnable. Look for The Raiders to be well rested as they look to finish off their perfect season later this month.
This is a program defining win for The Hurricanes! A win against a powerhouse like The Villages has this team on rails! Mount Dora now moves to 5-2 on the season! If you haven’t been following along Mount Dora has averaged 2 wins per season for the past 15 years. This is such a big win and Luke Hutchinson a first year coach for The Hurricanes has completely turned around this fledgling football program. The entire team from QB Matthew Butler to top 5 running back in the state Dante Johnson-Turner absolutely obliterated the defense of the Buffalo and sent The Villages packing. The Buffalo are left scratching their heads after what was certainly a shock to this program. They have struggled all year long. The entire team offensively and defensively struggled to maintain any momentum and it crushed them. For The Villages another cross town rivalry awaits as they face Wildwood next week in shah should be a heck of a game. It always is between those two schools. As for Mount Dora they will likely be playoff bound if they win out which is highly likely at this point. The Hurricanes get an easy matchup against a struggling Tavares team next week.
Lake Minneola decimated the defense of South Lake. We knew this could be a lopsided affair coming into this one. The Hawks improve to 6-1 on the season and likely will win out the rest of the season. They do have a game against a very improved Forest team next week but The Hawks look playoff bound. Great week for Lake Minneola. As for South Lake it’s been a tough season. They now sit at 0-7 and have some upcoming games that should be more competitive.
Really tough district loss for Leesburg. They now sit at 2-6 overall this year and the playoffs likely just slipped from their grasp with this loss. We can only hope they can muster the strength to finish he season strong. As for Belleview this is a huge win. They aren’t in the playoffs yet but if they win out and win the district they will likely make it.
Vanguard had one stellar night offensively and it’s something Tavares couldn’t quite match. Offensively Tavares has struggled this season but defensively it’s been a nightmare of a season. Tavares does have some winnable games coming up a the tail end of the season. It’s been over a year since Tavares last won a football game so something has to give at some point.
Forest has looked really good the past few weeks. This program has been completely turned around d since the beginning of the season. As for East Ridge this is another tough loss for this program. Hurricane Ian had a big impact on The Knights schedule. They were still feeling the brunt of that this week. The Knights have some winnable games at the tail end of the season.
This was a very easy victory for a Wildcat team that has looked dominant in recent weeks. Jefferson County had nothing for Wildwood who proceeded to dismantle them in the first half. Thats pretty much all she wrote as The Wildcats easily went on to take the victory. The Wildcats will get an ailing Villages team at home next week. This is a rivalry game so expect The Villages to give Wildwood a contest but if we are looking at statistics, Wildwood has a big advantage going into this game.
It was a great weekend of games that had many playoff implications. Only 3 weeks now remain in the regular season! Who will find themselves in the playoffs and who will find themselves packing up gear for the winter? We will have a full breakdown with game highlights and statistics on Monday so keep your eyes out for that!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
