June 25, 2026
South Lake High Football Returns Experience and Talent in Bid to Repeat as District Champions
By Kyle Coppola
South Lake High Football Returns Experience and Talent in Bid to Repeat as District Champions
Coming off an 11-2 season, a 6A District 6 title, and the school’s first ever appearance in the FHSAA Regional Championship game, South Lake High School enters the 2026 football campaign with one of its most experienced rosters in recent years. They return eight offensive and seven defensive starters under fourth-year head coach Brad Lord. Coach Lord has taken The Eagles from a winless team to a perennial contender in just a few short seasons.
The Eagles will be led by four-year starting quarterback Tre Kelly, who threw for 2,400 yards last season. Tre will have an array of proven weapons surrounding him in the passing game, including returning receivers Cody Mason, Joseph Robinson and Sam Amarista, along with tight end Brian Bedingfield.
Also look for Sam Amarista, Cody Mason, Kyson Cleveland, Brian Bedingfield, Joseph Robinson, Jaivyn Cabrera, Jordan Guerrini, and Willie Dixon to keep the Eagles passing attack on track. Several of those skill players, along with athletes Rome McKinnond and Ahvioume Scott, are expected to contribute on both sides of the ball.
South Lake also returns a strong core on the offensive line with Landon Coning, Andrew Carter and Mark Elder. To replace leading rusher Malik Holman (who departed for Erskine after back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons), the Eagles brought in transfers Sam Wood, Khristian Gustave, Zaide Nance and Nezarian Russell. The group showed promise in spring practice, with Nance rushing for 88 yards in the jamboree and Russell breaking multiple big runs. The Eagles rushed for more than 2,500 yards as a team in 2025.
On defense, South Lake returns playmakers including linebackers Tj Cummings and Jayson Vasquez, defensive linemen Anthony Johnson and Brandon Dipaolo, and a talented secondary. Depth pieces like transfer Latraverick Anderson, rising sophomore Jayden Kaley and multi-positional Brian Bedingfield are expected to bolster the front.
The Eagles also return three-year punter Zaide Nance, one of the top directional punters in Central Florida. Marcello Velez Cortes takes over kicking duties, replacing all-state kicker Chris McKenna, who signed to kick for Southern University.
Coach Lord acknowledged the challenges ahead in a loaded district but expressed confidence in his veteran group.
“We are playing in a very competitive district with Evans, Wekiva, and Lake Minneola,” Lord says. “We are going to have to master Tackling, Blocking, and Execution to compete for the district championship. We have a lot of experience returning and if we become one unit and have one heartbeat we believe we can compete for the district championship and make a deep playoff run. With the competitive schedule that we created we will have to be resilient and very physical.”
South Lake starts their season in just under two months with a pre-season game against Viera August 14th before the intensity ramps up. South Lake opens the regular season on the road against cross town rival East Ridge High on August 21st. They play host to Tavares High August 28th before a massive meeting at The Villages September 4th.
Photos provided by Shotbysbjr
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.
