District football races are heating up in Week 8 of high school football and Friday night will feature several games that could give teams a stranglehold on a potential title.
East Ridge finds itself in unfamiliar territory, undefeated after six games for the first time since 2010. The Knights have come a long way since suffering an 0-10 season in 2021.
Head coach Donnie Burchfield leads East Ridge (6-0, 1-0 in district play) into a game that likely decides the Class 7A, District 9 title, as Dr. Phillips (5-1, 1-0) visits Friday night. It’s his third season at the helm and the turnaround he has orchestrated is a strong testament to the buy-in his seniors have had.
Dr. Phillips is No. 4 in the Sentinel’s Super 16 Coaches Poll. East Ridge remains unranked.
Third-year East Ridge coach Donnie Burchfield has led the Knights to a 6-0 start and they will face Dr. Phillips in a key Class 7A, District 9 battle Friday night. (Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)
“Thank you is not enough for those kids,” Burchfield said. “Especially nowadays, kids will jump to the next best thing when things get rough or the waters get choppy. We were honest with them up front, and told them it’s gonna take three or four years to get this thing completely turned around.
Burchfield said friends thought he was crazy when he took the job in 2023.
“The outside noise for me was some of my coaching buddies telling me, ‘You don’t need to do that,’ and ‘I don’t know if that’s a good move,’ and stuff like that,” Burchfield said. “To go in and say, ‘Nah, we’re gonna turn it around anyhow,’ and then to actually see it happen, it’s like, man, God is good.
“You look at some close games, like against Mount Dora [28-25] early in the season and you think, ‘Why us?’ We’re working hard, but so are a lot of other teams, so the feeling for me is humility. It’s like, I don’t feel like I deserve it, but yet I know our kids are working hard for it.”
There is a tremendous amount of pride as the Knights look back and see what they have accomplished, especially after going 3-7 last year.
East Ridge is led by youngsters, including a number of newcomers. Junior quarterback Karon Palmer came over from Lake Minneola along with his transfer buddy, sophomore receiver Jordyn Butler. The Knights gained two more talented sophomore transfer receivers in Tony Brown from Tohopekaliga and Lamar Garrison from Leesburg. Add to the mix Massachusetts move-in Bryan Neves Dos Santos, who combines at running back with leading rusher sophomore Daryl Ellis, and East Ridge has a pretty potent offense. Talented sophomore left tackle Aiden Galley is also a key component.
Dr. Phillips, which was 12-2 as a region runner-up a year ago, whipped East Ridge 47-0 last season, but this is a whole new East Ridge squad.
“We got a lot of respect for Rodney Wells and what he has done over there. He’s a great dude and I think it’s gonna be a good matchup, a fun one,” Burchfield said. “We’re the underdog again and we like being the underdog.”
Dr. Phillips quarterback Camren West, who transferred from Osceola this season, leads the Panthers into a key Class 7A, District 9 battle Friday night at East Ridge.(Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Wells guided the Panthers to a 2017 state title after finishing as runner-up in 2016, and he now has a quarterback who is much the same as BeSean McCray, who led the DP title run.
Senior Camren West transferred to DP this season after helping Osceola to a 6A state runner-up finish a year ago. He’s not big (6-foot, 170 pounds), but is fast and heady. He has a run-pass ability that has added a much-needed dimension to the Dr. Phillips scheme.
“That’s exactly what we say. He’s really close to BeSean. The only difference is he’s left-handed,” Wells said. “His big-play ability with his feet has gotten us out of some bad positions and he’s very accurate with his arm.”
Senior Zion Matthews is another in a long line of talented DP running backs. He scored a school-record 6 touchdowns, 5 rushing, in a 42-6 victory over Olympia two weeks ago.
“This is like a championship game, pretty much,” said Wells.
The two remaining district opponents for East Ridge and DP are Olympia and Celebration, which have only two wins combined this.
It’s not the only game with big district ramifications.
Seminole (3-3, 1-0) and Lake Mary (4-2, 1-0) have not had the type of starts to their respective seasons that they have grown accustomed to, but this neighborhood brawl will again be a key factor in determining the automatic playoff qualifier out of 7A-3. Seminole has already defeated Lake Brantley (5-1, 0-1), so a victory puts the ‘Noles in the driver’s seat. A Lake Mary victory could set up a showdown with Brantley for the title.
No. 15 Winter Park (3-3, 1-0) goes to unbeaten No. 5 Boone (6-0, 1-0) and the winner takes control of 7A-4. The Wildcats ended Boone’s 2024 campaign in a regular-season finale.
No. 9 Osceola (4-2, 1-0) can clinch 6A-5 with a victory at home over Viera (4-2).
No. 1 Edgewater (7-0, 1-0) can claim 5A-5 with a win at Winter Springs (5-2, 0-0).
No. 2 Jones (4-2, 1-0) can take control of 4A-7 with a victory at Lake Wales (6-1, 1-1), which was upset by Auburndale earlier.
Friday night also sets up an opportunity for two first-year coaches, Dave Carrington at Orlando University (0-6) and Steve Charles at Cypress Creek (0-6), to snag their first victories. Cypress Creek has lost 27 games in a row. University lost its former head coach Jeremy Palmer in June to a battle with cancer. This game last season set off a postgame brawl that got several players suspended.
In Sunshine State Athletic Association play, unbeatens Central Florida Christian Academy (6-0) and Cornerstone Charter (6-0) square off.
Week 8 Football Schedule
(All games are set for 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted)
OPEN DATE: Orlando The First Academy, Ocoee, St. Cloud, Windermere Prep.
Thursday’s Super 16 Game
Wekiva (1-5) at No. 8 Evans (5-1)
Elsewhere Thursday
Leesburg (3-3) at Gainesville (2-4)
Faith Christian (1-6) at Bishop Snyder (3-4)
Friday’s Super 16 Games
No. 1 Edgewater (7-0) at Winter Springs (5-2)
No. 2 Jones (4-2) at Lake Wales (6-1)
No. 3 Bishop Moore (6-0) at Eustis (1-6)
No. 4 Dr. Phillips (5-1) at East Ridge (6-0)
No. 15 Winter Park (3-3) at No. 5 Boone (6-0)
Flagler Palm Coast (2-4) at No. 7 DeLand (6-0)
Viera (4-2) at No. 9 Osceola (4-2)
No. 12 Seminole (3-3) at No. 10 Lake Mary (4-2)
Ocala West Port (1-6) at No. 11 West Orange (5-1)
No. 14 Lake Brantley (5-1) at Hagerty (3-3)
Lake Howell (5-2) at No. 16 Oviedo (4-2)
Elsewhere Friday
Horizon (2-4) at South Lake (5-1)
Apopka (1-5) at Cocoa (2-4)
Celebration (1-5) at Olympia (1-5)
Spruce Creek (5-0) at Orange City University (1-5)
Seabreeze (3-3) at Deltona (3-3)
Timber Creek (2-4) at Freedom (1-5)
Gateway (2-5) at Lake Placid (2-3), 7:30
Harmony (3-3) at Lake Nona (3-3)
Ocala Forest (3-3) at Lake Minneola (1-5)
Space Coast (6-1) at Kissimmee Liberty (0-6)
Lyman (0-6) at Lecanto (4-3)
Mount Dora (1-5) at Tavares (4-2)
New Smyrna Beach (4-2) at Pine Ridge (2-5)
Auburndale (4-2) at Poinciana (2-4), 7:30
Fort Meade (5-1) at Orlando Christian Prep (4-2)
Windermere (6-0) at Oak Ridge (3-3)
Lake Wier (3-4) at Lake Buena Vista (3-3), 7:30
Colonial (2-4) at Innovation (6-0)
Orlando University (0-6) at Cypress Creek (0-6)
East River (1-5) at Melbourne (5-2)
Vero Beach Master’s Academy (1-6) at Foundation Academy (5-2)
Lake Highland Prep (4-2) at St. Edward’s (4-3), 6
Oviedo Master’s Academy (4-3) at Tohopekaliga (3-3)
Mount Dora Christian (7-1) at Marathon (0-7)
Father Lopez (4-2) at Orangewood Christian (2-4)
Geneva School (0-7) at Trinity Prep (3-4)
Umatilla (7-0) at Discovery (0-7)
West Oaks Academy (1-6) at St. Joseph Academy (6-0)
CFCA (6-0) at Cornerstone Charter (6-0)
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.
