Master’s and Faith share the spotlight

A pair of high-scoring teams from the Sunshine State Athletic Conference take center stage in one of the area’s two high school football matchups tonight.

The Master’s Academy (3-0) of Oviedo travels to Orlando’s Faith Christian (2-0) for an SSAC Beach Division matchup of unbeatens at 7:30 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to be played Friday but was postponed ahead of Hurricane Irma.

Harmony (1-1) hosts Liberty (1-1) in a Class 7A district game in Osceola County at 7:30 p.m.

All other area teams had Week 4 games canceled or postponed due to the hurricane.

Master’s and Faith are well-acquainted, having played against each other three years in a row. Faith is 2-1 in those games, prevailing 45-42 in 2014 and a 50-21 last October. The Eagles won 37-16 in 2015.

“It’s definitely a rivalry game, and it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Faith Christian coach said.

is averaging 149 all-purpose yards per game for Faith with three rushing touchdowns.

has rushed for three scores and leads the team in tackles with 25.

At Master’s, experienced quarterback has passed for 1,013 yards and 14 touchdowns while eighthgrader has racked up 595 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.

Two-time Super Bowl champion who spent eight seasons with the Denver Broncos, is in his first year overseeing the defense at Master’s. Former Orlando Predators coach who won ArenaBowl titles as both a player and coach, is in his first season running the defense at Faith.

“Both teams have great running backs and pretty good defenses,” said thirdyear Master’s Academy coach

Those variables have led to eye-popping results.

Faith, in its fifth year of football, outscored its first two foes 116 points to 12.

Master’s, which hasn’t won more than three games in a year since 2013, outscored its first two opponents 116-19. But it took a 32-30 win at Orangewood Christian to remain unbeaten.

“We scored with a minute or so left on the clock and really came of age in the moment,” said Master’s coach Oviedo girls soccer coach

underwent surgery on Wednesday night to repair a broken left wrist he suffered while helping others clean up following the hurricane.

Waisanen, with family and friends, had been helping neighbors clean up all day Tuesday when his final task was going to be moving a fallen tree that blocked his mother-in-law from backing her car out of her garage.

“The limb I grabbed snapped and I fell back onto her driveway,” he said. “I fell onto my left hand and my wrist snapped.”

Surgery took more than two hours. Waisanen was hospitalized for 48 hours.

“I’m fine. Just resting at home today,” he said Friday.

Waisanen, who led the Lions to their fourth state title in seven seasons last February, also served as Oviedo’s athletic director.