A top opening act
Edgewater to play national No. 1 IMG to begin its season
Edgewater, coming off a Class 7A state runner-up season, will open its revised 2020 football schedule with a road trip to play independent powerhouse IMG Academy of Bradenton on Friday night, Sept. 18, according to a source familiar with the agreement.
IMG, a boarding school connected to an agency that represents professional athletes and manages major international events, is ranked No. 1 nationally in a number of preseason polls. It has a roster loaded with major college prospects.
Edgewater finished 13-2 and atop the Sentinel Super 16 Orlando area rankings last season. Its only losses were to St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale in Florida’s Class 7A final and in a regular season road game against Georgia 7A state champ Marietta.
The Eagles appear to be still in the midst of finalizing their revamped 2020 schedule, as are many teams across Central Florida due to the coronavirus outbreak and varying schedule changes among school districts.
The Orange County Public School system officially announced its return-to -play plan this week, which permits practices to start Monday for Edgewater and other members of the Metro Conference.
Edgewater will play its second game, on Sept. 25, at Winter Park and also has an Oct. 9 home game against Timber Creek lined up.
The Bishop Moore vs. Edgewater “Battle of College Park” game, which has been played as a season opener since the series resumed in 2013, has been rescued. That game, which was originally scheduled to be played two weeks ago, is pushed back to Oct.
30 at Edgewater.
The Eagles are also set to play Orlando rival Jones, last season’s Class 5A state runner-up, in a marquee matchup, Oct. 24, at Camping World Stadium. Edgewater defeated Jones 28-14 last September.
And it was confirmed Thursday by Bishop Moore that the Hornets will host Jones in a Friday, Sept. 18, season opener.
Jones, which at one point had only a few games locked in, also has an Oct. 9 home game against 8A state runner-up Apopka scheduled. And the Tigers recently added an Oct 2 road trip to Lake Nona. That addition rounded out a full eight-game schedule for Nona.
Apopka’s revised schedule includes a Sept. 25 home game against Dr. Phillips.
Elsewhere, third-year Tohopekaliga has adjusted its schedule and will take on perennial power Kissimmee Osceola in a first time county rivalry game. That game is set for Oct. 23 at Osceola.
That challenge is part of a change of plans for Tohopekaliga, which went 7-4 last season. Tigers coach Marc Deas told the Sentinel earlier this month that his team’s seniors weighed in on a decision to opt out of Florida High School Athletic Association state series play as a means to schedule the maximum 10 regular season games. But other factors have been considered and Tohopekaliga now plans to make itself eligible for the playoffs.
The Tigers have seven games scheduled ahead of the Nov. 13 first round playoff week. St. Cloud did the same and both schools have agreed to play their rivalry game on Dec. 4 at St. Cloud as long as both have concluded postseason play.
The FHSAA’s revamped state series format for 2020 allows schools that opt out of the state series or are eliminated from the playoffs to schedule more games up to the regular season limit of 10.
Seminole will play at DeLand on Friday, Sept. 18. Originally, Seminole was scheduled to host the Bulldogs on Thursday, Sept. 17, but Volusia County isn’t allowing its teams to play until Sept. 18.
That move means that DeLand has five consecutive home games to start the season before finishing with two away. The Bulldogs had a sixth home game, against Viera, until Brevard County Schools announced that its teams will play only within county lines this fall.
Lake Mary has six of its eight scheduled games at home.