Spruce Creek spoils Winter Park homecoming game

The Winter Park Wildcats played their first home game all season on Friday as the city cut the ribbon on a renovated Showalter Field, a literal homecoming for the boys in orange and black.

The Wildcats were forced to play on the road for eight straight games this season, but they made the most of it, notching a 6-2 record coming into the game.

But the road warriors didn’t carry that momentum with them as they returned to their crisp new stomping ground.

Winter Park had their triumphant return to Showalter Field spoiled on Saturday as they fell to Spruce Creek 14-9, the result of a stagnant first half for the ’Cats on both sides of the ball.

The Hawks drew first blood just a few minutes into the second quarter when senior Todd Powers blocked a Winter Park punt, giving the visiting team deep field position and leading to a touchdown just a few plays later.

Spruce Creek (7-3, 3-1) would miss the extra point, but they’d get it right back after a second touchdown – with just 7 seconds left in the half – was followed up with a successful two-point conversion.

Some footwork by Winter Park senior Jordan Pouncey put the Wildcats within range for a field goal, but that three-point score following the first Spruce Creek touchdown is all they’d muster in the first half of the game.

The ‘Cats came out with a stingier defense in the third and fourth quarter, holding the Hawks scoreless for the rest of the game.

That left the game up to the offense, which was able to narrow the margin with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter thanks to quarterback Cameron LeGree’s running game.

That wouldn’t be enough though as Spruce Creek ran down the clock following a failed fourth down attempt by the Wildcats with just a few minutes left in the game.

The Wildcats will look to get their first win at Showalter Field this season on Friday versus Olympia (6-2, 3-1) at 7 p.m.

Edgewater football

Continuing their winless season, the Eagles fell 51-0 to Hagerty (8-1) on Oct. 28. The Huskies posted up 44 points in the first half alone. For Edgewater (0-9, 0-6) there’s only one more week of the season to play, and they’ll be hosting Boone (4-5, 2-2) at 7 p.m. Friday.