Spring football kicks off

It’s football time for Winter Park and Edgewater, who will kick off for the first and only time this spring season this Thursday and Friday on the gridiron. It’s a showcase of upcoming underclassmen in a one-night-only showdown for each team. And with Winter Park it’s looking like a long-awaited shot at revenge from the 2011 season.

Winter Park

The Wildcats didn’t even make it to the playoffs last season, ending with a 4-6 record. The last time the Wildcats met Olympia was in the first round of the 2011 regional tournament, when the Titans won 27-14 to knock Winter Park out of the postseason, dashing their hopes.

At 7:30 p.m. Thursday the Wildcats will get a rematch, this time on their own turf at Showalter Field, as they host Olympia for their only spring matchup. The Titans will carry no championship swagger into the game, as they were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round of 2012’s regional tournament.

The Wildcats will be hampered in theory by the loss of ESPN top-ranked dual-threat quarterback Asiantii Woulard, who they lose to graduation and to UCLA. That may not be much of a problem for the Wildcats; though he was heavily recruited in his junior year, Woulard had trouble finding receivers and his footing from outside the red zone.

What they’ll have instead is a defensive core that could wreak havoc on opposing teams. The only question is whether they’ll score points on offense. Thursday night, they’ll find out.

Edgewater

The Eagles will be looking to improve on one of their worst seasons in a decade as they enter their only spring matchup this Friday. In a bizarre season marred by a winless record outside of district matchups, they dominated in district play, going 3-1 and finding a shot into the playoffs with the worst record in the ladder.

They didn’t play West Orange at all last season, or since 2004 in the regular season, when the Eagles won 21-19. They’ll be facing each other at 7:30 p.m. on West Orange’s home field.