Winter Park Wildcats football team roars back onto the field

It’s time to kick off the high school football season as teams start off with a round of preseason games across Central Florida this weekend. Will the Winter Park Wildcats be able to recover from last year’s 5-6 record and last place finish in the district?

They’ll be looking for a boost going into the regular season, facing the Edgewater Eagles with a shot at redemption after losing 14-6 last year at Showalter Field.

But any early success could be deceptive for the Wildcats, who bounced back right away after their kickoff loss in 2014 to go on a 4-0 tear to start the regular season. In the middle of that, a 49-0 demolition of Ocoee was the most lopsided win they’d scored in more than a decade, including the juggernaut team that went 11-2 in 2010. But then the Wildcats went on to lose six of their final seven games.

Nick Sproles, who threw for 105 yards and two touchdowns on three completions in the Wildcats’ final win of last season, returns to the team this year as an experienced senior.

The Eagles are looking to build on their Cinderella season in 2014. The year before, they went 1-11, allowing more than four touchdowns a game. In 2014, under new coach Rich Bedesem, they bounced back with an 8-6 turnaround capped off with a Class 6A District 10 championship and a playoff run into the regional semifinals. Bedesem is back to lead the Eagles this season.

Craig Rucker, who led the team in rushing last season, is a senior this time around. He’s ranked No. 18 among running backs in Florida, also working as a versatile kick returner and occasional receiver.

The preseason kickoff game gets started at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Edgewater High School.

UCF football

Fans looking to get a glimpse under the shroud that wraps the UCF football team’s practice fields can take a look at the 2015 Knights at FanFest this Friday.

The big question, just like it was last year after the departure of NFL-bound star Blake Bortles: Who will be our next quarterback? Justin Holman, Tyler Harris, and Bo Schneider all threw passes during a Sunday workout, all of them completing passes.

It was halfway through the first game of last season on the Emerald Isle in Dublin – where the Knights fell behind early to the Penn State Nittany Lions – that Holman got his big shot at quarterback. Holman would avert a blowout in his comeback, solidifying his role as the Knights’ starting man behind center all season.

The Knights’ first game is at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3, when they host Florida International at the Bright House.