- June 16, 2024
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Week 3 of the high school spring football session means one thing: Strap on your helmet and shoulder pads; it’s time for spring football games.
In West Orange and Southwest Orange, six teams went out on the gridiron to see how the work they have put in this spring measured up against another team, West Orange High hosted Lyman High, Lake Buena Vista High went to Ocoee High, Windermere Prep traveled to Trinity Prep, Dr. Phillips High faced Winter Park High, and Olympia High went on the road to Oviedo High.
The team featured in this edition of Sam’s spring football stops is Windermere Preparatory School.
More from Sam's spring football stops: Dr. Phillips High | The First Academy | Foundation Academy | Lake Buena Vista High | Olympia High | West Orange High | Windermere High
2023 record: 1-7
Coach: James Hamilton, first season
Key returners, additions: QB/LB Jacob Duffy, ATH Peyton Hollern and ATH Caden Epps
In its spring game at Trinity Prep Episcopal, first-time head coach James Hamilton started his tenure as Lakers coach with a convincing 20-3 win.
The more important takeaway from this regime’s first game was that the program, despite its small roster number, has enough athletes on each level that it is able to implement the coaching staff’s schemes on both sides of the ball.
No. 1: Rising sophomore Jacob Duffy looks like a star in the making
After a breakout freshman season in which Duffy took most of the snaps, it appears that the rising sophomore is going to be the key playmaker both on offense as Windermere Prep’s starting quarterback and on defense as its starting middle linebacker.
“Last year, he was kind of thrown into the fire at quarterback,” Hamilton said. “He’s not really a quarterback, but he’s taken the opportunity and run with it. As he continues to grow as a leader and in taking control of the offense, he’s been doing everything we asked of him. The main thing is just growing as a leader of that group and that’s what you want from your quarterback. As the summer goes on, he’ll just continue to get better at that.”
No. 2: Hamilton is making things simple, and it’s working
The biggest part of any high school coach’s job is helping his players understand the mental aspects of the game. That’s especially true in football, and Hamilton knows that his young team needs to get the basics down to be successful this season.
“You have to be able to make your scheme fit the players you have,” Hamilton said. “Players aren’t going to be able to do everything that you want to call, and so sometimes, that means we have to simplify the scheme down. … If the players are thinking too much, then they’re slowing down and they’re not making their reads. If we can keep it simple it will allow them to play fast.”
No. 3: Expect a lot of Lakers to play on both sides of the ball
Because of its smaller roster, a lot of its best players will be playing on both sides of the ball. The Lakers need to work both mentally and physically to prepare for the incoming toll that pairs with playing multiple positions.
“It’s just a mindset,” Hamilton said. “That mentality starts to become developed in practice with simple things like running on and off the field, competing in everything you do, in all the drills just competing. It’s just all a mindset and that’s the thing we’re trying to do: Change the minds of the kids, change the culture of this program. It’s been great because the kids have bought in, and I think it showed out here on the field today.”
Sam Albuquerque is the Sports Editor for the Orange Observer. Please contact him with story ideas, results and statistics.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @SamBAlbuquerque
Instagram: @OrangeObserverSam
