PHOTOS: Windermere claws its way to maintain the Smudge Pot

Belongingness. 

That’s the word which led to Windermere High’s 48-15 defeat over Horizon in the Battle of the Groves. 

“I told them this morning,” Windermere’s head coach Riki Smith said. “I said, ‘You’re 18-0 for a reason. This doesn’t happen by chance…there’s a reason why you’re here with me. There’s a reason why the season has gone the way that it’s gone.’” 

Smith said his team, including the coaches, are the closest group he’s ever worked with and that’s the secret which has allowed the team to produce the way it has. Each and every piece of the puzzle belongs there and without one it wouldn’t be the same. 

“I wish it’d never end,” he said. 

The Wolverines claimed the Smudge Pot for the second year in a row after losing the coveted trophy to Horizon for the first three years.

Horizon’s do it all running back Kaio Olivera shined bright for the Hawks. He passed, received and showcased his versatility. The Division I commit rushed in both of Horizon’s touchdowns and put the team up 15-13 at the half. But, Windermere didn’t want the script to be written that way, the Wolverines wanted to extend its all-time winning streak to 19 games. 

So Windermere did. 

The team emerged out of the locker room and back onto its home turf on a mission. Through Windermere’s close bonds, the team pushed to changing the tide of the game. In the span of three minutes the Wolverines piled on three touchdowns. To seal the deal, quarterback Braylon Sanchez connected with wide receiver Jaylen Davis for another touchdown with only 33 seconds left on the clock. 

Smith and his squad didn’t approach the Battle of the Groves as a rivalry game. The team viewed its game against Horizon as simply the next one on its schedule. 

“We just look at it as the next opponent on our schedule,” he said. “Our whole motto since I’ve been here it’s just 1-0. Win the day, win the week and win the game.” 

The community looks at the game as a rivalry but he prioritized keeping his team focused on winning 1-0 for the game. Windermere will head into it’s next game Monday, Nov. 2 with the same mentality of winning 1-0 to close out it’s regular season 10-0 for back-to-back years.