Football

By Merrick DiCarolis

After a 1-2 start The Oviedo Lions Football team appeared to be on the brink of disaster. The Lions were major underdogs against top 50 ranked Palm Bay Heritage. Palm Bay had gotten off to a hot 3-0 start and had yet to allow any points but the Lions changed that early, when Jackson Latour found star running back Kevin Watson wide open down the field thanks to a clean pocket from the star studded offensive-line. 

Oviedo went into the half up 21-19 but surrendered a score right before the whistle. Heritage received the ball after halftime and immediately drove the length of the field to make the game 25-21. After a quick 4 and out Heritage got the ball back but we’re held to just a field goal extending their lead by 3.

The Lions had their backs against the wall, a struggling offense and a tiring defense, the game seemed all but lost. Heritage’s kicker had been clean all game keeping the ball away from Lions dynamic return man Alejandro Bello but his one mistake may have cost Heritage the game. As he kicked the ball off Bello and senior Brandon Harrison changed positions and Bello was off to the races. Bello blew by the Heritage kickoff team breaking tackles all the way to the end zone scoring his 2nd return of the season and tying the game at 28 all.

After the return all momentum was going the Lions way. Heritage got the ball back but had to punt after a quick 4 and out. On the Lions next drive Marquet Williams took a WR screen 50 yards into the endzone putting the Lions up 35-28 with less than 3 minutes remaining. The Lions defense had been stout all game, but they weren’t enough for the high powered Heritage offense who scored a 60 yard touchdown with under 2 minutes left tying the game and sucking the life out of the usually rowdy  Lions crowd. 

With less than 2 minutes remaining many thought the turnover prone Lions would take a knee and send the game to overtime, but the always aggressive Coach Oderniro had different ideas, sending the kitchen sink at Heritage driving all the way down the field . The Lions appeared to have the game won when sophomore receiver and brand new starter Emiliano Galrza caught a long pass and started striding towards the end zone, but in an evil twist of fate Galrza fumbled the ball at the 10 yard line completely untouched. Heritage then recovered the ball sending their offense onto the field to bleed the remaining 30 seconds of regulation and send the game to overtime. 

With only 30 seconds remaining all Heritage had to do was take a knee which would have sent the game into overtime, but instead Heritage handed the ball to their back in hopes to spring a game winning play but instead resulted in a horrific fumble giving the Lions the ball back at the one yard line. The next play Jackson Latour dove into the endzone ending the game in favor of the Lions and sending Heritage back to Palm Bay with their first loss of the season.

The biggest matchup of the night was between 6’7 Clemson commit Adam Kissayi and Florida State commit Tye Hylton. Many thought that because of Kissayi’s high ranking and impressive offer sheet Hylton would struggle, but Hylton handled business as usual keeping his quarterback’s jersey clean all night and holding Kissayi to 0 sacks.

Oviedo’s top performances of the night came from QB Jackson Latour who threw for a whopping 378 yards and scored 5 touchdowns, 4 through the air and 1 on the ground. Brady Manning had a great performance on the defensive side of the ball, forcing one turnover and recovering the fumble that led to the game winning touchdown for the Lions.

After the win the Lions jumped 30 spots in maxpreps newest rankings putting them as the 107th best team in Florida according to maxpreps. Next week the Lions travel to Timber Creek who have gotten off to a miserable start at just 1-3. The Lions will look to carry the momentum gained from this massive victory and continue Timber Creeks miserable season next week.

Girls Volleyball

By Hunter Fuehrer

The Oviedo girls varsity volleyball team was 8-4 after finishing week 3. With 2 injured players in starting outside hitter Rylee Yarborough and starting middle blocker Ella Maybin. The team would be looking to freshman Sara Stawicki and junior Janelle Baez to fill in the holes left from the loss of Yarborough and Maybin.

Oviedo would have two regular season games, the first against hometown rivals Hagerty, before traveling to Virginia Beach to face Catholic high school. Following these games the girls would play in the Endless Summer Invitational in Virginia Beach.

Hagerty was 7-4 heading into the match against the Lions. The Huskies had already bested the Lions once in the Nike Tournament of Champions, beating Oviedo in the losers bracket finals finishing 5th. Both teams sport high speed offenses and strong defensive players making this a game worth watching.

Oviedo would start off slow battling back and forth trying to take a meaningful lead in each set. The match would be close but would ultimately fall in a close 3-0 loss. (25,23 25,20 25,19)

The next day the team would fly out to Virginia beach to play Catholic high school and compete in the Endless Summer Invitational. The Lions swept Catholic in 3 sets. (25,11 25,15 25,20) Looking towards the tournament Oviedo would face off against Flint Hill in their first game. Both teams are familiar as they both played in the Nike Tournament of Champions, with Flint Hill coming out on top in a 3 set match.

Flint Hill managed to pull out a 2-0 win over the Lions. (25-22, 25-22) This loss awakened something in the girls though, as they would go on a 4-0 run to finish 4th in the tournament only dropping 2 sets in the process.

Next week Oviedo will face the Bishop Moore Hornets, on Wednesday, September 20th.

Cross Country

By Merrick DiCarolis

Cross country-Last week Oviedo’s cross country’s teams competed in the lake buena vista invitational where they dominated the competition. The oviedo varsity girls team won the 5k heat by 2 points beating top competitors like Winter Springs, Olympia, and Horizon. The girls were led by top 10 finishers Maya Cabal and Courtney Calhoun, who finished with respectable times of 20:03.35 and 20:02.80.

The boys then replicated the girls’ success, winning the race by a massive total of 46 points, finishing ahead of Winter Springs, Horizon, and Windimere. The boys had 5 of the top 10 finishers including a top 3 finish from Sophomore triplet Colin Aysun. Colins 2 other brothers, Aiden and Brody finished 11th and 14th respectively. The Oviedo boys junior varsity team also competed, finishing 6th out of 10 teams competing.

Next week the Lions run at the West Orange invitational where they hope to replicate the success they’ve had early in the season.

Swim and Dive

By Merrick DiCarolis

This week the Oviedo Lions girls and boys swim team swam at Oviedo vs Seminole High School. The girls swim team beat Seminole by 7 points, the closest meet of the season. The boys beat Seminole as well, winning easily by 70 points.

The girls were led by Sophomore Addie Barowsky who won the 200 IM with a time of 2:21.34. Freshman Natasha Goodwin also had a great meet, winning the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:24.91. Next week the girls swim at Oviedo against winter springs masters and Lyman where they will hope to replicate their success from this week.

The boys were led by Senior Thomas Youngblood who won the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.58. Senior Ryan Walker also swam well, winning the 50 freestyle with an incredible time of 22.30. The Lions will also face Winter Springs Lyman and masters next week hoping to continue their winning streak.

Golf

By Hunter Fuehrer

Heading into week 4 Oviedo’s golf team was 3-2-1 following a draw against Lake Brantley. The Lions faced off against Hagerty and Lake Howell. With Hagerty being located down the road from Twin Rivers golf course, they had one of the best teams in the region.

The Lions lost to the Huskies on Tuesday in what was their second worst outing of the year. Oviedo was led by freshman Alexander Pendry who shot an uncharacteristic four over par 40. 

“Xander played really well today, he got it to even par after a birdie on 13 and was tied for the lead,” said Coach Howell.  “His tee shot on 14 was OK, but he drew a tough downhill lie below his feet in the rough.” 

Pendry responded with a shot on the next hole that stuck it to two feet. That birdie put him back on the right track. Unfortunately, a bad break on the next hole got him another double, ultimately finishing +4 for the day.  “He just had a couple of unfortunate breaks today,” recounted Howell. “I have no doubt that he’ll be ready Thursday!”

Following the loss Oviedo would play Lake Howell on Thursday, September 14th. The Lions started in a light rain for the first 2 holes. The conditions weren’t the best and Oviedo got off to a rough start. As the rains stopped, the Oviedo’s golfers began to fight back and managed to pull out a nice margin.

“The course was tough to play today,” said Coach Howell. “It was wet everywhere and the greens were really slow because they haven’t been mowed for a while. I thought the kids hung in there and turned what started out to be a bad day into a pretty good one.”

Next week the Oviedo plays in the Winter Spring Invitational on Monday, September 18th, before facing off against Seminole on Wednesday.

Bowling

By Josh Sabbia

The boys team is on a roll with winning against Crooms last week and is hoping to keep the streak. Senior, Zack Horrobin scored a high series of 395 for the team. Another high series for the team was Junior, Spencer Wainright with a score of 351. The lions ended up winning the match 2138-1658. This win makes their current record 4-2.

The girls team also went up against Lake Mary and it came out close. Senior Natalie Harvey had a high series game with a score of 299. Following that Junior Taylor Hennessy had a high series of 255. The lions ended up losing in a close match of 1558-1456.

“The Lake Mary girl’s team is the #1 team in the district right now and we only lost by 100 pins, so it just tells me that we are right there with them”, said Coach Freund. “I can’t wait to play them again because we have the ability to beat them on any day.” 

This loss has certainly taught the team a lot, and they hope to gain success from it. Their record is currently 4-2, and they hope to improve it next week against Hagerty.