Central Florida High School Football Regional Finals Recap - Nov. 28, 2025

No. 1 Edgewater falls to Lakeland; Vero Beach, Jones, Lake Mary, Bishop Moore, Cocoa all advance to state semifinals

Lake Mary's Barrett Schulz (4) catches the ball down the field and scores a touchdown against DeLand in the Region 1-7A finals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Spec Martin Stadium. / Nadia Zomorodian/News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Temperatures were cool on Friday night but five teams in the High School on SI Central Florida rankings remained red-hot in the FHSAA state playoffs.

Third-ranked Vero Beach, No. 5 Jones, No. 6 Lake Mary, No. 9 Bishop Moore and No. 19 Cocoa all won regional finals to advance to state semifinals in their respective classifications. Cocoa (8-4), which has played a difficult schedule, is a three-time defending state champ.

Vero Beach is Central Florida’s last remaining unbeaten team (13-0) heading into state semifinal games to be played Friday, Dec. 5. Two area teams – No. 1 Edgewater and No. 2 DeLand – fell from the ranks of the unbeaten and finished the season at 12-1.

Here is how the 11 teams from Central Florida (Orange, Seminole, Brevard, and Indian River counties) fared in regional final games, with their area ranking listed:

CLASS 7A

Region 1

No. 6 Lake Mary 40, No. 2 DeLand 31

Lake Mary quarterback Noah Grubbs, a Notre Dame commit, passed for 254 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 34 yards and a score to power the Rams (10-3) past previously unbeaten DeLand (12-1) in one of the wildest regional finals in the state. Sophomore Taihj Moore ran for two TDs and threw a TD pass for the Bulldogs, who led 25-19 midway through the third quarter before getting outscored 21-6 the rest of the way.

Region 3

No. 3 Vero Beach 49, No. 11 Dr. Phillips 23

Senior athlete Efrem White had another big game for the unbeaten Indians (13-0), passing for 159 yards and a TD and rushing 10 times for 74 yards and four scores. Vero Beach led 42-7 at the half, starting a running clock for the second half. Sophomore Tien Williams passed for 107 yards and two TDs for DP (9-4), which had upset top-seeded Jupiter and third-seeded Fort Pierce Central in the first two rounds.

CLASS 6A

Region 2

Seffner Armwood 42, No. 8 South Lake 0

Armwood, ranked No. 6 in the state by High School on SI, recorded its third consecutive postseason shutout. The Eagles (11-2) finished one of their best seasons in years.

CLASS 5A

Region 1

Ponte Vedra 27, No. 7 Mainland 10

Cole Rosendahl passed for 239 yards and one TD to propel the top-seeded Sharks (11-2) past Mainland, 27-10. The second-seeded Bucs (9-3) were led by Sebastian Johnson, who passed for 308 yards and one TD.

Region 2

Lakeland 27, No. 1 Edgewater 14

The top-seeded Eagles (12-1), who were No. 1 in Central Florida and No. 11 in the High School on SI state rankings, lost to nine-time state champ Lakeland (11-2) to end their season. Carter Emanuel passed for 281 yards and two TDs to lead Edgewater. Christopher Cresser returned two kickoffs for TDs for Lakeland.

CLASS 4A

Region 2

No. 5 Jones 24, Lake Wales 10

The defending Class 4A state runner-up Tigers (11-2) roared to a 24-0 halftime lead and held on for the win. Dereon Coleman threw a TD pass to DJ Hicks, and Daunte Wallace and Kameron Lee each ran for a score for Jones.

CLASS 3A

Region 2

No. 9 Bishop Moore 31, No. 10 Eau Gallie 28

The Hornets (12-1) avenged last year’s regional final loss to Eau Gallie as senior Amar’e Johnson galloped for 209 yards and three TDs to lead Bishop Moore. He surpassed 2,000 yards rushing for the season. Oregon commit Xhavier Lherisse threw three TD passes and ran for another score to lead the Commodores (9-4).

CLASS 2A

Region 2

No. 19 Cocoa 17, Bradford 10

The three-time defending state champ Tigers (8-4) toppled top-seeded Bradford, 17-10, as quarterback Champ Smith completed 25 of 34 passes for 221 yards.

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Jeff Gardenour can be reached via email at jgardenour1962@gmail.com or X @JMarkG1962