First-Year Wellen Park Football Program Improves to 3-0 With 40-0 Win Over DeSoto County

The Eagles, playing their first varsity season, have won their first three regular-season games and now face defending state champion Cardinal Mooney.

Wellen Park lines up at home vs. DeSoto County in Week 3. | Jaret Rojas

Wellen Park's first varsity football season keeps getting better.

Sophomore quarterback Noah Wireman connected with Curtis Bowdre for two touchdowns Thursday night as the Eagles shut out DeSoto County 40-0, improving to 3-0 in their inaugural regular season.

TOUCHDOWN: Wellen Park ‘29 QB Noah Wireman finds fellow sophomore WR Curtis Bowdre to open the scoring 🤫

XP good. 7-0 Eagles with 2:55 remaining 1Q @WPEagleFootball pic.twitter.com/rL7oC6onPV

— Jaret Rojas (@RojasTalksTampa) September 3, 2026

Wellen Park High School opened this fall as Sarasota County's first new high school in 25 years. Sascha Hyer, who spent 13 seasons on the Venice staff and previously served as North Port's head coach, was hired last October to build the football program.

Wellen Park Builds Momentum Quickly

The Eagles first experience in game conditions came on Aug. 14 in Kickoff Classic contest with North Port. North Port opened the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Wilson to Zachary Patchell, but Wellen Park responded with 45 unanswered points and won 45-7.

The Eagles officially opened the regular season Aug. 21 with a 24-21 win at Mariner as Wireman accounted for three touchdowns.

A week later, Wellen Park defeated Gateway 41-21. Wireman completed 10 of 17 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns while adding two rushing scores. Will Campbell ran for 97 yards and a touchdown, and Malachi Bynum added 57 yards and a score.

Senior linebacker Robert Corrigan led the defense with 10 solo tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss.

Wellen Park quarterback Noah Wireman makes adjustments pre-snap vs. DeSoto County on Thursday. | Jaret Rojas

Wireman, Bowdre Lead 40-0 Victory

Thursday against DeSoto County, Wireman connected with sophomore receiver Curtis Bowdre for the game's opening touchdown.

Wellen Park led 14-0 after the first quarter before Wireman found Bowdre again to make it 30-0 with 7:41 remaining in the second quarter. Donovan Childers added a 36-yard field goal before halftime, sending the Eagles into the break with a 33-0 lead. Landon Cumberbatch scored on a third-quarter run to make it 40-0 and trigger a running clock for the remainder of the game.

DeSoto County fell to 0-4.

Robert Corrigan Makes the Most of Senior Season

Corrigan has emerged as one of the leaders of Wellen Park's defense after taking a long road back to varsity football.

The senior previously played at Venice but tore his ACL at the end of his freshman season. He missed his sophomore season and played junior varsity as a junior.

"Right now, it's my last season," Corrigan said. "I just want to get to the point where I can play next season. I love playing ball. I'm just trying to get looked at right now. I have my coach talking with a few other coaches. Just trying to stack up the film, get ready for Mooney next week."

Corrigan said the Eagles' fast start has been built during daily practices as players learn how to function as a new team.

"It was really coming out here every day putting in the work, building a lot of chemistry," Corrigan said. "I'm going to get on everyone. I'm trying to be a leader out there, make sure everyone is all right. Because coaches can do as much as they can do, but it's a player-led game."

Head coach Sascha Hyer said the same thing starts with how the Eagles practice.

"We come to practice every day," Hyer said. "Our kids want to learn. They want to be good. We try to keep things real simple so that they can execute. Not throw a bunch of things at them and make them screw it up. Keep it simple. The K.I.S.S. method."

Hyer said Thursday's win mattered because of reps and health.

"We got better today because everybody got an opportunity to play," Hyer said. "Everybody got quality reps, and most importantly, we came away healthy. That's the biggest thing. You and I both know we've got the daunting task of playing Cardinal Mooney, open playoff opportunists and state champion. They're the real deal, and we've got to play them. We've got to strap it up a week from tonight."

Wellen Park opens district play Thursday at Cardinal Mooney.