Florida high school football: Jacksonville Raines, Miami Central clash to kickoff the 2025 season

The Vikings released their schedule on Monday afternoon and the very first game stood out the most against the 9-time state champion Rockets
Robson Lopes

The 2025 high school football season is loaded with stellar matchups on the opening weekend and there was another one announced on Monday afternoon that is sure to attract thousands of fans between the 904 and 305.

Jacksonville Raines announced their 2025 football schedule and they will kick the fall season off at home against 9-time state champion Miami Central Rockets. The Vikings are coming off a 13-1 season in which they finished as the state runner-up in Class 3A after falling to Miami Northwestern in the state championship back in December.

The Vikings will take on the Rockets on Aug. 23rd (Saturday) in Jacksonville, same weekend as other marquee games take place around Florida, including the Broward County High School Football Classic. No exact kickoff time has been officially set for the contest.

3 takeaways from Miami Northwestern's dominating Class 3A state title victory over Raines

Miami Central has gone through a transition period in which they moved on from Jube Joseph, who is now at St. Thomas Aquinas, and hired former Florida Atlantic University assistant Derrick Gibson as the new lead man of the Rockets.

There's a ton of familiarity when it comes to Gibson and Miami-Dade high school football, as the former FSU defensive back led Killian from 2019-2021 and had an overall record of 26-6.

Derrick Gibson named the next head football coach at Miami Central: Report


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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi


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Andy Villamarzo
ANDY VILLAMARZO

Andy Villamarzo has been a sports writer in the Tampa Bay (FL) Area since 2007, writing for publications such as Tampa Bay Times, The Tampa Tribune, The Suncoast News, Tampa Beacon, Hernando Sun to name a few. Andy resides out of the Tarpon Springs, FL area and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in the summer of 2022 covering the Tampa Bay Area. He has quickly become one of Florida's foremost authorities on high school sports, appearing frequently on podcasts, radio programs and digital broadcasts as an expert on team rankings, recruiting and much more.