East Bay won a game with crosstown rival Riverview 43-7 on Friday, Aug. 21, reclaiming the Cherry Cup and headlining a 4-2 opening week for South Shore high school football, according to SI.com's statewide scoreboard.
Three miles south in Wimauma, Morgan High made history with a 42-0 rout of Leto in the Mustangs' first varsity football game. Sumner piled on 55-0 against Strawberry Crest, and Spoto handled Chamberlain 22-3. Lennard fell 17-7 to Armwood, last year's state semifinalist.
East Bay reclaims the Cherry Cup
The Indians' 36-point margin erased the memory of last year's 35-14 loss to Riverview. Head coach DeAndra Simmons, in his second full season, built the roster around a defense anchored by senior linebacker Dorian Edwards and an offense led by junior quarterback Jeremiah Argo.
"I've laid my hat on the 'East Bay Way,' just a blue-collar approach … We are going to hit you in the mouth on defense, and on offense we are going to establish the run, then from there we are going to spread you out and show our athletes," Simmons said in an Osprey Observer season preview published Aug. 19.
East Bay finished 5-5 in 2025. As we reported Aug. 21, the Indians rallied from a 12-0 halftime deficit to beat Robinson 20-12 in the preseason Kickoff Classic, a sign of the resilience that carried over into Week 1.
Morgan makes history
The Mustangs' 42-0 shutout gave Wimauma its first varsity football victory before the program even has a senior class. Coach Mario Hollingshed, who previously led Robinson and coordinated Jefferson's defense, has built the roster around junior quarterback Cole Verzosa and senior receiver Jonathan Steven, both transfers from Bloomingdale. Verzosa threw four touchdowns in a 32-30 preseason win over Wharton.
"The biggest thing we're trying to do is build community support … We wanted to start from the ground up," Hollingshed told PrimeTimePreps in July 2025, when the program was still fielding only a JV squad. Morgan's $178 million campus serves a Wimauma population that has grown more than 40% since 2020.
Lennard tested early
The Longhorns' 17-7 loss to Armwood, which went 13-1 a year ago, was the lone blemish among South Shore's four local programs. Coach KB Belton has improved Lennard's record three straight seasons, from 3-7 in 2023 to 6-4 in 2024 to 8-3 and a playoff berth in 2025. The roster features four Division I commits: junior receiver Chayse Brown (Florida State), senior running back Preston Beckham (Cincinnati), senior defensive back Robert Gibbons (FIU) and junior safety Mekhi Williams (Wisconsin).
Week 2 schedule (Friday, Aug. 28)
- Morgan at Lennard
- Tampa Bay Tech at Sumner
- Parrish Community at Riverview
- Robinson at Spoto
- East Bay at Chamberlain
The marquee local matchup sends Morgan to Lennard's Shell Point Road field for a South Shore showdown between a program chasing its first playoff win and one celebrating its first varsity victory. Sumner draws a stiff test in Tampa Bay Tech, which went 9-3 last season.
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