By FRANCIS FEDOR
francisfotography@outlook.com
In the first week of the 2026 season of Friday Night Lights in Hillsborough County, all of the South Shore Six (SS6) took to the fields on Aug. 14 to get in a preseason game ahead of regular season action on Aug. 21. Lennard, Riverview, East Bay and Morgan all notched preseason wins. Sumner and Spoto played tight games and will use the game film as they look for their first win when the games count this Friday.
Riverview ROTC presents the colors before preseason game between the Sharks and Spoto Spartans.
Lennard, under head coach KB Belton, jumped out to a fast start and demolished the Osceola Warriors, 68-0, on Aug 14 in Ruskin in preseason action. The Warriors finished with a 7-4 record in 2025 but were no match for the 2026 iteration of the Longhorns. In senior Tony Balaguer’s first appearance as a Longhorn, he accounted for three TDs, two by air and one rushing. He finished with 125 yards passing, completing 9 of 10 passes, finding Chayse Brown five times for 67 yards and a TD. Marcus Dixon led the ground game with five carries for 63 yards. Lennard found different routes to the endzone; Mekhi Williams and Alquan Smith had punt returns for TDs, Messiah Rushing, Trey Knight and Carmello Malanado returned fumbles for TDs, and Bryce Herald and Rashad Johnson had interceptions for TDs. KJ Roos had a rushing TD as a QB.
The Longhorns travel up I-75 to I-4 to open the regular season against the Armwood Hawks. The matchup will be a good test for the Longhorns against a Hawks team that finished 2025 ranked at 21 in Florida, and its only loss was deep in the Florida State Regional Finals, a game away from the championship.
Sumner, under head coach George Selvie, opened 2026 action at the Tank in a preseason matchup vs. Deland. The Bulldogs finished their 2025 season ranked at 15 in Fla. with only a single loss, a 40-31 home game vs. Lake Mary on Nov. 28. Deland jumped out early on the Stingray defense, taking a 14-0 lead before Sumner QB Makai Frederick connected with Tyler Lynch for a TD to trim the lead. The combo connected again in the closing seconds for an 80-yard strike to end the half with Deland up 22-12. Sumner stayed close with big plays, including an 81-yard TD pass to Kanye Faison, a 53-yard run from Jaiden Smith and another 47-yard connection to Lynch to close the scoring. Despite the offensive heroics, Deland held on for the road win.
The Stingrays got strong efforts from Frederick, his first game as the starting QB, going 16 for 30 with 377 yards and five TDs. Tyler Lynch, a big part of a deep 2025 playoff run, hauled in six receptions for 175 yards and 3 of the 5 passing TDs. Gavin Altman rushed for 80 yards on 12 carries with a TD. The ’Rays have many positives to take away from a tough matchup and will head out to play Strawberry Crest before returning to the Tank for their regular season home opener.
The Riverview Sharks (Coach Rodriguez) and Spoto Spartans (Coach Chattin) came together to renew a SS6 rivalry in a home game for the Sharks. Both teams brought the energy and finished hits with vigor. Riverview lit the scoreboard first with a TD from Carter Peternell, who rushed for two TDs and threw for 82 yards. Spoto responded with a 70-yard TD to Michael Grider to tie the game at six. Grider was a big target for Giovanni Sbabo who did a nice job of finding receivers. The teams exchanged TDs in the second quarter, with Spartan Levert Sims finding paydirt, but Shark QB Peternell scored moments later to tie the game. The Sharks defense picked off a pass to keep the scored tied into the half.
The second half was a story of turnovers, the biggest occurring when Spoto inserted Quayshawn Harvey in at the QB position and had the ball stripped by Dominic Persaud, who took it into the endzone for a TD to put Riverview up 20-19, the eventual final score, with 10 minutes left in regulation. The defenses, both Spoto and Riverview (under new coord Deven Persaud), kept the offenses in check the rest of the way.
The Sharks open the regular season traveling to face another SS6 rival in the home opener for East Bay. The Spartans host Chamberlain in their home opener.
East Bay won its preseason home game, 20-12, over Robinson. Indians QB Jeremiah Argo threw for 182 yards with a TDs and Int. for the game. Argo also led all rushers with 53 yards and a TD. He found Carse Biggerstaff six times for 138 yards and a TD. Lhoialty Taylor picked off a pass, and Dorian Edwards recovered a fumble for a TD to spark the defense. Head coach DeAndra Simmons lauded the team effort to stay focused and put together strong second and third quarters that led to the win.
The Indians open at home against SS6 rival Riverview.
Morgan played its preseason tuneup game and came away with a 32-30 win on the road over Wharton. Cole Verzosa in his first start as a Mustang tossed four TDs on a 16 for 20 night and nearly 200 yards passing and scored another TD using his feet. He did have two picks, but did enough good things to lead the Mustangs to the win. In what will likely become a frequent combination, Verzosa found senior Jonathan Stephen for 2 of the 4 TDs. Stephen, part of the first graduating class at Morgan, fell just a yard shy of a 100-yard receiving game with 99 yards.
Head coach Mario Hollingshed will lead the Mustangs in their very first varsity regular season under the lights with Leto traveling to Wimauma to start the season. The atmosphere should be electric with high expectations coming off the preseason win over Wharton and a strong JV season in 2025.
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