23-05-2025
Edgewater ushers in Patrick Browning era with pair of spring shutouts
Edgewater welcomed its new head coach Patrick Browning to Florida football Thursday night with a pair of shut out victories in two quarters each against Osceola and Windermere.
Windermere opened its own jamboree with a 7-0 loss to Osceola, and then Edgewater blanked Osceola 14-0 and the host Wolverines 21-0.
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'Man, I love the Florida weather, can't beat it … game atmosphere, the fans … it's just incredible,' Browning said. '
Photo Gallery: Spring football, 2025
Browning said when he was hired in March that personnel would dictate the play calling on both sides of the ball, and he stuck to his word. Edgewater even had new personnel at spots like running back, where multi-talented 2026 star Damien Moore found himself Thursday, as well as at defensive end, linebacker and safety. Luke Pastis, a former linebacker, is now at tight end and linebacker Azavier Denmark also saw time at running back.
Edgewater, which was 10-2 last season, busted out of the gates with an 80-yard touchdown pass on the second play against Windermere. Quarterback Carter Emanuel, a rising senior, hit his younger brother Cole Emanuel (2027) in stride and Cole outraced the Osceola defender to the end zone.
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Carter Emanuel also threw a 3-yard touchdown pass against Osceola to 2026 receiver Saphir Miller, who had several big catches on the night.
In the finale against the host team, Edgewater did most of its damage on the ground, with Denmark and Moore both scoring on 2-yard runs, and 2027 RB Malik Johnson scoring from 40 yards out.
'These are great kids and they have great chemistry and there is great tradition at Edgewater,' Browning said. 'Like I said when I first came here, I want to build on what we had going, and I think we are moving in the right direction. I think people are gonna see we're going to play an exciting brand of football … and try to have fun.'
Osceola, coming off a Class 6A state runner-up finish a year ago, is coached by Eric Pinellas, who was somewhat poetic in his assessment of the Kowboys.
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'It's never as bad as it looks and it's never as good as it looks Pinellas said. 'We have a bunch of young kids. We're break in, basically, four new kids on the offensive line.
'In the first game [against Windermere] we played well. We were physical and we came off the football and did some good things. Against Edgewater we did some bad things. … It's just going to take a great summer of putting things together and we'll be fine.'
Windermere, coming off a season in which the Wolverines went undefeated (10-0) in the Orange County's Independent Division, also had some good and bad things in the Wolverines four quarters.
Windermere's defense showed it has some good pieces in 2026 corner CJ Bronaugh, 2026 DB Elijah Mosby, who had an interception, 2027 safety Eddie Russomanno, 2027 edge rusher Brady Anderson, who is playing his first year of competitive football, and 2026 edge Sean Daly.
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Windermere also saw some promise in a pair of running backs Henry Rogers (2026) and Jaylen Davis (2027), but the Wolverines failed to score in all four quarters.
Head coach Riki Smith said he was looking to see what his Wolverines could do against stiff competition like Edgewater and Osceola.
'Our motto this year is 'The Chase,' and I just told the players we are chasing that,' Smith said, pointing at the Edgewater team. 'That's our goal. That's where we are trying to get, to that level.'
Sure, Smith said, the team was 10-0 last season, but last season is in the past.
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'You know, if you're driving a car and you are looking in the rearview mirror too much, you're gonna crash,' Smith said. 'Last year is last year. We're on 2025 now. We got a lot of work to do, but I also think we have a lot of stuff we can build on.'
Other scores
Horizon 50, Lake Buena Vista 0
Belleview 42, Mount Dora Christian 28
Chris Hays can be found on @OS_ChrisHays.
