SW FL Football Playoffs: Lely rolls past Estero, Oasis wins first Florida Invitational game
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A roundup of Southwest Florida high school football playoff games played on Thursday, Nov. 13, and Friday, Nov. 14, 2025.
THURSDAY
Class 3A-Region 4
Lely 52, Estero 26
In a battle between two of Southwest Florida’s top-flight offenses, the Trojans’ versatility propelled them to victory against the Wildcats on Nov. 13.
Though Lely ultimately doubled up on Estero with their sixth game scoring 50 or more points, the postseason contest was competitive, flashy and a little chaotic at times.
“Proud of our kids,” Lely head coach Ben Hammer said. “Happy for our seniors – we get to go to practice on Monday and get ready for, I’m assuming, Central. What an opportunity for our kids.”
Two of the area’s best quarterbacks in Lely’s Brady Quinn and Estero’s Maddox Stewart went head-to-head with impressive results – both topped 250 passing yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions each. Quinn also added a rushing score.
Lely running back Nino Joseph rushed for 210 yards and two touchdowns as he nears 2,000 for the season.
It wasn’t just the Quinn-and-Joseph show for the Trojans as the receivers played a big part in the offensive success. Junior Brandon Baptiste caught five passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns, including one that went for 71 yards. Senior Zepheniah Diamond pulled in five catches for 53 yards, including one he bobbled but reeled in for a 24-yard score. Junior Romeo Sararo also caught a touchdown pass in the win.
“They’re fast, they’re tall, they’re athletic,” Hammer said.
Baptiste’s performance was his best of the season.
“He’s working hard, he’s athletic and the other thing with having so many in that stable of receivers is they’re really healthy right now,” Hammer said. “Those kids have worked hard and battled all year for playing time and catches and all that, but it’s allowed them to stay healthy and continue to improve.”
Despite the offensive fireworks, it was the Lely defense that ultimately made the difference.
Estero twice held the lead in the first half at 7-0 and 13-6, but the Trojan defense help keep the Wildcat ats bay. With the game knotted at 14-13 in the first half, Roberly Gamboa and Max Noel each picked off Stewart when the Wildcats were driving in Trojan territory. The defensive front, led by senior Noah Brown, also came up with clutch sacks as the offense began pulling away in the second half.
“We couldn’t go toe for toe, score for score,” Estero head coach Darren Nelson said. “The deficit just amounted to too much.”
The challenge with defending the Trojans is the variety of ways they can hurt defenses.
“Pick your poison,” Nelson said. “There’s just so many weapons. They’re good up front, and so they make you defend the field. They go fast. They’re really challenging from a personnel standpoint. They’re good, they’re really, really good.”
For the Wildcats, Stewart and senior receiver Kegan Kreuscher proved difficult to defend all season as both smashed multiple school records for passing and receiving, respectively.
Kreuscher finished his final high school game with 12 receptions for 82 yards and two touchdowns. With his efforts this season, he is the Estero record holder for career receiving touchdowns along with single-season catches and receiving yards.
“He’s just gotten better and better and better and his stats reflect that,” Nelson said. “To see him shine and kind of get his and get some respect around here — he’s a guy that walks off the bus and most people aren’t going to give a ton of respect to when you look at him. I think that there’s no way that people can’t respect him – he’s an incredible player.”
While Estero’s season ends, the Trojans are headed to Miami next week to face the No. 2-seeded Central squad that downed St. Brendan 54-14 on Thursday.
“We’re going to enjoy this tonight – no specific thoughts,” Hammer said. “Storied program, bunch of state championships. I’m sure they’re well coached, I’m sure they’re big, fast, physical, but so are we, and we’ll be excited for that matchup. It’s a great opportunity – better than turning your stuff in.”
−Dustin Levy
Florida Invitational Tournament
Oasis 24, Inlet Grove 0
The season was over. The Oasis football players had turned in their equipment and looked forward to the holidays.
But two big surprises came last Thursday. First, Sharks head coach Brice Bearman became a grandfather that morning. Oh, the second surprise, a late afternoon call that Oasis was in the playoffs, invited to the new Florida Invitational Tournament.
With three days of practice under their belts, the Sharks served out a big serving of ground and pound along with a slew of defensive gems to score a playoff victory.
Oasis looked to back Kevin Cisneros (18 carries, 107 yards) in the first drive of the game. With the Inlet Grove defense focused on Cisneros, quarterback Jackson Sabath scampered 18 yards for the game’s first score.
Inlet Grove came out determined to throw the ball. Oasis wasn’t having it with a sack leading to a three-and-out, giving the ball back to the Sharks.
Again, Cisneros with help from fellow running back Cameron Hill, pushed the ball into the Hurricanes red zone. The drive stalled out, leading to a 27-yard Lauro Hendricks field goal.
A big punt from senior Jason Pina pinned the Hurricanes deep. On a first down play from the 10-yard line, Inlet Grove quarterback Demetry Hudson threw a pass into the flat right into the arms of Sharks linebacker Nicholas Galeano, who romped into the end zone with 3:20 left in the first half, putting Oasis up 17-0.
The Sharks’ pass rush kicked in on the next Hurricane drive with two sacks, making it five for the half.
“We put in a new front this week and sent some pressure, and it worked out okay,” said Bearman
Penalties on both sides plagued the second half, turning the game into an offensive stalemate.
It was the Sharks’ defense that would step up again to put the game away. Defensive back Kaleb Stengel stepped in front of a Hudson heave at the 20-yard line and sprinted 80 yards to put Oasis up 24-0 with 1:19 left in the third quarter.
“That was just him playing ball,” Bearman said of Stengel.
The Sharks appeared to have another opportunity for points in the fourth quarter when they recovered a muffed punt deep in Hurricane territory. But penalties and a run-focused Inlet Grove defense stopped the short drive at the 3-yard line.
Two more Shark sacks in the fourth quarter put an end to any hopes of Inlet Grove finding the end zone and by game’s end the Oasis defense had nine sacks. The Sharks had allowed Inlet Grove to cross the 50 just twice and allowed a mere 3 yards on the ground.
The offense ended the contest in the victory formation after that final sack.
“As long as we can keep practicing another week, we get a little bit better every day. I’m proud of these guys and towards the end of the season, they really started picking it up,” said Bearman.
−John Rinkenbaugh
FRIDAY
Class 1A-Region 3
CSN vs. Northside Christian
SFCA vs. St. John Neumann
ECS at St. Petersburg Catholic
Class 2A-Region 3
Bishop Verot at Calvary Christian (Fort Lauderdale)
Class 3A-Reion 3
Cypress Lake vs. Key West
Class 4A-Region 3
Naples vs. South Fort Myers
Dunbar at Port Charlotte
Class 5A-Region 3
Riverdale vs. North Fort Myers
Cape Coral vs. Gulf Coast
Immokalee vs. Pinellas Park
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: SW Florida high school football playoffs FHSAA Week 1 results
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