Timber Creek, Hagerty look to derail Winter Park | 6A District 4 football

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Winter Park has grown accustomed to being the team to beat in its football district. The Wildcats have lost only one district game since 2021.

But this season two teams are looking to change that.

Hagerty, a playoff at-large team a year ago, and Timber Creek are upstart teams looking to make some noise.

After two years in a district with Seminole County rivals, Hagerty is back in the same district as Winter Park. Head coach Steve Mikles is hoping his squad can continue on its winning path. Hagerty was 6-5 a year ago with two of the losses coming against Class 7A state champion Lake Mary.

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“I like it. I’m excited to finally get away from Lake Mary and Seminole. That’s always rough. We’re used to being in with Winter Park, so we’re familiar with them,” Mikles said. “They’re still really good. I think Boone and Timber Creek and us, is always a good matchup.

“I think it’s a district we have a shot at.”

Mikles has a small group of senior starters returning, but they play big roles. Quarterback Royce Jenkins leads the way and he can run and throw the ball. He passed for nearly 2,000 yards a year ago, with 22 touchdowns. When he decides to run the ball, look out. At 6-foot, 215 pounds, Jenkins can bowl over defenders and runs like a fullback. He ran for more than 500 yards a year ago.

Running back duties fall to Jonathan Lewis this season after the departure of Leandro Gutierrez. The Huskies will need seniors like receivers Colton Hatfield and Ian Thornsbury to step up.

Defensively, Kyler McBurse is back at safety. He had eight interceptions over the past two seasons.

Lewis goes both ways and led the team in sacks last season with eight from his linebacker spot. Defensive lineman Avery Zapitz is also back.

Timber Creek has reason to think it can ruffle some district feathers and it’s in large part to a few transfers.

“Yeah, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I do think, if everything aligns right, and we’ve had a really good offseason, I do think we can surprise some teams, and, yeah, make some noise,” said Wolves head coach Reggie Cox.

The biggest addition is quarterback Alec Worden, who came from Orlando Christian Prep. Cox said Worden and incoming freshman Connor Mullins are competing for the QB role.

“Alec gives us more stability,” Cox said. “He can also run the football. But I will say this, the young kid, Connor Mullins helps, too. We went from having zero quarterbacks to having two.”

Returning to Timber Creek after a year at Edgewater is receiver Hanoj Williams, and he will give either quarterback a significant target.

“It’s tremendous, because we haven’t had a receiver on the outside who can kind of command attention, now he can bring some attention, we have a quarterback who can get him the football and it opens up everything for some of our other young guys,” Cox said.

Those other guys include junior running back Jermaine Washington, a transfer from East River, as well as sophomore receivers Cameron Wilkes and Harper Benton.

Defensively, Cox will be handling the calls this year, taking over for long-time assistant Marc Jackson, who has settled into an advisory role. On the edges the Wolves have senior Cutler Dodge and Jayden Hernandez. Linebacker Braden Barlowe and Benton and Washington will also play at the corners. The Wolves added multi-talented linebacker Jayson Vasquez, a transfer from South Lake.

Cox has settled into his role.

“I’m a lot more comfortable. Last offseason was kind of rushed, just because of the timing of it,” Cox said of longtime head coach Jimmy Buckridge stepping down in June of last year. “This offseason we had the opportunity to kind of shift things and do it our way and start getting some things in place that we like. We’ve had time to kind of plan and that has made it a lot easier transition,”

Then there is the grandfather of all Orange County coaches. Tim Shifflet begins his 20th season as Winter Park’s head coach. The Wildcats enter the season as a district favorite again.

Leading the charge will be Onrique Archie, the senior quarterback who shared duties a year ago with Elijah Nickerson, who transferred to Lake Nona. So it’s Archie’s show and he has shown much improvement and strong leadership over the offseason, The Wildcats dismantled Dr. Phillips in their spring game.

Archie gives Winter Park multiple dimensions at QB, which will allow the Wildcats to keep opposing defenses guessing.

Winter Park has some flyers on the outside with Marshall commit Tristan Gunn and Johnny Slack. Princeton commit Smith Lessard is at tight end. The Wildcats also picked up transfer running back Joshua Shaw from Trinity Prep. The junior rushed for just over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.

On defense, leading tackler Maximus Lennon is back at linebacker. Bowling Green commit KJ Davis and Talyn Boe will provide muscle on the edge. The backfield has talent with Slack and Gunn. Cornelius Williams and Lyman transfer Jaiden Douglas could also add strength.

Shifflet says he’s getting near the end of his coaching career, but he just can’t decide when to hang it up.

“I don’t know. Every year I say this is going to be my last and then I end up doing another one,” Shifflet said. “This is year 20. Who knows.”

Frustrations about the current era of high school football, with low pay for coaches and all of the transfers, have led Shifflet in the direction of resignation. But the players still drive him.

“Yeah, it is very frustrating, but at the end of the day, if we get kids off to college. … I think close to 200 kids have gone off to college in my tenure, to me that means a lot,” Shifflet said. “That means I’ve put kids in position to be successful in life. I hope when they look back they can say, ‘You know what, those are some of the best years of my life, playing football, being around the guys, being a part of something. That’s what pushed me.

“But every year it’s like, ‘What else am I gonna do? What am I gonna do on Friday nights?’ ”

Boone is looking at a rebuilding year with new coach Charles Sprenkel and it could be a long season.

Boone Braves

Coach: Charles Sprenkel (1st year as a head coach).

2025: 10-2, 7A district champ.

Hagerty Huskies

Coach: Steve Mikles (7th year, 36-27; 43-41 career, 8 seasons).

2025: 6-5, made 7A playoffs.

Timber Creek Wolves

Coach: Reggie Cox (2nd year, 4-6; 4-6 career)

2025: 4-6, missed 7A playoffs.

Winter Park Wildcats

Coach: Tim Shifflet (20th year, 137-61)

2025: 6-5, made 7A playoffs.

Chris Hays can be found on X.com@OS_ChrisHays.

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