Thursday night’s big games to watch in Week 7

With nearly 40 games going on in the Sunshine State tonight, we take a look at a couple of big games we will be following that involve teams in the Florida Top 25 rankings as we get Week 7 action underway! 

No. 19 Orlando Edgewater (5-1) at Winter Park (5-1)

When: Thursday

Where: Showalter Field, Winter Park

Kickoff: 7 PM ET

Live Stream: Varsity Sports Network

Notes: Edgewater comes into this game with a four-game winning streak after starting the season 1-1 with the loss coming to No. 2 Venice, a 41-7 loss on the road in Week 2 … Winter Park’s only loss came to No. 15 Lake Mary, 38-14 in Week 2 … Edgewater last week defeated Winter Haven 44-14 in a District 7A-6 contest … Winter Park defeated Oviedo Hagerty, 41-28, in a District 8A-4 matchup last week … Jamari Shaw for Winter Park scored three rushing touchdowns and had over 100 yards of offense last week … Running back C.J. Baxter for Edgewater had 127 yards rushing on seven carries and scored two touchdowns while junior quarterback Chase Carter went 5-of-9 passing for 107 yards and a touchdown while senior quarterback Tyler Wesley tossed three touchdowns for the Eagles.

No. 23 Buchholz (4-1) vs. Gainesville (4-1)

When: Thursday

Where: Citizens Field, Gainesville

Kickoff: 7 PM ET

Radio: WPLL 106.9 FM

Online: I Am Country 106.9

TV: My 11 TV Gainesville

Notes: Both Buchholz and Gainesville have played each other on the gridiron since 1972 with the exception of last year when COVID-19 forced Gainesville to cancel last year’s meeting … The meeting between the two schools along with each school’s meeting with Gainesville Eastside determines a city champion each year … Buchholz’s only loss so far this season comes against No. 11 Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, a 16-7 loss in Week 4 … Gainesville’s only loss came in Week 1 to former district foe, Ocala Vanguard … Last week Buchholz easily handled Tallahassee Leon, 49-3, in a District 7A-2 contest … Gainesville had last week off and last defeated Santa Fe 49-14 in Week 5 … For the visiting Bobcats the key players offensively to watch include junior quarterback Creed Whittemore who has 855 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, and four interceptions on the season while and senior running back Quan Lee has been used both in the rushing attack and passing attack for the Bobcats … Lee has 242 yards rushing on 17 carries and three touchdowns on the ground while having 18 catches for 339 yards and three touchdowns … Another name to watch is Adrian Sermons who has 19 catches for 307 yards and five touchdowns in five games … Defensively for Buchholz, several guys lead the way with Jabari Clemons leading with four sacks while Daryus Boyd, Kendall Jackson, and Thomas Weinhardt each have three sacks apiece while EJ Gadson leads the team in tackles with 26 tackles … Clemons also leads the team with tackles for loss at six … For Gainesville a couple of key players including watching for receiver Brent King, while keeping an eye on sophomore Shamon Coleman who is the starting quarterback for the Hurricanes.