FLORIDA TOP 25 PREVIEW: No. 8 Seminole Fighting Seminoles team preview

With the 2022 high school football season here we are previewing the Top 25 teams in our Florida Top 25 rankings that we have already debuted on Varsity Sports Network’s Florida Gridiron Report last week. Rankings for the Florida Top 25 will be updated each Wednesday night on the Florida Gridiron Report and on FloridaHSFootball.com along with all classification rankings.

NO. 8 SEMINOLE FIGHTING SEMINOLES

Head Coach: Eric Lodge, 3rd year

Classification & District: 4M-2

2021 Record: 11-2

Key Athletes: QB Luke Rucker, Sr; WR Goldie Lawrence, Sr; DB Antonio Simpson, Sr; LB Deon Campbell, Sr; DE Charles Green, Sr; OL Josiah Chenault, Sr; OL Stefon Mango, Sr; OL Max Buchanan, So; WR Michael Key, Jr; RB Rory Thomas, Sr; LB Ethan Pritchard, So; CB Juan Berchal, So; DL Preston Watson, Jr

2022 Schedule

Kickoff 7:00 PM ET unless noted

* – Denotes District Game

Fri. 8/26 (Week 1) – Sarasota Riverview

Fri. 9/2 (Week 2) – @ Kissimmee Osceola, 7:30

Fri. 9/9 (Week 3) – Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast

Fri. 9/16 (Week 4) – Orlando Evans*

Fri. 9/23 (Week 5) – @ Venice, 7:30

Fri. 9/30 (Week 6) – @ Apopka*

Fri. 10/7 (Week 7) – Cocoa

Fri. 10/14 (Week 8) – @ DeLand

Fri. 10/21 (Week 9) – Altamonte Springs Lake Brantley*

Fri. 10/28 (Week 10) – @ Lake Mary*

Fri. 11/4 (Week 11) – BYE WEEK

Season Outlook: After winning the Class 8A State Championship in 2020, Seminole reached the regional finals last year where they were outlasted by Apopka dashed hopes of repeating as state champions. Now in 2022 with the new classification changes, the Fighting Seminoles find themselves now in the same district with Apopka for the first time in almost four decades. With that said, the stakes are very high as District 4M-2 is expected to be the district of death in Class 4M for this year with other teams like Lake Mary and Altamonte Springs Lake Brantley lurking around and looking to cause issues for Seminole in their quest for a potential state championship in 2022. Coach Lodge cites the team’s experience on offense and his talented defense as being part of the team’s strengths for 2022 but cites depth and experience for the defense as needing improvement with the defense only returning five overall starters compared to the nine starters that are back on offense. Players like Rucker and Lawrence are going to be major contributors to what is expected to be a very fast and high-paced offense for Seminole once again while Simpson, Campbell, and Green will be the expected leaders of the defense.