2025 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE ANALYSIS: East Bay looks to win more games under new head coach

OVERVIEW

East Bay is looking to build upon a 7-4 season from 2024 as DeAndra’ Simmons takes over from the retired Mike Gottman. However, with a schedule that looks identical as last year’s schedule and with some of the wins being very close, could things go differently for the Indians in 2025? Let’s take a look at East Bay in this 2025 schedule breakdown.

2025 SCHEDULE

Kickoff 7:30 pm unless noted

* – District

Week 1 – Fri. 8/22: at Strawberry Crest (Dover)

Week 2 – Fri. 8/29: vs. Hillsborough (Tampa)

Week 3 – Fri. 9/5: vs. Newsome (Lithia)

Week 4 – Fri. 9/12: at Bloomingdale (Valrico)

Week 5 – Fri. 9/19: vs. Blake (Tampa)

Week 6 – Fri. 9/26: vs. Leto (Tampa)*

Week 7 – Fri. 10/3: at Wharton (Tampa)

Week 8 – Fri. 10/10: at Tampa Bay Tech*

Week 9 – Fri. 10/17: at Riverview (Riverview)

Week 10 – Fri. 10/24: vs. Spoto (Riverview)*

Week 11 – Fri. 10/31: BYE WEEK

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

Honestly, we really are not fans of the Hillsborough County system of scheduling, but such is life. With that said, the Indians’ strength of schedule for the 2025 season is sitting under .500 at .448. The toughest opponent for the 2025 season is going to be Tampa Bay Tech once again who has been making deep playoff runs for more years than we can count on our hands basically. If we need to find an easy opponent, there are several teams that could fit the bill, but we have to say district foe Leto is going to be the one that gets the nod here, who has been struggling for years in finding ways to be competitive. The schedule is the same as last year and doesn’t really change the strength of things for the Indians.

KEY GAMES & MUST-WATCH MATCHUPS

While East Bay hasn’t played its closest rival, Lennard in two years, they do have another big rivalry with nearby Riverview who managed to nab a close win last year and that will be one highlight of the schedule in 2025. However, when we dig deeper, the most important game for the Indians will once again be the Week 8 game against Tampa Bay Tech, which is also the most important of the three district games the Indians will play. And while there could be several game that fit the bill for top non-district matchup, a game against Hillsborough in any given year can give teams fits and thus we think that is one of the top non-district games for East Bay.

HOME VS. AWAY BALANCE

The Indians will play four of their first six games at home to start of the season but will have to go on a three-game road trip towards the end of the season that could make things interesting depending on how they are doing towards the middle part of the season. While the Indians will not travel outside of Hillsborough County during the season, their longest road trip will come in at just over 28 miles when the make the trek to the northern part of the county towards the New Tampa area when they play Wharton in Week 7.

OPPONENT BREAKDOWN

Of the opponents on the schedule in 2025 for East Bay only three teams were playoff teams last year with Tampa Bay Tech being the team that went the deepest in the playoffs and as we mentioned briefly, there are no changes to the schedule for 2025 with this being a complete mirror of the 2024 schedule.

BYE WEEK PLACEMENT

With the bye week slated to come in Week 11, this could be helpful for the Indians as long as they do not need to play a game in Week 12 – the new universal bye week – if thunderstorms or a hurricane end up displacing a critical game. The rest in Week 11 will help the Indians recover in preparation for a playoff berth – that is if the Indians can maintain their winning ways under their new head coach in 2025.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS

Week 8 against Tampa Bay Tech is the game that matters the most and will determine who will win the district. If this game is won, it could prove to be huge for East Bay, but a loss will have the Indians looking for other opponents to do the best they can in hope for a decent at-large berth. Games against Hillsborough and Newsome will most likely prove to be the most critical non-district games for the Indians in 2025.

PREDICTED RECORD & FINAL THOUGHTS

There is a possibility that East Bay could finish this season with a nearly identical record as 2024 at 7-3 or possibly going as high as 8-2 – which would mean reversing a loss to Strawberry Crest from Week 1 last year – or possibly lower at 6-4. A worst-case scenario for East Bay is potentially slipping to a 5-5 record which could put the Indians on the outside looking in for a playoff berth in 2025. In this scenario we see East Bay likely looking at a 6-4 record with losses potentially to Strawberry Crest, Hillsborough, Newsome or Spoto and most certainly a loss to Tampa Bay Tech with a playoff berth likely in the seven or eighth seed range being the most likely outcome.