West Orange, Seminole and University start strong as Orlando-area teams host out-of-state tests in KSA Events series

Orlando-area football returned Thursday with an out-of-state-heavy look, and local teams largely held up their end. Across a five-game KSA Events series, Orlando-area squads went 3-2 in Thursday night matchups that doubled as early-season calibration for new staffs and upgraded personnel.

West Orange, ranked No. 9 in the Sentinel’s Preseason Super 16 Coaches Poll, delivered the most attention-getting result of the night. The Warriors defeated Archbishop Hoban (Ohio) 28-24, overcoming the kind of late-game pressure that often defines high school season openers, when timing, communication and conditioning are still being tested.

One of the key turning points for West Orange came through the passing of AJ Chung, who completed a 30-yard touchdown that helped swing momentum toward the end of the game. In a contest that ended by only four points, big-play efficiency mattered, not just the ability to move the ball, but the ability to convert field position into points when opportunities arrived.

Seminole and University also finished victorious in their own regular-season-opening matchups against out-of-state opponents, reinforcing that the local home-field environment and familiar game-week prep did not disappear just because the teams across the lines came from outside Florida. The night’s overall ledger, 3-2 for Orlando-area teams, suggests that the slate functioned as a meaningful measuring stick rather than a completely lopsided scrimmage-like event.

For West Orange, the win carries added weight because of the program’s preseason visibility. Being positioned near the top of the local preseason conversation places expectations on execution early, especially in games where the opponent is not shaped around the same district tendencies and scouting baseline. The decision to play an out-of-state opponent in the opener can speed development, but it also raises the margin for error when teams are still settling into rotation patterns on offense and defense.

Seminole and University will be evaluated by a different set of questions as their seasons move forward. Thursday’s results indicate they can win on the road in the broader sense, by handling unfamiliar game plans and different stylistic emphasis. The next step will be sustaining that performance once the regular local calendar brings opponents with more shared film history and recurring tactical motifs.

What to watch next is how these three winners look when the novelty wears off. Early success against out-of-state teams often highlights talent and preparation, but the real test is how well they adjust after the first full week of self-scouting, when coaches identify which drives were repeatable and which were reliant on one-off breaks.