ORANGE PARK - The opening preseason classic between Ridgeview and Keystone Heights offers two different perspectives on a football start for both schools. Ridgeview is priming to add a few wins to last year's one win season, while Keystone Heights will open with a severely depleted roster due to transfers and players deciding to not play football.

In a final scrimmage for Ridgeview coach Merlin Smith, the vibe on the feel was one of team bond and limited ferocity as the Panthers of 2024 would like to get 2025 started with a bang.
"I think this team is totally a different animal," said Smith. "You can see it in their eyes that last year was kind of a bad experience and they want to reverse that. The summer conditioning and the camps we went to showed me that they are coming together as a team."
On the field in a Friday scrimmage, the spear of the Panthers' attack during Friday's scrimmage, and one of the leaders on both sides of the ball was senior linebacker and guard Ayden Janke. He was knocking defenders down with kick-out blocks and taking out formations from his linebacker spot.

"This is what we've been working hard all summer to do," said Janke. "We didn't like last year since that season ended, we've change our approach to preparations for this season. We are going to surprise people."
Smith and Janke's optimism stems from a late July pads camp in DeLand that put the Panthers on the field against a handful of contender programs.
"You could feel the chip on their shoulders," said Smith. "A, we were invited, I think, and the kids thought they were going to be the punching bags, but the team came together and made those other teams; Dunnellon, Durant, look twice when our guys came up with big plays. It was a solid confidence builder."

Smith will also field two powerful sluggers in his running back slots with Christian Felder and Isaiah "Brick" Fowlkes pounding between a much improved offensive line with size, improved footwork and maybe a better understanding of Smith's protocol of power up front.
"You know I like my power run game to loose up the passing lanes," said Smith. "Maybe it was too much too fast to digest for some of our big guys, but the psychology up front is totally different two, led by Michael Moglia and Josiah Moore with newcomer David Dotson, a freshman, adding a big presence on the line."
At the south end of the county, Keystone Heights football coach Steve Reynolds was still trying to absorb the reality of having a handful of key players —running backs Colton Hollingsworth, Zane Leger and Kyle Perkins, plus Jagger Lancaster as the rotation back, all leaving the program while last year's quarterback, Baylor Ford, following the crowd and choosing golf instead of football.

The move being so sudden that Reynolds has yet to update his Maxpreps roster which has just 13 players listed.
"I will coach the kids that show up the best I can," said Reynolds, at a depleted Media Day photo shoot. "For whatever reason, maybe our schedule is so tough or what, we have to move on with what we have in uniform."
For Reynolds, who also lost by a concussion protocol decision after a car accident his starting quarterback, Ryder Trull, will be piecing together his lineup probably even as the preseason approaches.
Right now, though, the players expected to step up are quarterback Cole Crabtree, who stepped in with solid play for Trull, who played in their spring scrimmages; Hunter Crumpton, a strong, aggressive running back that has been a beast in the weight room all summer and up front, where Keystone Heights will still have their usual very big, very strong guys led by Pete Bostic, Luke Bacorn and Trase Wooden.
From there, though, Reynolds will be seeing new faces, young players and inexperience, but, in Keystone Heights fashion, the kids in Keystone Heights have always been super competitive with an unique knack of cracker jack.
Ridgeview opens regular season play with a road trip to Orange Park while Keystone Heights opens with Interlachen before a gauntlet of games with the likes of state contenders from last year: Union County, Newberry, Dixie County and Bradford.