5 takeaways from Florida high school football Thursday night [9/5/2024]

There was plenty of action that took place across the state and we provide some takeaways from the night

Tarpon Springs High School Football

The Florida high school football season continued its season on Thursday night with some results before Friday's main course of games. Before Friday's slate of games, there were plenty of good ones played on Thursday and we've got some takeaways from those contests. Take a look below at the five takeaways from Florida's third Thursday of regular season games.

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Tarpon Springs overcomes deficit in win over Osceola

Through a fourth quarter that ended in a torrential downpour, Tarpon Springs was able to overcome a bevy of first half mistakes to defeat Osceola 28-17. The night really belonged to 2025 running back Nikita Rinios, who rushed for around 200 yards on the night for the Spongers. The tailback combination of Rinios and Emarian Triplett along with timely passing from Joaquin Kavouklis, makes this Tarpon Springs (3-0) team an exciting bunch to watch on a week-to-week basis. With the game getting switched up to Tarpon Springs, in which it was supposed to be played at Osceola’s home field originally, it worked out in the end for the Spongers.

Bartram Trail needs overtime to defeat Ware County (Georgia)

Arguably one of the best games in the country for a Thursday night was played over in South Georgia between Bartram Trail and Ware County (Georgia). The Bears needed overtime to defeat the Gators 43-42 on a game-winning touchdown run from running back Neko Dawkins. Bartram Trail needed the victory after suffering its first loss of the season last week to Ponte Vedra. The Bears will certainly have the opportunity to test their mettle some more with contests later in the schedule against Nease, St. Augustine and Buchholz.

Somerset Academy-Canyons upends Key West

Ever since a season-opening loss to Santaluces to start the season, the Cougars have bounced back with back-to-back wins. Somerset Academy-Canyons picked up the latter of those victories on Thursday in a 20-14 decision over Key West. Slowing down the Conchs’ vaunted ground attack that’s taken pride in not throwing the football, was impressive. Now Somerset has Inlet Grove coming up next week.

Mosley keeps up torrid scoring pace

Not many teams can say they’ve been scoring points at the pace Mosley has been this season. That’s because this Dolphins is averaging 47.0 points per game after Thursday’s 35-7 victory over Rickards. Taking a look at how good this Mosley offense has really been will be tested in the coming weeks with always tough Navarre and Escambia on deck.

Glades Central off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2020

Are the Raiders back? We won’t jump to those conclusions just yet, but there’s no denying the start for Glades Central. For the first time since 2020, the Raiders are off to a 3-0 start after they defeated Palm Beach Lakes 41-13. Glades Central got a big rushing performance from 2026 running back Ar’maud Stinfort, who rushed for 121 yards and scored two touchdowns. They’ll be tested here in the coming weeks as the Raiders will face teams like Bishop Verot, Sebring and rival Pahokee in the Muck Bowl at the end of the season.

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl