- December 4, 2025
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Keeping track of high school football players isn’t easy.
Players transfer from school to school every year, and the ripple effect can have championship-changing consequences.
Several players have transferred in and out of East County schools since the football season ended this past November.
With the preseason Kickoff Classic games coming Aug. 15, fans should know where these players have gone and how it affects local teams.
These are the main transfers that have taken place this past offseason:
The Mustangs finished with a winning record (6-4) this past season, but have lost several players via graduation and transfer, and none have transferred into the program.
The losses have mounted on offense, with playmakers leaving at every position.
Quarterback Liam Fernandez left for Southeast High. Receivers Trenton and Cade Huffman moved to Riverview. Running back Colton Dempsey, receiver Viktor Monoki and athlete Jayden Rivers transferred to Sarasota. Starting tackle Luke O’Brien transferred out of the program as well.
That leaves just one player — senior tight end Cooper Orzel — as the only returner who scored a touchdown last year.
Dempsey’s departure might sting the most. The senior running back ran for 1,015 yards and scored a team-high 13 touchdowns last season. Coupled with the graduation of Cullen McRae II (233 yards rushing and seven touchdowns), the Mustangs will have lost two of their most dynamic players.
Lakewood Ranch was a run-heavy team, and will likely have to be again this season with its quarterback and most of its receivers now on different teams.
Finding a player to fill the void of Dempsey and McRae II will be paramount to the team’s success this fall.
Some talented players remain.
The defense returns linebacker Aiden Getschow, who made the second-most tackles on the team last season (55) and cornerback Ka’Marion Jones, who had six interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
Orzel, who is 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, spent the spring learning the linebacker position so his talent can be utilized on both sides of the ball.
If Lakewood Ranch can piece together an offense and lean on its veteran leaders on defense, another winning season isn’t out of the question.
The Pirates have been on the wrong end of transfers the past two years.
It lost longtime coach Curt Bradley ahead of the 2024 season, and then lost his successor, longtime offensive coordinator Eric Sanders, just a month into his tenure.
Then, eight impact players left for other schools as well.
Though second-year coach Jason Grain has slowed the exodus of players, linebacker Storm Hense, who Grain called the team’s best defensive player, transferred to Manatee High in July.
Transfers haven’t been all bad news for Braden River, however.
The Pirates added quarterback Louisen Desinor from Southeast this past spring. Desinor threw for 1,877 yards and 16 touchdowns as a sophomore with the Seminoles, and he threw for 180 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s spring game against Mariner.
Though the loss of Hense will hurt the defense, the Pirates have several playmakers on both sides of the ball back, and should be in line for a much better season than last year’s 2-7 campaign.
Out-of-Door had an undefeated regular season last fall and fell one game short of playing in the Sunshine State Athletic Association 5A state championship game.
Many of the team’s best players are back for their senior season this year, and the team did not lose any impact players via transfer.
Quarterback was the one position that was a question coming into the year, and the Thunder might have found their answer.
Quarterbacks Jaxson Lawhun (Braden River) and Edouard Chaput (Canada) transferred into the program this summer.
Lawhun attempted just five passes last year as a sophomore with the Pirates, completing one for a five-yard touchdown. Chaput, a senior, completed 46-of-77 passes for 509 yards and six touchdowns in five games at Seminaire Saint-Joseph in Quebec last season.
ODA found success despite not having much of a passing game last season, with seven players combining to attempt just 72 passes across nine games.
However, coach Rob Hollway said the team intends to pass more often this fall, and an improved aerial attack — combined with a star-studded senior class — should put ODA in contention among the best in its class.
