Oak Hall raises bar after winning a ring

Coming off a championship season, the Oak Hall School football team has its sights set high in 2026.

Last year, the Eagles defeated Cambridge Christian (Tampa), 27-10, at The Villages Charter School to win the Sunshine State Athletic Association (SSAA) 3A Championship.

“Yeah, it was huge,” said OHS football coach R.J. Fuhr, who enters the second season of his second stint. “We had a little bit of a stumble the last part of the season. We had some injuries, so we actually lost our last four regular season games…but the kids just rallied, and we just kind of had a one week at a time mentality, new season. I really wanted to impress upon the kids to play for the seniors, send them out as champions, and it’s a little bit of a cliché, but we ended up doing it, so I couldn’t be prouder of the kids for sure.”

With six starters back on offense and five on defense, OHS has a good core group returning, so they are raising the bar.

However, this year the Eagles are back in the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) in the independent classification. They are one of 17 schools in the North region competing in Pool B (schools with populations up to 899 students).

Although they are competing for a different title, last year’s championship will serve as a motivator.

“Yeah, we’ve been using that,” Fuhr said. “We know what it takes to win a ring, but we’re not going to be sneaking up on anybody…I think it’s exciting for the kids, and it definitely gives us motivation for sure.”

There is plenty of talent on the offensive side of the ball.

“I think this is our best group of skill players that we’ve had in a long time,” Fuhr said. “I feel like we have some guys that, I call them home run hitters, guys that can take it the distance on one play.”

One of those players is Darius Medley, who had a season-best 80-yard touchdown run in last year’s championship game.

In his first season of playing varsity football, Medley carried the ball 111 times for 1,148 yards with 16 touchdowns and caught 17 passes for 362 yards and five touchdowns.

“He’s amazing,” Fuhr said. “He’s still learning how to play football, which is crazy, and his ceiling is really high. We went to the Mercer (University) camp, took a few of the guys up there, and they’re very high on him…with him having a year of actual football under his belt, we’re expecting even bigger things from him.”

Not only is he an offensive weapon, but he also led the team in tackles with 62.

“We’ve just got to really lock in,” Medley said. “I’m not worried about offensively. Defensively, we’ve just got to lock in, make our tackles, and we should be good because offensively, I know we can move the ball down the field.”

Senior B.J. Johnson, who played third base and pitched for the Eagles’ baseball team, moves from wide receiver to quarterback.

“Last year was really my first year of football,” Johnson said. “We’ve just got to trust in the system and trust in each other, and I think it will all work out.”

Defensively, the Eagles will have players who are new to positions, but they will also have some key returnees.

Junior Will Staples, who will also play center, got plenty of experience last year as a linebacker because of an injury and sophomore Noah Wilbanks started at linebacker in the championship game.

“Those are two really young guys that are going to be big for us because they’re replacing some graduating seniors,” Fuhr said.

Johnson led the team with four interceptions, followed by Medley and rising junior Bradley Wise with two apiece.

Fuhr said Wise will be playing “all over the field” at quarterback, running back, safety and cornerback.

“There’s a lot of skill guys,” Wise said. “I think we’re going to shift a little bit into throwing the ball more this year and kind of spread out the field. We have some good athletes.”

Staying healthy will be key for the Eagles, who essentially lose two starters with one injury since players are going both ways. Fuhr anticipates a total of 22-25 players on this year’s roster.

If they can avoid big injuries, they have a chance to compete for another ring.

“A lot of teams, you see they win that championship and then they kind of drop off,” Staples said. “But our team is still hungry. We’re trying to win another one.”

OHS will travel to Bronson at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21, for the season opener. The home opener is the following Friday against Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville).