Middleton, Fla. — The Villages High School football team kicked off the 2025 campaign with its most dominant season-opening victory ever Friday night in Middleton.

The Buffalo rolled rival Wildwood for a 53-0 win at H.G. Morse Stadium, scoring six first-half touchdowns en route to the largest margin of victory for a Week 1 win in program history. The previous mark was a 50-0 win over Crescent City to open the 2020 season.

VHS (1-0) jumped out to a 43-0 lead at halftime, taking advantage of a hapless Wildwood (0-1) squad that struggled to compete in all three phases. Jadence Kennedy threw four first-half touchdowns, Cole Logan added a score on the ground and the Buffalo defense returned an interception to the house all before the break. 

"I'm real proud of our team because they've worked hard to get to this point," said Buffalo head coach Richard Pettus, who improved to 12-7 against Wildwood throughout his VHS tenure. "We've got a chance to be pretty good this year, but we've got to clean some things up. The energy, the effort and the enthusiasm, however, it was all good for us tonight. We were ready to go and ready to compete, for sure."

After forcing a three-and-out and following a Wildwood punt of just seven yards, the Buffalo offense needed just five plays to score its first points of the season. Kennedy tip-toed around two defenders in the pocket and then threw to Ja'Marian Clark across the middle, who made three Wildwood players miss tackles en route to a 23-yard touchdown.

A fumble on the ensuing Wildwood play from scrimmage led to an 8-yard touchdown run from Logan and a 13-0 VHS lead halfway through the opening quarter.

The Buffalo extended their advantage to 21-0 in the final minute of the first period, when Devonte Huff deflected a wayward pass from Wildwood's Johnny Ware Jr. into the hands of teammate Jonathan Williams. The sophomore defensive back ran the interception back 29 yards into the end zone to cap a dominant opening 12 minutes of play.

Another Wildwood interception — this one picked off by former Wildcat Kevonte Corbin — set Kennedy up for his second passing score of the night. The junior quarterback fired down the right side to Clark once again, with the Leesburg transfer hauling in the 22-yard scoring strike for a 28-0 lead.

Kennedy would go on to add two more passing touchdowns in the second quarter, as he found Brady Hunt for a 38-yard score and a 44-yard touchdown to Corbin. Hunt plowed through three defenders on a punishing catch-and-run, while Corbin's touchdown reception came after the Buffalo successfully recovered a surprise onside kick against their county rivals.

Corbin's night against his former Wildwood team was a memorable one, as the senior added a punt block, a long punt return and a forced fumble to his interception and receiving touchdown in the first half.

"They told me when I came over here, that I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing now," Corbin said of his former team. "All I heard was that I wouldn't be able to play both sides of the ball and be an athlete over here. But I feel like I showed them tonight — and I showed a lot of people — that I'm a real athlete."

VHS added a 9-yard touchdown run from Maguire Mellinger late in the third quarter and a 45-yard field goal by Keenan Boozer in the fourth quarter to settle the night's final margin, as The Villages trounced Wildwood for its third consecutive win in the series and seventh victory in the last eight meetings.

Kennedy finished 6-of-9 passing for 176 yards and four touchdowns, with Corbin tallying a team-high 51 yards on a pair of catches and Clark finishing with 50 yards on two receptions. 

A total of nine VHS offensive possessions started in Wildwood territory, as the Wildcats were held to 44 yards of total offense on 44 plays from scrimmage. The Buffalo defense also forced five turnovers on the night.

Up next, The Villages will take on Lecanto (1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday night at H.G. Morse Stadium in Middleton. The Buffalo fell 38-0 to the Leopards last August in Citrus County.

"Next week is going to be a whole lot different and we know that," Pettus said. "(Lecanto) has a lot of players returning and we know it's going to be a big challenge. But overall, I thought we started the season well and we're 1-0, and we'll move on to the next one."


Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment via email at cody.hills@tvcs.org.