WATCH REPLAY: Eau Gallie Hosts The First Academy in Week 4 Showdown

By Zane Garcia, Space Coast Daily // September 13, 2025

SPACE COAST DAILY IS YOUR NO.1 SOURCE FOR BREVARD HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

Orville Susong and Zane Garcia will be on the call from Commodore Stadium as Eau Gallie hosts The First Academy in Week 4 of the prep football season. Coverage will begin shortly before the 7 p.m. kickoff on the Space Coast Daily Facebook and YouTube pages.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Orville Susong and Zane Garcia will be on the call from Commodore Stadium on Friday night as Eau Gallie hosts The First Academy in Week 4 of the prep football season.

Coverage will begin shortly before the 7 p.m. kickoff on the Space Coast Daily Facebook and YouTube pages.

This is the 31st season of high school football coverage for the principals of Space Coast Daily and the Friday Night Locker Room – brought to you by Erdman Automotive, Health First, 4Ever Young of Merritt Island, and All Points.

Matchup Details:

This is the first meeting between the two schools, and it promises to be a great one. Eau Gallie comes into this game at 2-1 with home wins over Rockledge and Heritage. The First Academy enters at 1-2 with a dominating win over Treasure Coast.

The First Academy and Eau Gallie are both among the top teams in Central Florida. TFA is ranked as the No. 9 team in the state, and losses came against the top five teams in Alabama and Georgia.

This game will be loaded with star-studded players on both sides of the field.

Story of Eau Gallie:

Eau Gallie lost its Week 1 game on the road at Vero Beach, but the bigger loss was the injury of star quarterback Joseph Allen. The injury to Allen has nearly eliminated a passing attack for the Commodores, who have relied on Xavier Lherisse, X’Zavier Corbin, and TJ Monroe to run the ball.

The Commodores will eventually need to mix it up and put the ball in the air, as being one-dimensional favors most defenses they will face.

Story of The First Academy:

The First Academy had its 2024 season games forfeited after they were penalized by the FHSAA; however, this team is ultra-talented and can compete with anyone in the state.

The Royals have multiple players who are a threat on both sides of the ball, but offensively, numerous players can make a “homer” type play at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver.

Keys to Victory

Eau Gallie …

■ Limit penalties; the Commodores need to stay ahead of the sticks

■ Create turnovers, extra possessions are going to be huge for Eau Gallie

■ Win time of possession; if the Commodores can sustain long drives, that will be to their benefit

The First Academy…

■ Stop Eau Gallie momentum plays; the Commodores will feed off their home crowd, so shutting down big plays will matter.

■ Score early, for the Royals to walk out with a win, they cannot have a slow start and make this a fourth-quarter game

■ Force third and longs, without Joseph Allen, Eau Gallie’s passing game is nearly extinct. If the Royals force third and long, Eau Gallie might have to play four-down football.

DON’T MISS ALL THE LIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY ACTION ON SPACE COAST DAILY TV

The 2025 season is filled with talented student-athletes all across Brevard County, and many are being sought after by some of the best college football teams across the country.

With many decisions to be made by numerous athletes on where to pursue their college dreams, the Space Coast Daily – Friday Night Locker Room team is your go-to source for the latest announcements and commitments made by the athletes.

This year’s coverage on Space Coast Daily TV will once again feature a dynamic broadcast lineup, marking the first official media entity to bring prep football play-by-play coverage to Brevard County on both radio and TV.

Space Coast Sports Hall of Famers Steve Wilson and Orville Susong of the Friday Night Locker Room will once again bring you all the live action from the broadcast booth. In addition, Tom Palermo, Jim Palermo, Giles Malone, Zach Clark, Zane Garcia, Terry Spain, JC Meyerholz, Matt O’Hern, Gavin Keith, and Brian Dillon will anchor or produce play-by-play football broadcasts and coverage this season.

Don’t miss these live sports broadcasts featuring cutting-edge coverage on the streaming Space Coast Daily TV, along with player interviews, replays, highlights, pre-game and post-game analysis, and much more!

Space Coast Daily-Friday Night Locker Room Brevard High School Football Week 4 Rankings

The week 4 rankings will have some changes, as only two of the top eight teams in the rankings from a week ago won their games. Rankings are based on each week’s performance, record, and strength of schedule.

No. 1 – Eau Gallie Commodores

WATCH THE REPLAY: Eau Gallie Commodores host Heritage Panthers in Week 3 of the prep football season.

The Commodores took on the Heritage Panthers in week 3, in a matchup between two heavyweights. The game concluded as expected. Heritage, coming off a nail-biting loss to Seminole, was in the hunt for an upset bid over Eau Gallie, while the Commodores were looking to move to 2-1. This one stayed close the entire game, but it was the Commodores who outlasted the Panthers 16-12 to remain atop the rankings in Brevard County.

No. 2 – Cocoa Tigers

WATCH THE REPLAY: Cocoa Tigers travel to Vero Beach to face the Indians

Cocoa came into week 3 after losing to Mainland, but saw a hungry Vero Beach team in front of them. From the start of this one, the Indians were just a step faster than the Tigers and completed the sweep of Brevard County’s two best teams. After a truly forgettable performance by the Tigers, they will look ahead to Heritage, who, like the Tigers, have started 1-2 and are eager to get back on the winning train.

No. 3 – Merritt Island Mustangs

Merritt Island went on the road and faced an ultra-talented DeLand team. After beating the Melbourne Bulldogs a week ago, the Mustangs were confident in facing another Bulldogs team this week. The Mustangs had a shootout on their hands as the game went into the fourth quarter, but the DeLand offense was too much, and this was the Mustangs’ second loss of the season, dropping them to 1-2 after a 57-51 loss. Merritt Island will look to get back on track as they host Palm Bay this upcoming Friday. Although losing two close games, the Mustangs have proved they can compete and win against anyone they face this season.

No. 4 – Heritage Panthers

Heritage travelled to Eau Gallie and had a chance to pull off the upset they were hoping to just a week ago against Seminole. This one was a tough grinder out game, but the Panthers fell short of getting the upset win in the 16-12 defeat. However, the opportunity for another upset win comes this week as Heritage will host the Cocoa Tigers. Both teams sitting at 1-2 are hoping to get back track with a big win in week 4.

No. 5 – Melbourne Central Catholic Hustlers’

The Hustlers had an unplanned bye week last week after the weather cancelled their showdown with Trinity Catholic. Week 3 set up a matchup with Saint Andrew’s, and MCC was looking to get off to a quick 2-0 start, but Saint Andrew’s had other ideas. The Scots travelled from Boca Raton and came out with a 21-9 victory, moving them to 2-0 and MCC to 1-1. The Hustlers will now head to Sarasota and face a challenging Riverview squad this coming Friday.

No. 6 – Viera Hawks

After an emotional week 1 victory, the Hawks looked dismal in their 14-6 loss at home against a less-than-stellar Deltona squad. It was clear Viera put the emotions behind them in week 3 as they went to Astronaut and made a statement, winning 40-14. The battle of birds went to the Hawks over the Eagles, but they will have to put another outstanding performance together as they will head to Titusville in week 4.

No. 7 – Melbourne Bulldogs

Melbourne’s chance at a statement win in week 2 at Merritt Island did not go as they would have liked, but they bounced back in a big way. A 34-16 victory over University is a great win and boosts the Bulldogs to 2-1 on the season. Melbourne will host Palm Beach Christian Prep as they look to move to 3-1 in the first four weeks of the season. The Bulldogs will have another chance in a couple of weeks for a big statement win when they face Osceola.

No. 8 – Satellite Scorpions

Although Satellite has not played the same quality of opponents as other teams around the county, they have been absolutely dominant in their first four games of the season. This Friday, they will have a chance to prove many of their critics wrong in facing Cocoa Beach. They have outscored their first four opponents 133-7 as they try to continue the win streak at the start of the Dan Burke era.

Brevard County High School Football Week 3 Scoreboard, Watch Replays and See Game Recaps

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Week 3 of the high school football season in Brevard County saw nearly every team go on the road and play an out-of-county team, while some were nail-biters, others were not.

Vero Beach 38 – Cocoa 3: WATCH REPLY HERE

Vero Beach came out ready to play from the start, and it was evident that they were looking to make a statement hosting the back-to-back-to-back state champions. Cocoa was stunned right away when Vero Beach recovered the opening kickoff, the Indians put points on the board in a hurry, and never looked back.

■ Eau Gallie 16 – Heritage 12: WATCH REPLAY HERE

This game lived up to the hype of what it would be: a defensive duel. The top two to four teams in Brevard County are both trying to show their dominance and come to play. Eau Gallie was able to get on the scoreboard first, but Heritage would have an answer. By the end, the Panthers could not do enough to pull off the big upset, although they did give the Commodores a scare.

■ DeLand 57 – Merritt Island 51

An absolute shootout, if you are a fan of offense, this was the game to watch Friday night. The Mustangs were fresh off a 42-21 win over Melbourne, but on the road at DeLand, it was poised to be a bigger matchup. Going back and forth all the way till then, the DeLand Bulldogs were able to finish this off, but not before both teams would combine for 108 points.

■ Melbourne 34 – University 16

There is always a question mark about how a team will respond after a loss, and Melbourne was prepared. University will not be a big-time win for the Bulldogs, but surely a momentum builder as they look to improve upon this win with a few winnable games in the coming weeks.

■ Viera 40 – Astronaut 14

This could not have been a more defining matchup for both teams. Viera was looking to show they are not the same team from a year ago after a less-than-stellar showing against Deltona last week. Astronaut, after their 2-0 start, was looking for a true statement win to catapult themselves. Viera came out to win, not just to play, and it showed.

■ West Orange 54 – Titusville 21

Titusville had a very challenging game in traveling to West Orange. The Terriers’ defense struggled to contain the Warriors, and as a result, they could not get into a proper rhythm on offense. Titusville will put this one behind them as they host Viera next week, which is expected to be another tough test.

■ Cardinal Mooney 39 – Rockledge 3

Cardinal Mooney has built a reputation for being one of the better football programs in the state of Florida. For the Raiders, this game was a test to gauge how good they are at this point in the season. While this one may not be one to remember, it will give the Raiders some experience against an outstanding team.

■ Palm Bay 34 – Cocoa Beach 18

The Pirates have now won their last two, which does not indicate they have figured everything out, but that the team is starting to buy into what new head coach Kevin Mays is trying to sell. Palm Bay will now head to Merritt Island and try to pull off a major upset.

■ Holy Trinity 47 – Port St. Lucie 0

Holy Trinity lost a heartbreaker a week ago at Titusville and could not have been more ready to take the field this week. They dominated from start to finish, pitching a shutout over Port St. Lucie. The Tigers will now head to Bayside for their third of four straight away games to begin this season.

■ Saint Andrew’s 21 – MCC 9

After having a game cancellation a week ago, the Hustlers were eager to take the field, but they just never found their groove. Although it is a tough loss for MCC, the season is still young, and they can turn it around. The Hustlers will head to Riverview Sarasota next week, which will be another test for them.

■ Bayside 22 – Tradition Prep 6

Solid win for a Bayside team that was shut out a week ago by Palm Bay. They will have to let this win motivate them, however, as Holy Trinity comes to town, and that game will not be any easier. On the bright side, the Bears are now 2-2 on the season and have an opportunity at a couple of upset wins ahead of them.

■ Merritt Island Christian 55 – Countryside Christian 16

This game for Merritt Island Christian was personal; just a season ago, Countryside Christian bounced the Cougars out of the playoffs. Merritt Island Christian dominated and now moves to 4-0 on the season, as they are in the hunt for their second state championship in the past three seasons.