At the onset of the millennium, the Naples High School football team laid the foundation for a run of success never before seen in Southwest Florida.
The Golden Eagles reached three state championship games in seven years, becoming the first (and still only) area team to win two football titles (2001, 2007).
In the past decade, Naples was easily the winningest football program in Southwest Florida with 98 victories and a .831 winning percentage. That was 16 wins more than its closest challenger, First Baptist.
The Lions, however, are the only Southwest Florida football team to win an FHSAA state championship in the last 10 years, claiming the Class 1S title in 2022.
Dunbar, whose 80 wins were more than any other Lee County team since 2014, reached back-to-back state semifinals in 2022 and 2023. No Lee football team has ever won an FHSAA state championship. Canterbury captured consecutive Sunshine State Athletic Conference championships in 2018-19.
Below are the top 15 Southwest Florida high school programs, ranked by winning percentage from 2014 through the 2023 season.
Naples 98-20 (83.1%, 10 playoff appearances)
The Golden Eagles were the only team to win at least one FHSAA state playoff game in every one of the past 10 years. In half of those seasons, Naples was defeated by the eventual state champion, four times by Miami Central and once by Miami Northwestern. Naples hasn’t finished with a losing record since 1998, its first year under eventual FHSAA Hall of Fame coach Bill Kramer. Head coach Rick Martin’s teams are 36-7 in his first four seasons, reaching the regional championship round three times.
First Baptist 82-30 (73.2%, nine playoff appearances)
In 2022, the Lions joined Naples and Immokalee as the only Southwest Florida football programs to win a state championship when it defeated Ocala Trinity Catholic 21-3. First Baptist has advanced to the state semifinal round in each of the past three seasons. Head coach Billy Sparacio, who founded the program in 2009, is 118-46 in 15 seasons with the Lions. He is the longest-tenured coach in Collier County.
Fort Myers 79-33 (70.5%, nine playoff appearances)
The Green Wave are the only Lee County football program to qualify for the state playoffs every one of the past 10 years. Their best year of the past decade came in 2014 when the team matched the program’s all-time record with 12 wins and posted the sixth undefeated regular season in school history. Fort Myers won at least one postseason game from 2014-19, advancing to three regional championship games during that span. Since then, however, the Green Wave have dropped four consecutive playoff openers.
Dunbar 80-34 (70.2%, nine playoff appearances)
The Tigers are coming off their best season since the program was restarted in 2001. Dunbar set a school record with 11 wins in 2023, reaching the state semifinal round for the second year in a row. Since starting the past decade with a 3-7 finish in 2014, the Tigers have averaged 8.6 wins the past nine seasons, tied with First Baptist for second most in Southwest Florida during that time frame and behind only Naples (9.8 wins). Sammy Brown’s teams have never finished with a losing record and his 68 wins are the most for a Lee County head football coach in his first eight seasons.
Community School of Naples 66-34 (66%, seven playoff appearances)
After starting the past decade as a member of the Sunshine State Athletic Conference, the Seahawks moved into the FHSAA in 2015. Community School went 59-31 in nine seasons under head coach Paul Selvidio, who stepped away following the 2022 season. However, the Seahawks didn’t miss a beat under first-year coach Michael Stannard in 2023, finishing 8-2 and earning their fourth straight playoff berth.
Bishop Verot 73-40 (64.6%, eight playoff appearances)
The Vikings have gone 21-5 the past two seasons, the best two-year stretch in the program’s 58-year history. Bishop Verot set a school record by scoring 564 points in 2023, but missed out on consecutive FHSAA state semifinal appearances when Sarasota Booker upset the Vikings in the regional final. Bishop Verot’s 319 all-time wins are the second-most for any Lee County football program, trailing only Fort Myers.
North Fort Myers 64-37 (63.4%, five playoff appearances)
After missing the playoffs from 2014-16, the Red Knights bounced back to qualify for the postseason in five of the past seven seasons. In 2017 and 2020, North posted undefeated regular seasons, going a combined 17-0 with nine shutouts while surrendering just 97 total points. However, the Red Knights failed to advance beyond the regional semifinal round either year. North is one of three Lee County football programs, along with Fort Myers and Bishop Verot, to post more than 300 all-time victories.
South Fort Myers 61-42 (59.2%, eight playoff appearances)
The Wolfpack had their greatest success during the first part of the past decade, going 31-15 from 2014-17 under four different head coaches. That was kicked off by a 10-3 finish in 2014, which saw them advance to the Class 6A regional final round. South's program, which is celebrating its 20th year in 2024, has just three seasons which it’s finished with a losing record.
Canterbury 46-35 (56.8%, eight playoff appearances)
The Cougars reinstituted its 11-man football program in 2013, joining the Sunshine State Athletic Conference. Canterbury reached four consecutive SSAC Class AA championship games from 2016-19, winning titles in 2018 and 2019.
St. John Neumann 55-43 (56.1%, five playoff appearances)
The Celtics set a school record with 10 wins in 2018, losing to eventual Class 2A state runner-up Champagnat Catholic in the regional final. Under former head coach Damon Jones, St. John Neumann put together the best five-year stretch in the program’s history, going 37-15 from 2017-21.
Gulf Coast 53-45 (54.1%, five playoff appearances)
The Sharks opened the decade with three straight state playoff appearances, a first in the program’s 26-year history. However, Gulf Coast remains winless in 10 all-time postseason games. From 2015 to 2019, the Sharks posted five consecutive non-losing seasons, its best-ever stretch without a sub-.500 record.
Barron Collier 54-48 (52.9%, six playoff appearances)
The Cougars have qualified for the playoffs in six of the past eight seasons under head coach Mark Jackson but own just one postseason victory during that span: a 54-53 shootout win over Fort Myers in the 2020 regional quarterfinals. Barron Collier is coming off an 8-win season in 2023, its most victories in a season since 2010.
Palmetto Ridge 46-51 (47.4%, three playoff appearances)
The Bears won a school-record nine games during the 2020 season, earning the first (and only) playoff win in the program’s 20-year history. Palmetto Ridge has won just three games in the past two seasons, including a 2-8 finish in 2023 under first-year head coach Zach Yates.
Immokalee 52-57 (47.2%, six playoff appearances)
The Indians started the past decade with five straight playoff appearances, including a 12-1 finish in 2017 that saw them advance to the state semifinals, losing 28-21 to eventual Class 5A champion Plantation American Heritage. The 12 victories were the second most in a single season in the program’s 66-year history, trailing only the 2000 team (13-1). Last year’s Immokalee squad snapped a four-year postseason drought.
Lehigh Senior 44-52 (45.8%, six playoff appearances)
During this decade, the Lightning qualified for the playoffs for five consecutive seasons (2018-2022), the longest stretch in the program’s 30-year history. Lehigh also won its opening-round postseason game every season from 2020 through 2022, also a milestone.
Upcoming spring football game schedules
Today
Canterbury at Glades Day, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Lemon Bay at St. John Neumann, 6 p.m.
Tuesday
Barron Collier vs. Charlotte at Golden Gate, 6 p.m.
South Fort Myers at Palmetto Ridge, 7
Naples at Venice, 7:30
Wednesday
Gulf Coast at Ransom Everglades, 6 p.m.
Golden Gate vs Lehigh, 7 p.m.
Thursday
Lake Wales at Fort Myers, 6 p.m.
Gateway Charter at Bell Creek Academy, 7 p.m.
Dunbar at Mariner, 7 p.m.
Riverdale at Lely, 7
East Lee & Okeechobee at Immokalee, 7 p.m.
Oasis at Cape Coral, 7 p.m.
Estero at North Fort Myers, 7:30 p.m.
Cypress Lake at Bonita Springs, 7:30
LaBelle and Smarten at Cooper City, 7:30
Friday
Sarasota Riverview, Christopher Columbus at Bishop Verot, 6:30 p.m.
Aubrey Rogers at ECS, 7
Island Coast at North Port, 7 p.m.
Halifax Academy at SFCA, 7
Ida Baker at Gateway, 7:30 p.m.
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