We tell you everything you need to know about the 2025 Deerfield-Windsor School football team in this preview, including roster changes and what fans can expect from the Knights this season.
2024 Season Stats
- Overall Record: 10-3
- Points Scored: 358
- Points Allowed: 241
Key Roster Losses
Deerfield-Windsor will lose a few good players who were a major part of last year’s worst-to-first turnaround that saw the team rebound from a 1-9 season in 2023 to a 10-3 finish in 2024, which resulted in a state championship.
Wide receiver and defensive back Jake Hatcher caught 50 passes over the last two seasons, including 25 last year. In 2024 he averaged 19 yards per catch and had six TDs receiving as well as eight tackles defensively.
Hatcher is one of three players Deerfield-Windsor head football coach Jake McCrae highlighted as among the most important to replace this season.
One of the others is running back and defensive end Cole Jones, who rushed for 1,525 yards and scored 19 TDs in 2024. He also had 26 catches for 188 yards as a receiver. Defensively, Jones had 39 tackles, including three sacks.
Linebacker and long snapper Liam Elliott is the third player whose loss will be felt in 2025. Elliott had 80 tackles last season with three sacks.
Key Players Returning
Returning in 2025 to lead the offense will be senior quarterback Lane Sceals, who has already broken every school passing record, according to McCrae. Sceals finished last season with 2,925 yards passing and 27 TDs along with 223 yards rushing and three more TDs.
Gabe Daniel caught a stunning 64 passes last year for 1,115 yards and 10 TDs.
Having Sceals and Daniel back is huge for the defending state champs, but they’re just a couple out of 14 total returners from last year. The others are David Hutchins, Cleland McCrae, Cooper Harris, Grier Morey, Davis Schneider, Cross Mitchell, Mangham Pippin, Ben Everett, Colin Snipes, Luke Ivey, Seth McKenzie, and Brantley Michlig.
McCrae said four new faces could be impact players this season, and they are Turner Simmons, Gage Tomlinson, Brady Harris, and JP Hutchins.
What to Expect From the Deerfield-Windsor Knights in 2025
McCrae has pulled off one of the best coaching jobs since taking over the Deerfield-Windsor program in 2020, leading the team from a one-win season to the GIAA Class 3A state title. With so much returning talent, there is no reason to think the 2025 Deerfield-Windsor team shouldn’t be considered the favorite to win it all again, but McCrae said he and his team can’t rest on their success.
“We are in a very competitive region and classification, and we hope we can continue our success here, but we’ll have to work harder than last year to stay on top,” McCrae said.
2025 Season Prediction
I see the Knights going 12-1 overall and securing a second straight GIAA state title.
Game to Watch
Oct. 17 at Valwood
