High School Varsity Football Touchdown Preview: Brandon High School, 2026

The Brandon football program has been in flux for over 10 years. Their last winning season was in 2015, and they won just one game last year. New Head Coach Alonzo Ashwood took over the team in January. He brings leadership and experience to Brandon. He helped build a Sumner program from scratch that is now one of the better teams in Hillsborough County.

Ashwood said that he felt an itch to get back into coaching after the success that he had at Sumner and he relishes the opportunity to rebuild this team. He is putting together a coaching staff that he feels is up to the task of making the team better, and that will help teach his new system. He believes that changing the culture is the first thing needed to build a successful program.

“It’s a task. I’m not saying that it’s going to be easy, it’s just one of those things where you have to build brick by brick,” said Ashwood. “First and foremost, we had to build discipline in the team. We have to stay the course and not deviate from it.”

The head coach said that he has a good mixture of young talent and seniors. They have three returners on offense and four on defense. He thinks that his defense will be a major strength this season. He would like to see more accountability and discipline from his players.

Senior defensive end Demarco Clark will help with the pass rush. Senior running back Bryce Bell will take the bulk of the carries. Junior lineman Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Gonzales will play both sides of the ball. Senior running back/cornerback Jayden Scott has been with the program for four years.

The Eagles have already had a tough start to the season, losing their starting quarterback Ardonious Coleman for the year when he broke his clavicle in the week one loss to Wharton. Starting senior linebacker Ethan Vazquez will take over the role as QB-1. Ashwood said that Vazquez is a good leader and knows the offense and the schemes they are trying to execute well.

Expect a big improvement from Brandon this season. They won their Kickoff Classic 53-20 against Seminole. They have a manageable schedule, facing some teams from a different county. They only face five teams from Hillsborough County. Ashwood knows how to build a program. His experience, expertise and discipline will pay dividends for Brandon football.

“Brandon has been down for so long, we’re not going to accept that, we can’t just accept being a mediocre team,” said Ashwood. “It takes a little time to rebuild, but my motto is ‘we’re not in a rush, but we’re in a hurry.’”

Schedule:

8/21 @ Wharton

10/30 vs. Robinson