‘Next Man Up’: Oak Hall Football Ready to Repeat in Return to FHSAA
Oak Hall running back Darius Medley and quarterback BJ Johnson didn’t spend much of the offseason away from football. The brothers showed up early to 9 a.m. practice to run routes. When it was time to go home, practice didn’t stop; they caught 100 balls from the jug machine.
Even on a cruise, they stuck to their weight training schedule and a football was at the top of their packing list.
“Everywhere we go, we’ll practice,” Medley said. “[It] gives us a lot more chance to get better. We had a football on the ship, but they didn’t really like us doing it, [so] we waited until like the end of the night, but we still had to get our catches in. No days off.”
After helping the Eagles win their first-ever Sunshine State Athletic Association 11-man 3A championship on Nov. 22, Medley and Johnson are hungry for a second ring as the season kicks off Friday against Bronson. But the road to repeat ends at a different destination.
Oak Hall returned to the FHSAA for the 2026 season, joining Independent Series Division Pool B. Eagles defensive back Bradley Wise views the jump as a way to legitimize the program’s success.
“I feel like we have to prove that we can compete even in a bigger conference,” Wise said. “A lot of people were questioning whether the SSAA was real competition, so I feel like we have to show them that we can compete at a higher level.”
The top eight teams from Pool A’s and Pool B’s North and South regions, based on MaxPreps rankings, advance to the postseason, making each regular-season game carry more weight. Oak Hall falls in the North region of Pool B, comprising 17 teams.
The Eagles took a trip to Mount Dora Christian Academy, the SSAA Class 5A state runner-up, Friday for a preseason game, losing 28-7. Their schedule also includes a regular-season rematch with Christ’s Church Academy, which Oak Hall narrowly beat 28-22 on Nov. 7 to advance to the semifinals.
“We told the kids each week is a huge week because the playoffs are based on MaxPreps rankings,” coach RJ Fuhr said. “Not a whole lot of room for error, so it’ll be very difficult to make the playoffs, but once we’re in there, we’re hoping that we can make a run.”
After starting last season 5-0, the Eagles dropped four straight games before going on a four-game win streak to secure the state title. To avoid another midseason rough patch and ensure a playoff berth, Wise prefers a simple approach.
“We have to play our brand of football, and there’s not many teams that are better than us when we’re playing our game,” Wise said. “It’s just one of those things where we have to take it week by week and play the next team that we have on our schedule and not focus too far into the season.”
With Oak Hall’s upper school enrollment teetering below 300 students, Fuhr relies on the versatility of his 27-man roster.
In 2025, Johnson led the team in receiving yards per game (37) as a wide receiver but enters 2026 in the backfield as quarterback, replacing Aaron Akins, who graduated, in addition to his defensive back responsibilities. The biggest adjustment for Johnson wasn’t skill-related, though, stepping up to fill the leadership void.
“We had people leave, and we needed somebody else to step up,” Johnson said. “I feel like I’m one of those guys [who] can be a leader on and off the field. I’m not the most vocal leader, but I lead by example.”
Last season’s championship run also underscored Fuhr’s return to Oak Hall after he stepped down in 2023 to become an assistant coach at Union County in Lake Butler. He enters year two of his return with a 51-17 record and more ambition, hoping to lead the Eagles to their first FHSAA title.
His Eagles share the same ambition, ready to prove the new squad can repeat success at a higher level.
“We’re ready to come out and show people that we did it once, we can do it again,” Johnson said. “We had a couple people leave, but it’s next man up. We got us, we’re all we’ve got, and we’re all we need.”
Category: High School Sports, Oak Hall High School
