Ransom Everglades football opens its 2026 season Friday, Aug. 21, hosting Somerset Academy (Silver Palms) at 7 p.m. on the Coconut Grove campus.
The Raiders won't get much breathing room. Their second game brings rival Gulliver Prep to town Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m., a matchup the Miami Herald flagged as one of Week 2's games to watch across Miami-Dade County. Ransom Everglades then hosts Doral Academy on Friday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. before a bye week and a road trip to Somerset Academy (Pembroke Pines) on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 3:30 p.m.
Three home games in the first three weeks gives Coconut Grove fans plenty of early chances to see what this roster looks like after seniors Edwin Carr and Carlos Lavernia graduated. Carr signed with Pomona College and Lavernia headed to Johns Hopkins to play football, according to Ransom Everglades' athletics page.
The cupboard isn't bare. Junior Colton Smith earned first-team all-county honors last fall, and classmate Matthew Guevara made the second team. Underclassmen Evans Branch, Landon Elfenbein and Hans van de Kreeke each received honorable mention, per the school's all-county announcement.
Key dates to circle
- Friday, Aug. 21 — Season opener vs. Somerset Academy (Silver Palms), home, 7 p.m.
- Friday, Aug. 28 — Gulliver Prep, home, 7 p.m.
- Friday, Sept. 4 — Doral Academy, home, 7 p.m.
- Sept. 11 — Bye week
- Thursday, Sept. 17 — at Somerset Academy (Pembroke Pines), 3:30 p.m.
- Oct. 15-17 — GMAC championship window, Traz Powell Stadium
- Nov. 13 — FHSAA regional quarterfinals
- Nov. 20 — FHSAA regional semifinals
- Nov. 27 — FHSAA regional finals
- Dec. 4 — FHSAA state semifinals
The GMAC championship features Miami-Dade's top public schools and Columbus, culminating with a county championship game at Traz Powell Stadium during the Oct. 15-17 window. Ransom Everglades competes in FHSAA Class 3A, and if the Raiders finish among the state's top eight teams, they could land in the Open Division playoff bracket that has confused South Florida coaches heading into the season.
State championship games for the Open Division and Classes 6A through 1A are scheduled at Pitbull Stadium, with a date still to be announced.
