SW FL Week 9: Fort Myers picks up Thursday win over Gateway

A roundup of Southwest Florida high school football games played in Week 9, Thursday, Oct. 15 and Friday, Oct. 16, 2026.

THURSDAY

Fort Myers 36, Gateway 14

A soul-crushing kickoff return for a touchdown powered Fort Myers past Gateway.

An Eagles touchdown pulled them within 15-7 and gave the hosts new life. But an unsportsmanlike penalty on Gateway had the Eagles kicking from the 25 and the kick landed the arms of Kaedyn Palmer at the 15. He raced 85 yards for the score and the failed two-point conversion put the Green Wave up 22-7 with 7:21 left in the first half and swung momentum heavily Fort Myers’ way.

“I told coach I said you put me back there and I’ll return it for you today and I stick to my word,” said Palmer.

A Green Wave sack helped stymie the next Eagles drive, giving Fort Myers the ball with enough time for one final first-half drive. A key 15-yard hookup from Palmer to Christopher Campion put Fort Myers inside the 10. Palmer would end the drive by taking it end from the 1 with :21 left for a 29-7 lead.

The Green Wave got off to a quick start, taking the opening kickoff and, moving mainly on the ground, capped the 8-play drive with a 2-yard Campion run. A successful two-point conversion gave Fort Myers an 8-0 lead at the 8:32 mark.

Gateway came out deciding to run the ball and quickly moved into Fort Myers territory but couldn’t convert on a fourth-down play on the Green Wave 30.

Fort Myers wasted little time unveiling a trick play. Palmer fired a backward pass to Dalton Davey who found Nolan McKinnon racing down the sideline for a 73-yard bomb and a 16-0 lead.

“We thought they were pressing up so we had our chance to take a shot and they executed it really well,” said Fort Myers head coach Joey Mendes.

The Eagles responded once again moving the ball down to the Fort Myers 30 where they faced a fourth and long. This time quarterback Aiden King found Jayden Hart at the goal line. Hart made a circus catch and with the extra point Gateway trailed by nine.

Despite trailing by 22 at the half, Gateway buckled down and played Fort Myers to a defensive stalemate through the third quarter. Penalties killed offensive efforts for both teams.

“We fought in the second half. I’m incredibly proud of the way we fought because it would have been incredibly easy to go in the tank,” said Gateway head coach Chris Strykowski.

Gateway finally put together a drive, powered by the running of C.J. Woods and a big 52-yard gain by King. Penalties threatened to put an end to that drive but King found Aiden Gerardo racing down the sideline for a 24-yard touchdown pass.

The Gateway defense got the ball back for their offense and it looked with more than seven minutes left in the game the Eagles could tighten the score. But that’s when disaster struck. A snap sailed over King’s head, resulting in a 17-yard loss. Then King dropped a snap and Carlos Rodriguez jumped on the ball in Gateway territory. Penalties pushed the Green Wave back, forcing a punt. But this time a high snap cost Gateway 23 yards, killing the drive.

Of the bad snaps Strykowski said, “It’s one of those things where you’re here in Florida and your working in the rain and there’s so much lightning around we don’t get an opportunity to do that.”

A bevy of penalties helped the Green Wave down the field and Palmer took advantage running ball 20 yards for the game’s final score.

The win was some much-needed medicine for the Green Wave.

“It means a lot. We’ve had a rough couple of weeks now but you get them to learn how to deal with adversity and get them to come out and grind,” said Mendes.

—John Rinkenbaugh

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: SW FL Week 9: Fort Myers picks up Thursday win over Gateway