VALRICO, Fla. - When it comes to football drills, Bloomingdale channels it’s inner carnival.

The Bulls call it the County Fair. Players go from ride to ride preparing for their upcoming opponent. Appropriate for a team that has taken everyone on a ride this season.

“We knew what we had going,” senior linebacker Wa’myron Howard said. “It’s just good to prove to someone else that we’re the real deal.”

Bloomingdale opened the season with a victory over Armwood. Six weeks later, they defeated Lakeland, at Lakeland. The Bulls took down two state powerhouses in one season. And they’re ready to take on more as the postseason kicks off.

“It’s a brotherhood on and off the football field,” Howard said. “Like, you can see that the respect is there. We understand what each other’s going through. We all want it and we’re all bought in this year.”

How much fun are the Bloomingdale Bulls having this season?

“Winning, I think solves a lot of problems but we’re having a lot of fun,” head coach Jake Coulson said.

It wasn’t always a blast at Bloomingdale. For the longest time, the football program was one of Hillsborough County’s greatest mysteries. One of the largest schools with one of the worst programs left many scratching their heads.

“We never understood why they were such a big school over here on this side of town and everybody’s going there but they were always bad,” assistant coach Bruce Gifford said.

How bad? The Bulls didn’t produce their first winning record until 2008, 21 years after the school opened.

“Bloomingdale used to play six homecoming games,” Gifford said. “They played their own and five on the road.”

Things changed when the Bulls decided they were tired of losing. The program won it’s first playoff game in 2018, when they made history advancing to the regional finals. Now they’re consistently making history.

First win over Lakeland, check. First undefeated regular season, check. Finally, there’s a lot of pride and fun at Bloomingdale.

“We’ve always been undercooked, always been underdogs,” senior linebacker Jamarion Neal said, “but every time I put on this Bulls uniform, I feel something special.”