2022 SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN: DeSoto County will look to contend for district title after improvements in 2021

After spending the 2021 season as an independent to rebuild a football program that had seen better days, head coach Sam Holland got the Bulldogs back to their winning ways and as such DeSoto County is now back in district play with the biannual reclassification having taken place. And with that comes a schedule that could potentially have the Bulldogs in the playoffs come November.

DESOTO COUNTY BULLDOGS

District 2S-15

2022 SCHEDULE

Kickoff times 7:30 p.m. ET unless noted
* – District Contest
Fri. 8/26 – @ Okeechobee, 7
Fri. 9/2 – Cape Coral Mariner
Fri. 9/9 – @ Lakeland George Jenkins
Fri. 9/16 – @ Fort Myers Gateway Charter, 7
Fri. 9/23 – @ Bradenton Bayshore*
Fri. 9/30 – @ Englewood Lemon Bay*
Fri. 10/7 – Davenport Ridge Community
Fri. 10/14 – Sarasota Booker*
Fri. 10/21 – Seminole Osceola
Fri. 10/28 – BYE WEEK
Fri. 11/4 – Wauchula Hardee

MILEAGE BREAKDOWN

With DeSoto County being the only school in the county, some travel is required, and as such the Bulldogs are going to make all their road trips packed into the first five of six games of the season. As such, all the road trips will be completed before the calendar flips over to October which is a rare thing for any football team in the state to be able to do. The shortest road trip of the season will clock in at 102 miles round trip or 46 miles just one way with the rest of the road trips coming in over 50 miles just one way alone.

To Okeechobee: 66 miles
To George Jenkins: 57 miles
To Gateway Charter: 51 miles
To Bayshore: 51 miles
To Lemon Bay: 46 miles

One-Way: 271 miles
Round-Trip: 542 miles

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

DeSoto County might not have one of the toughest strength of schedules in the entire state, but the schedule makes sense for them given the fact they have been in a rebuilding process for the last year or so. Of all the teams on the schedule for the Bulldogs, only one team reached the playoffs in 2021 while only three teams total had a winning or non-losing season, making this schedule a winnable one for the Bulldogs if they improve upon last year’s 6-3 overall record. However, if the Bulldogs don’t win the district championship but come through with at least 6 to 7 wins on the overall schedule, there is a potential it might not be enough to make the playoffs. That will all depend on how the rest of the teams do this year and if any of them improve along the way.

Okeechobee, 1-7
Cape Coral Mariner, 2-8
Lakeland George Jenkins, 3-7
Fort Myers Gateway Charter, 3-5
Bradenton Bayshore, 4-6
Englewood Lemon Bay, 9-1 playoffs
Davenport Ridge Community, 5-5
Sarasota Booker, 1-8
Seminole Osceola, 8-3 post-season bowl game
Wauchula Hardee, 4-6

2021 Overall: 40-56 (.417)

KEY DISTRICT GAME

9/30 – Englewood Lemon Bay: This is going to be by far the toughest game for DeSoto County this season as the Manta Rays will have been a playoff team the last few years. The Bulldogs will have to play sound football in this game and get a victory to help make sure they can lock up a potential playoff berth where they beat Bayshore and Booker as well during the season. Overall, this is not a game for DeSoto County to take lightly as Lemon Bay will bring their A-game to this one for sure given the Bulldogs’ improvements in 2021.

KEY NON-DISTRICT GAME

11/4 – Wauchula Hardee: Why wouldn’t this be the key non-district game? Of course, it is because it is the matchup with your oldest rival in the oldest rivalry game in the state. While this game won’t have the bragging rights of a district championship, it will certainly have playoff implications for Region 4 in Class 2S as both teams are in the same region. Depending on where the FHSAA power rankings have both teams ranked at and what the records are coming into this game, the result of this game could very well decide some playoff spots on top of who gets to take home the rivalry trophy that night.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

DeSoto County’s schedule is alright for the fact of how they have been rebuilding and this is a great start to reentering district play. However, this schedule can also be bad news for the Bulldogs if other teams on the schedule perform at the same level or worse than the 2021 results show. The Bulldogs will have to play some sound football in a few of their games, but they must be ready to win each week to put themselves in the best position to get a playoff berth in 2022.