From Winter Haven to Lakeland to Arcadia to as far west as Lake Placid, it’s no secret the Heartland Region is home to some of the best players and teams around the state yearly.
Victory Christian was the last Heartland team standing riding all the way to the state finals before falling.
Before he resigned, Rod Shaffer helped Lake Wales go all the way to the state semifinals before losing 48-16 to eventual Class 5A state champion, Plantation American Heritage.
Kissimmee Osceola took out both Lakeland 33-21 and Kathleen 28-14 in in the first two playoff rounds, before falling to Niceville in the state semifinals.
Winter Haven held off Ida Baker 38-35, before getting hammered 28-0 to South Fort Myers in round two.
Who will be in Orlando this year or coming out of nowhere to make the state semifinals?
Seeing Is Believing
Since the Florida High School Athletic Association started the current playoff system in 1963, the Heartland Region has been well represented at the state finals.
Since 1963, 14 Heartland teams have won state titles, while 24 have finished as state runner ups.
The Heartland teams who have won state titles are:
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Lakeland (1986, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006)
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Bartow (1977, 1985, 1996)
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Frostproof (1974, 1992, 1999)
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Avon Park (1987, 1988)
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Evangel (2005)
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Fort Meade (2004)
Passing The Torch
Since 1979, Lakeland has made the playoffs 27 of the past 35 years, including 21 straight years since 1993. The active streak is tied for second with Bolles and Glades Day, behind leader St. Thomas Aquinas with 23 straight years.
The only other program in the Heartland Region that can come close to Lakeland is Fort Meade, which has made the playoffs 18 out of the last 21 years. Shockingly despite going 8-2 last season, the Miners missed the playoffs stopping a 16 year consecutive run in the playoffs.
Lake Gibson has also seen their share of success; since 2000, the Braves have missed the playoffs just twice in fourteen years.
Times Are A Changing
Polk County public schools are making a time change to the kickoff of football games for this season, but the will not be the only ones to follow the new trend.
Lakeland Christian, which has played many of Polk County’s public schools on the schedule are also making the switch to the new kickoff times as well.
The switch from a 7:00 p.m. to the new later 7:30 p.m. kickoff, announced earlier this year, will align the schedule with the current FHSAA playoff kickoff time of 7:30 p.m.
With the change only major areas including Tallahassee, Jacksonville, from Daytona Beach to Broward County along Interstate 95 as the only areas in the state that will still have an earlier kickoff time than the rest of the state during the season.
Always A Bridesmaid
Of the 24 runner-up finishes, a third of them (8) are at the hands of Fort Meade.
Beginning in 1993, the Miners made nine state finals appearances, including 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2008. Half of those eight appearances were losses to longtime nemesis North Florida Christian.
All the frustration finally ended in 2004 when Fort Meade won its first ever state title with a 42-38 win over Blountstown.
On The Move
Of the 109 coaching changes across the state last season, only six of those changes were in the Heartland Region.
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All Saints’ – Val Johnson, Robert Hollway Jr.
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Frostproof – Price Harris, Shannon Benton
- Lake Placid – Jason Holden, Jason Robinson
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Lake Wales – Rod Shaffer, Tavaris Johnson
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Mulberry – Raleigh Jackson, Dedrick Dodge
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Tenoroc – Mike Burns, Chris Davidson
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Haines City – Ron Johnson, Olin Gee
