2021 SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN: Sanford Seminole’s schedule is an RPI delight

The Seminole Fighting Seminoles are coming off the 2020 season with a Class 8A State Championship in the trophy case to represent the accomplishments during a very tough season. Now the schedule will be even tougher in 2021 and with some teams not wanting to schedule a defending state champion the process along the way will become even tougher.

SANFORD SEMINOLE 2021 SCHEDULE

Preseason – 8/20 – at Orlando Edgewater
Week 1 – 8/27 – Sarasota Riverview
Week 2 – 9/3 – North Miami Beach
Week 3 – 9/10 – Longwood Lyman
Week 4 – 9/17 – at Flagler Palm Coast*
Week 5 – 9/24 – at Daytona Beach Mainland
Week 6 – 10/1 – Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna
Week 7 – 10/7 – at Altamonte Springs Lake Brantley
Week 8 – 10/15 – at Oviedo*
Week 9 – 10/22 – Lake Mary*
Week 10 – 10/29 – DeLand*
Week 11 – 11/5 – BYE WEEK

* – District 8A-2 Game

FOUR DOWNS

FIRST DOWN

Key District Game: There is a toss-up here where the key district game could land at in this, but if we are going to play this one safe, that will be the Week 9 (10/22) contest against Lake Mary at home. Not only is Lake Mary a long-time rival to Seminole – although there are disagreements – it should never be discounted that when these two programs go head-to-head, but that is also always something big at stake. In this situation, control of what could be the district championship is on the line here for Seminole. If they win this game (and assuming the first two district games over Flagler Palm Coast and Oviedo), that they will likely be back in the playoffs to defend their district championship.

SECOND DOWN

Key Non-District Game:  Again, we got a toss-up situation here, but ultimately it comes down to the Week 6 (10/1) game against Class 3A State Runner-up, Chaminade-Madonna when we want to look for a key non-district game to talk about. Originally, this game was not on the schedule when Seminole first put a schedule out, but after a while of putting out all-calls finding a game, the Lions came calling. This game is also slated to be shown nationally on a live stream this fall and will be one of the most anticipated games this season between a defending state champion and a state finalist from the 2020 season in 2021.

THIRD DOWN

RPI: This schedule is built with the RPI in mind as Sarasota Riverview, North Miami Beach, Flagler Palm Coast, Mainland, Chaminade-Madonna have all been winners over the last few years while DeLand and Lake Brantley could be much improved. With all of that in mind, the schedule favors Seminole greatly with RPI and if the Fighting Seminoles don’t win the district, they will be very much in contention to get in the playoffs with an at-large spot.

FOURTH DOWN

Biggest Takeaways & Thoughts: This schedule is a mix of everything you want in building a schedule with the RPI in mind. Got some games where it will not be as tough of a challenge while other games will certainly challenge Seminole. The mix of teams from across different points of the state also helps greatly as well giving the Fighting Seminoles a chance to see programs from different aspects of the way the game is played. If anything, getting not one, but two teams from South Florida to make the trek to Sanford is a huge win and will certainly give them a chance to prepare for the kind of competition they may see if they can get back to the state championship game in December to defend their state championship. The only disappointment in the schedule is not having Orlando Edgewater as a regular-season contest instead of as a kickoff classic.