Here is a look back at some things that stood out after the first week of playoffs have been officially capped off for the 2021 football season in Classes 1A through 4A.
NO. 6 SEEDS STEAL THE SHOW
In Classes 1A through 4A there were four No. 6 seeds that got to extend their season for at least one more week. That included No. 6 Gadsden County defeating No. 3 Andrew Jackson, 16-14 in Class 4A-Region 1; No. 6 Pine Crest defeating No. 3 Immaculata-LaSalle, 10-7 in Class 4A-Region 4; No. 6 Tampa Catholic defeating No. 3 Carrollwood Day 26-25 in Class 3A-Region 3; and No. 6 Victory Christian defeating No. 3 Foundation Academy, 24-7 in Class 2A-Region 2.
Out of all those, we had only predicted one team to win out of those four No. 6 teams that won was No. 6 Gadsden County. That was because if you looked at Gadsden County’s strength of schedule combined with their Opponents Win Percentage, the Jaguars had played a tougher schedule compared to Andrew Jackson. That tough schedule ended up paying off with that 2-point victory over the Tigers.
And it would be worth of us to point out that Victory Christian despite their six losses this season coming into the playoffs, had also played a very tough schedule with some respectable opponents and now that things came together late in the season for the Storm, they have a chance to make some noise. As such they should be seen as a legitimate threat to No. 2 Zephyrhills Christian for the regional semifinals.
CLOSE WINS SHOW UP
If we are looking for one-point wins, they were found in Classes 1A and 3A with No. 4 Liberty County defeating No. 5 Sneads 27-26 in the Class 1A-Region 2 bracket while the other one-point win was No. 6 Tampa Catholic’s 26-25 victory over No. 3 Carrollwood Day in Class 3A-Region 3.
What do the one-point wins say? It says that on any given Friday night, especially in the playoffs, solid playoff football can be found around the state, especially in the lower classifications that seed their brackets based strictly on just the RPI ranking alone.
No. 3 Chipley defeated No. 6 Freeport in Class 1A-Region 1 by two points with a 19-17 score while No. 6 Pine Crest defeated No. 3 Immaculata-LaSalle 10-7 for a margin of victory of three points.
CLASS 1A GOES ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPT
If you want to look for one classification that followed the script, it was Class 1A where every No. 3 and No. 4 seed across all four regions handled business as the higher seed in their matchups. This is a rare feat across any of the eight classifications where lower seeds have made a name for themselves this post-season.
As such every game this week in Class 1A this week will involve a No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No 3. matchup that will determine who will advance to next weekend’s regional finals.
MARGIN OF VICTORY
Class 3A playoff games in the regional quarterfinal had the highest average margin of victory of any classification around the state in the opening round with a 35.8-point margin of victory across eight games played.
Meanwhile, Class 1A had the lowest average margin of victory of the eight classifications with a 19.4-point margin of victory average.
No. 3 University Christian in Class 2A had the highest margin of victory of any team in any classification with a 66-point victory over No. 6 Rocky Bayou Christian in Class 2A-Region 1.
