2023 SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN: Boca Raton looks to continue playoff streak with solid schedule

BOCA RATON BOBCATS

District: 4M-11

2023 SCHEDULE

* – District Contest

MILEAGE BREAKDOWN

For Boca Raton, they will see four of their five road games stay inside the boundaries of Palm Beach County, with the most extended road trip among those four games being 19 miles one way. However, the one road trip outside Palm Beach County will clock in at 87 miles one way when the Bobcats go to Fort Pierce to play Westwood to close out the regular season. Overall, the Bobcats will not have to spend much time on the bus mileage, but that depends on traffic conditions on game day when they hit the road.

To Atlantic: 8.6 miles
To Olympic Heights: 5.5 miles
To Park Vista: 18 miles
To Lake Worth: 19 miles
To Fort Pierce Westwood (at Lawnwood Stadium): 87 miles

One-Way: 138.1 miles
Round-Trip: 276.2 miles

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

FloridaHSFootball.com has developed a weighted strength of schedule formula that weighs a team’s strength of schedule using data trends from the previous five seasons to measure a team’s overall strength of schedule. This includes all team records for all opponents and other weighted factors given about the teams on a schedule.

Boca Raton has taken some measures to improve its schedule, which is usually tightly controlled by the Palm Beach County School District. However, even with those measures taken, more is needed to offset that some weaker opponents will still grace the schedule regardless due to the school district having their say.

That said, Boca Raton found a great matchup to fill a slot on their schedule with Cardinal Gibbons. This team has won multiple state champions over the last few years and is among the perennial playoff contenders in Florida. Palm Beach Central is another team that graces the schedule and made its deepest playoff run last season when they reached the state semifinals.

The two teams that will hurt the Bobcats the most when it comes to getting into playoff position, depending on how they start the season, will be Olympic Heights and Spanish River. Both of those programs have been struggling for the last few years and have struggled to show improvement. If those two programs show any improvement in 2023, that could help Boca Raton get in position for a higher playoff seed.

Overall, with our weighted strength of schedule, Boca Raton will enter the 2023 season with a strength of schedule of .606. This means that the Bobcats have some quality opponents that can work in their favor to reach the playoffs while having winnable games that should be winning for the Bobcats when those matchups occur. However, if Boca Raton were to lose any of the games deemed winnable could significantly impact their positioning for the playoffs.

MORE: Find all the links to all the schedule breakdowns published here

KEY DISTRICT GAME

10/13 – Santaluces: This game decided the district championship last season, and it should once again, as the visiting Chiefs showed improvement last year and will be strong again in 2023. Fans will need to create a loud atmosphere that can throw Santaluces off balance to make this game everything it can be. The question will be where the Bobcats will be when this game is played.

KEY NON-DISTRICT GAME

10/20 – Cardinal Gibbons: This was a hard decision to make as both Cardinal Gibbons and Palm Beach Central are two key non-district games for the Bobcats, but Carbondale Gibbons makes the cut given that the Chiefs will be once again in the mix to make a run in Class 2M. With this game being a home game, if the Bobcats are playing superb football by the time this matchup comes about, they could make a name for themselves if they pull off an upset. Nonetheless, this matchup should tell the Bobcats where they stand with just a few weeks left before the playoffs come knocking on the door.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

With Boca Raton being limited by the scheduling process with Palm Beach County, it is harder for the program to get more competitive teams on the schedule to make them more competitive among the top-tier programs in South Florida. However, with that said, they made the most of what was given to them and sought out a couple of quality opponents to provide the team with the tests they needed to see what kind of program they would be in if they wanted to reach the playoffs again in 2023. Bobcats have much potential but must execute and make a few mistakes to be fruitful this fall.