Mainland appears to have a lock on a trip to go out-of-state this fall.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal is reporting that an agreement is in place for the Buccaneers to take a trip up to national powerhouse St. Edward in Ohio. The agreement will need final approval from school district officials to make the trip happen.
However, the news of a possible showdown with St. Edward’s was first reported by NationalHSFootball.com last month within the news of St Edward’s head coach Rick Finotti resigning to take a job up with the University of Michigan.
Both teams have been recognized nationally over the last few years, especially last year when both teams were ranked for most of the season by most major national polls.
In the final rankings provided by USA Today St. Edward, which captured the Ohio Division I title and a 12-2 record, finished ranked 15th in the Super 25. Mainland finished ranked 49th in the Next 25 of the rankings for USA Today finishing with a 13-1 after reaching the state semifinals where they fell to eventual state champion, Miami Central.
In the final High School Football 100 rankings powered by NationalHSFootball.com, St. Edward finished the season ranked ninth, while Mainland was ranked 31st in the final rankings.
Other final rankings from 2014 included High School Football America’s Top 25 which had St. Edward’s finishing ranked 12th, while Mainland went unranked in the final rankings. In the MaxPreps Xcellent Top 25, St. Edward’s finished ranked 17th while Mainland which had been ranked at times in this poll as well as the High School Football America poll finished unranked.
According, the Daytona Beach News-Journal it appears that St. Edward will pick up most, if not all of the tab for Mainland in exchange for scheduling the game to come up to the school which is located just right outside of Cleveland in the town of Lakewood.
The game is set to take place on Friday, October 9 (Week 7 for Florida) at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.