PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Class 5A playoff play-in preview

REGION 1
Westside (4-3) at Yulee (2-6)
Thursday, 7:00

The visiting Wolverines are coming into this game coming off a 19-14 win over Terry Parker and have gone 2-2 over their last four games. For the host Hornets, they have dropped five straight games Offensively for Westside, they are almost balanced offense but do tend to run the ball more. Statistically, the Hornets have put up more yards per game with 315.8 yards per game compared to 287.6, but if you start to dig down into the schedule, Westside has played a much tougher schedule to this point, but in the end, it could come down to who may have the ball last as well.

PREDICTION: Westside 28, Yulee 27

Ed White (4-4) at Bishop Kenny (1-6)
Thursday, 7:00

This is a second meeting of the two teams after meeting back on October 2 where the visiting Commanders ran by the host Crusaders by a score of 46-23. Both teams have been involved in some competitive games and more so for Bishop Kenny, but the losses have racked up since getting their only win, a 27-24 victory over West Nassau back on September 25. Expect the Commanders to rush the ball more than pass with leading rushing Jaison Patterson being the workhorse as he has 186 carries for 1,203 yards and 10 touchdowns in eight games played. The Crusaders statistically have averaged 306.7 yards per game while Ed White is averaging 318.1 yards per game.

PREDICTION: Ed White 35, Bishop Kenny 24

REGION 2
Eustis (3-3) at Mount Dora (0-6)
Friday, 7:30

This will be the second meeting of the teams this season with the last meeting back on October 2 resulting in a 56-42 win for the visiting Panthers over the host Hurricanes. Eustis has found its strength behind quarterback Blayne Romano who has had multiple 300 yards games passing under head coach Frank Scott’s system. For Mount Dora, they have found themselves in some competitive games, but also getting blown out in others this season which has made things tough for them to figure what direction to go in. However, it won’t surprise us if this game as close as it was

REGION 4
Palm Bay (0-6) at Mariner (3-4)
Friday, 7:30

The visiting Pirates have struggled all season to put points on the board only averaging just 4.1 points. Meanwhile, the host Tritons have been successfully better on the field overall with scoring 16.4 points per game and averaging 247.3 yards per game. In this situation, this would be enough to win this game, and also throwing in the fact that this will be the second game this week and their third game in seven days for Palm Bay which could make things even tougher at the end of the day.

PREDICTION: Mariner 28, Palm Bay 6

Bayshore (0-6) at Sebring (6-0)

Bayshore forfeited this game due to a lack of healthy players which ended the season for them. Sebring will move on to the next round of play-in games next week at Jensen Beach.