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I'll save you the time Nolebull: 1. Lakeland fielded a team. First-year coach Bill Castle was able to get every kid in Polk County to play for the Dreadnaughts. But, back then, that was OK , since they were the only school in Polk County. The downside, however, was that the school was not yet integrated, so Lakeland went 0-5. 2. Plant also fielded a team in 1918. The prospects of a state championship were thwarted, however, as the County A.D. would not permit the team to cross over the County line to play games (with the exception of the one away game against a historically-strong team from Hawaii, but because Hawaii was not yet a state, the win for the Panthers wasn't factored into their RPI). Instead of playing teams from nearby counties, Plant had to play Hillsborough High School -- the only other school in the county at the time -- eight times. While the Panthers managed to win seven of the eight games decisively, they did lose one game -- the one that had to be rescheduled because of weather for the Saturday morning after the Homecoming Dance, when several Plant starters were forced to sit the bench because an administrator could not discern the differences between Spanish Flu symptoms and a hangover. 3. A small private school from South Florida knew they had to do something to overcome their Spanish-sounding name during the Spanish Flu epidemic, so St. Thomas Aquinas offered 'academic' aid packages to every kid in the state who was at least 6'2" and weighed at least 240 pounds and who could outrace the train leaving the station for the first 200 yards. The scheme proved successful and allowed STA to go undefeated (3 - 0) and claim the state title in 2A, then the state's largest classification. 4. STA's success, however, did not prevent a slew of teams from Central Florida from all finishing 0-0-5 and all claiming the mythical national championship. If you look closely, you can still see those national championship banners adorning the Orlando-area high school stadiums to this day. 5. A number of schools from Jacksonville and Miami named after Confederate War heroes reportedly had very successful seasons, but recorded history was wiped clean of these achievements just prior to Al Gore's invention of the Internet, so their success cannot be verified. 6. Finally, in the 1A Championship game, a bunch of farm boys from Madison County squeaked out a narrow win over a bunch of farm boys from nearby Columbia County amidst accusations that the Madison team really should have been in 2A. Madison officials refuted claims that they really had 1,800 eligible farm boys in their school by pointing to their one-room school house that could accommodate no more than 50 kids at a time. Well, that's all that I can recall off the top of my head.

No, I am not. I am saying what Bad Bird said. Punish the adults, not the kids. I am not going to argue with you on the matter. You have your opinion and I have mine. I don't know if you have ever coached, been a player or had a kid on a competitive team. But if any of this applies, you really ought to have a better perspective.

If your a coach and have not reached out to your athletes yet, please do. Just something as simple as telling them that they are on your mind and that you are there for them. These are hard times and people need to start acting human and show compassion and understanding.

Coaches don't get on the field and play....Only the players do. Now some coaches do get on the filed a cuss at refs from time to time.

Hello, Thank you for accepting my registration to join this forum board. As my username suggests, I will be posting old newspaper articles, yearbooks, and pictures of High School Football teams from the Florida Heartland area. For my first post I will be sharing something I found in an old local newspaper, The Champion. The Champion was a local newspaper in DeSoto County from 1895-1911. Archives of this newspaper can be found on newspapers.com and online at the Library of Congress, but it only last from 1906-1908. In the Thursday, July 23, 1908 edition of The Champion I found a mention about an upcoming Football game to be played at the Arcadia Baseball Park between Arcadia and Bartow on Saturday, July 25, 1908 at 3:30 in the afternoon. However, when looking through later newspapers I can not find a score for this game. Arcadia is today known as the DeSoto County Bulldogs. This 1908 mention is the earliest known mention of an Arcadia Football team. This makes DeSoto County one of the oldest High School Football teams in Florida still currently playing. Bartow, along with Lakeland had their first teams in 1907. Arcadia's biggest rival Wauchula (today known as the Hardee Wildcats) had their first team in 1909. Another Heartland team, Fort Meade I have their first Football team as 1912. When I have more time, I will be leaving some more info I have on here. Best Regards, The Heartland Archives

Reinard Wilson class of 1993 Columbia high school FSU Cincinnati Bengals FSU career sack record at time of Graduation Now I'm going back to my self induced hibernation

Yeah, I am pretty stunned. Whuda thunk he would fail to identify one of the great Gainesville High players of all time.

the players were doing what they were told. They won't and shouldn't be punished. The hammer should come down on any adult that participated or any admin that knew and didn't stop it

As a coach, I just hate the whole situation period. All we want to do is Coach ball.

Badbird, help me out here. What do you mean by comical? Is it comical that certain schools/teams are practicing when they shouldn't be? Or comical that only one (or a small handful) of the offending schools have been caught and punished? Or is it comical because there are lots of schools doing the exact same thing that NW was doing (and that the school down the road from you has been doing)? Or are you trying to make the point that it was comical for the state and school district to put the 'stay at home' restrictions in place to begin with? Typically, you raise good points -- I'm just confused this time which point you are trying to make. Now, as far as NW is concerned, what's the likely end result? The school is able to find a new head coach and a bunch of assistants that can take the talent that's at the school and still make a state championship run? Or do all the NW players starting scurrying to other schools like rats abandoning a sinking ship? One here, one there? Or does a core group all end up with scholarships to a school like Columbus? Either way, some film crew needs to be down there now documenting this whole thing so that we have a new "Last Dance" to watch during the next quarantine.

" A coach will impact more people in a year than the average person will in a lifetime" Billy Graham Dear Coaches, Please join us to show our community their coaches are in a united front. Sports have often been a medicine for healing in our country. Coaches are some of the most influential and respected people in the lives of their athletes and communities. Come join us for a walk around Lake Eola Park and show everyone what it means to be, "One Family, One Heartbeat." This is not an event to share political agendas. The objective is to demonstrate the power of a unified front of love and respect. Without those two elements, it is impossible to start having difficult conversations. Let's allow this event to be the stepping stone for further progress and support. Please respect our objectives. We encourage you to bring signs, but request you keep it to only two phrases: "Coaches for Community" and " One Family, One Heartbeat." Furthermore, we will be practicing social distancing protocol. Wearing a mask will be your individual decision. Be the inspiration you were meant to be. 4th and 1....you can punt or go for it. Let's go for it. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Also, I would appreciate it if you send me a reply if you are going to attend. Lastly, feel free to share this with other coaches, clergy and school administrators.

1st round beat Carol City 35-14 (Trap game) 2nd round beat 10-1 Gulliver Prep 34-31 3rd round beat defending champs Cardinal Gibbons 31-21 4th round beat 12-1 Lakewood 5th round beat veteran state rivals Bolles 25-21 This right here is probably the best run from last year, these were all very solid teams to beat to wins states.....

Welcome to this message board. I look forward to reading more of the articles that you post. Thank you.

Facts

I find it fascinating that y'all Vero posters say you can't travel to play a South Florida power and can't afford to not having a home game because of the gate money but you can travel to BFE to play a team 3 classes smaller.

Fred Roush Tallahassee Lincoln FSU Early 00s we faced Lincoln in 01 and 02 playoffs and lost to them in 3rd round so I'm guessing it's him since he was also a return specialist for Lincoln back in the day

He wanted me to post it but I've been busy. I think this just happened to Columbiafan

damn that's a lot of wins with no success in the playoffs. Even I have more playoff wins than that lol Jim Kroll Miami Palmetto and Miami Beach

Tbh I don’t even think a lot of teams respect veros streak because of the early playoff exits, if it were state championships along with the regular season streak then I believe teams would be more hyped to take them down. no disrespect to their record tho

good stuff perspective. Not sure how Lakeland went 0-5 though. I'm sure Castle would have paid some sorry Miami teams to travel North to get whooped.

Darter, normally I would defer to your pick, but I'm going to have to go with Andra Davis. Suwanne High School. UF. Drafted by (and played most of his time with) the Cleveland Browns. Also had short stints with the Broncos and the Bills. But I could be wrong.

If there is any ignorance being demonstrated here I think it might be by somebody other than me. Over the course of evolution we have been hit with many new virus's and have developed immunities for most of them, and that is what we are doing right now, developing immunities to Covid19, except for the weak and unhealthy. We have hid long enough, its time to get back to living almost normal lives. Our young people have to get back to work before we totally destroy our economy. I'm 78 years old with diabetes, being overweight, and two stokes, a totally high risk subject. I had my flu shot in the fall but I still contracted the flu (or covid19) in the last week of January while attending a high school basketball game. I'm still alive and ready to go to a high school football game.

Will be either prime for another deep playoff run prepared for a shot at state or hurt. Either way solid schedule.

Gavin Dickey Tallahassee Lincoln UF; played 2-3 years behind some pretty good QB's, then gave up football to play baseball with the Gators.

James Massey. Jefferson County. Galen Hall. Immediately after this picture was taken, Massey went in for an emergency hernia surgery. Allegedly.

TY Hilton, Miami Springs High, then FIU. I like what you did there!!!

Here is the whole game on video. Palmetto traveled to Tallahassee during the 2019 regular season and got beat by Lincoln.

Tallahassee Lincoln over a very overrated Palmetto

Ernie Sims III North Florida Christian High School FSU (rated by some the number one recruit in the country . . . picked FSU over Florida) Drafted by Detroit, but played with a few other teams, too. As for the bonus question, I'll go with 4 (even though NFC didn't win a state championship his senior year). But, he probably won a medal in another sport like T&F that I don't know about.

Doesn't the FHSAA have a Stand Your Ground exemption for refs?

It was incorrect. Watching it full speed it is hard to tell without replay and depending on where the official was located he could have easily been blocked. Sending it in to the FHSAA does no good. Who wants an apology? At the end of the day you still lost. Go out recruit some more players work harder and get better next year. Oh and curse out the officials on your way to your bus.

clearly down. Ripped it out as he was on the ground.

Old School, can you please change the name of this thread? It sends chills down my spine every time I see it.

Ted Hendricks, Hialeah High, UM, Oakland Raiders

According to one internet source, 2% of Columbus' student body, or are about 30 boys at the school, are AA. I guess it is just an incredible coincidence that most of those 30 are on the varsity football team. I am sure it has nothing to do with certain private schools giving priority to minority football players when it comes to handing out financial aid...as opposed to academically deserving minority students who don't happen to play football.

Ok, I'll go with Lester Williams, Carol City High School, University of Miami and played with the Patriots, but probably not with Brady. Not sure on the coach, but I'll throw out Jerry Anderson.

Windemere High is a school that could get some finacial backing for the program that resides in an affluent area. The basketball team made it to the 3rd round of the playoffs this past year. Maybe one day they could figure out a way to get some athletes to leave schools like DP, West Orange, Apopka, Wekiva, and others in the Orlando area. Will take a while but it's a possibility. And yes Badbird, I had to google how to spell the word "affluent". I almost blacked out trying to spell it on my own.

We ought to write a county song about this . . . maybe we could call it "Don't Blink." Just an idea.

Coaching is overrated. Oh and by the way most coaching staffs dont bother going to games to scout opponents the week before they play them. There is this new technology called HUDL.

26 in 12 years if you count those

That's a good pick.

Well, you have to coach before you line up correctly! Really is an unfortunate situation for everyone involved. Hope everyone in the Muck is safe.

While this has nothing to do with the current topic, I wish the FHSAA would update the record books. I think it a shame that the football book has not been updated since 2015. The book made it easier to look at success overtime, shame the FHSAA has given up on it.

Not the answer, but coach Jordan Ingman at Port Charlotte just might do this. Hired as a head coach at age 22, he's been the head coach at Port Charlotte since 2012 and has had a winning season every year. 8 seasons as a coach and only 30. Now that Binky Waldrop has retired he becomes one of the longest tenured coaches in SWF

I jus don't understand all this coaches cursin at the referee stuff...back in the day, we just took it out on the opposing team

My nephew plays for Alcorn State!!!

Lake Shore High School Wildcats

Larry Little High School - Booker T. Washington (Miami, Florida) College - Bethune–Cookman NFL - San Diego Chargers (1967–1968) Miami Dolphins (1969–1980)

Dang, that one took some work! In 1998, Glades Central scored 3 TDs in the final 6:41 (including the Hail Mary in the closing seconds) to beat Madison County 33-28 for the 4A Championship. So, yes, there was a time when Madison County was in 4A. The QB for Glades Central was Jerry Campbell, who is the uncle of former Galdes Day RB Kelvin Taylor, who also is the son of former Gator/Jaguar, Fred Taylor. At least that's what I was able to find.

Pointless for you to comment