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For that High School Football Lover in your life (or a Christmas gift for yourself). https://www.gainesville.com/sports/20181205/local-writer-pens-florida-high-school-football-playoffs-archive

Tim Harris Jr. Won at Booker T in first year 2014 Earl Tillman won at Booker T in his first or second year 2015 david penland won at University Christian in his 1st year 2012 wilkinson won at Cocoa in his 4th year 2008

Got 8 of those 10 in my top 10 1 Lakeland 7A 2 Miami Carol City 6A 3 Mandarin 8A 4 Miami Northwestern 6A 5 Miami Central 6A 6 St Thomas Aquinas 7A 7 Columbus 8A 8 Cardinal Gibbons 5A 9 Wekiva 8A 10 Chaminade 3A

Mike Rumph Become head coach at American Heritage in 2013, won a state title 2013. Pat Surtain became head coach at American Heritage in 2016, won a state title in 2016. Dameon Jones became head coach at Chaminade in 2016, went to state in 2016, won in 2017.

Look at y'all y'all a bust too why you not answering the call for a game???

A private in the middle of nowhere has no serious advantages I will continue to argue the real advantage and disadvantage lies in metro vs rural areas Notice that basically every successful private resides in talent rich METROS Also notice that many publics in metros have a far greater pool of talent than the privates that aren't in those same metros Sure you have outliers like Madison County, Columbia, Niceville, ect. That may have success against larger metros but most of the time a isolated rural school has a significant disadvantage in talent pool compared to a school (public or private) in Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, ect.

He is always hella hard on the refs (which is why I think Jambun does not like him) and the coaches if they make what he calls bad decisions (which is why many coaches don't like him)

4 starters on offence and two players on defense leaving. And to top it off Raines might be moving up to 5a. Wow.

If you want to know why Armwood does not show up well to state finals (attendance) its because they have no real local fan base... All the kids are basically commuters.

Totallly... she barely graised his cheek ... He should have just kept backing up and got out of the way... If she keeps coming at him grab her arms or bear hug her or something that keeps her from doing physical harm but never ever ever strike... he clearly lost his cool and it cost him a whole lot in life. It was uncalled for even though she was the initial aggressor (alcohol was likely involved on both ends.

11 Seniors on the max preps roster...big loss is Gaines i am sure The coaches hope that Raines stays in 4A so they can have a chance to beat them, not try to avoid them hopefully some LB and DB transfer in because the defense was bad Program was built to last

Like Bishop Moore in Orlando, Columbus has an excellent coaching staff. Similar to Bishop Moore, a certain number of kids do come in to play football. However, historically, neither school has made a state championship an over arching priority. Thus, both programs (Columbus to a greater extent and for longer) have produced in their respective regions good, competitive teams without going in the direction of AHP and St. Thomas. This may or may not be changing at Columbus, time will tell. With that said, I don't deny the fact that Mandarin got several quality transfers (it was more quality in my opinion that quantity per se). However, it seems to me that they hit pay dirt with one particular player, the QB, Carson Beck. For if Apopka, West Orange or Dr. Phillips for that matter, let alone Wekiva, had this kid this past season and made the necessary adjustments to their offense to accommodate him, I dare say any of those teams would have won the state title this year with what the other talent they had. He is that good at this stage of his high school career. The other players that transferred in just cemented the title for them.

I stopped at 5A because once I saw the dramatic drop off of transfers, from the 8A-6A schools, I assumed the remaining lower classifications were probably operating at the same level as these 2 schools with regards to transfers.....................that and it was getting late and I needed to get to bed.

By touching her do you mean when he used his body to move hers out of the way trying to box into a spot at the bar or when he held her hand down after she held her hand up in a fist punching motion and said some what were sure to be expletives to him??? I am on record as saying walk away its not worth it... however if I am in a close spot and a female was threatening to punch me in my f ing face with her hand up I would absolutely grab her hand in an attempt to prevent her from hitting me in my face.... If she did hit me I would not hit her back but I would attempt to stop that. I guess your take is let her hit you it doesn't matter your a football player you can take it... People need to keep their hands, fists, feet, guns, to themselves... on both sides.

Mine: 1. Lakeland (15-0 7A champs; Beat recruited up pro team STA with their own players and some transfers like the QB) 2. Carol City (dominated good teams all year; slipped up in playoffs) 3. Central (played in toughest district in USA and beat STA. Lost to Carol City and top 5 national St. Johns College in super close OT game) 4. STA- I always bust their balls, but STA is a great team. Always. 5. MNW- 6A champs. Hate putting team with this many losses this high, but every loss was to a very good team and they beat a very, very talented (but young) Armwood team in the final. 6. Gibbons- One or two very close losses. Dominated everyone except Tampa Jesuit in the playoffs. Excellent team. 7. Mandarin- GREAT run in the playoffs. I'd put them higher if they had a few less losses. They don't have the pedigree or athletes of MNW, that's why they are behind the other multi loss team. 8. Raines- Great season. Very close loss in opener to Lee but otherwise were perfect. 9. Armwood- Super talented but young. They have a ton coming back next year. Watch out. They are terrible chokers in the big game, but maybe next year they can get over the hump. 10. Columbus- Great year. Only loss to Carol City and a very close loss to Mandarin in the final.

Yes, and you're one of them. You even left out a handful of the transfers off your list. People like you is why nobody even respects the programs who receive all of the transfers. You try to make a case for every single kid because you know in the back of your heart that it's just wrong. It's wrong primarily because of the way it is happening. Coaches from said schools are calling kids, are calling parents/grandparents. Ask anybody from around the Lakeland area and it's always "oh yea, they're trying to call us to get us to transfer" Football is a dying sport, and this is doing nothing but fast forwarding how long it'll be around in the same capacity that it currently is. It's one of the main reason I got out of coaching years ago and moved up north. And no, it is not like this at other places. It is primarily happening in the state of Florida because just like everything else, this state does everything backwards. I'm all for good conversation, but please don't try and make an excuse for the wrongdoing of coaches. I'm happy for them that they won, but you know good and well that those kids don't appreciate the title as much as they would if they had stayed at their home school and competed for a championship there. Every one of those guys that you listed were starters or were going to be starters at their previous school and they moved because it's the "IN" thing to do. Give me a break @LakelandGator Everybody in the Lakeland area knows that the ONLY reason they won is because of the transfers. Without those transfers they're an 8-2 team with maybe a round or two in the playoffs. It's not just Lakeland though, it's a ton of other schools too. I guess it's just the way it is now though. It's sad.

And that is exactly my point. All of these perennial powers have been loading up with transfers for years with a very few notable exceptions. Yet it is only when a school that does not have a tradition of doing this suddenly gets in the game that Old School gets all bent out of shape. Do I support this kind of thing? Absolutely not! However, to ignore it at the traditional powers but beat up on Mandarin who has not participated in this "game" till recently, is a hard pill to swallow. To be honest, in my opinion Carson Beck is the primary reason Mandarin won a state title this year. He is one of the rare Florida High School QB's who not only has the talent to make an impact immediately at the college level, but who has obviously been prepared to do so via proper coaching and mental preparation. Without him, there is no way Mandarin would have beaten Wekiva. And, by the way, had Wekiva made the title game, Columbus would have struggled mightily to put up more than 14 points on the board against them. That may or may not have been enough to win the title. But one thing is certain, it would by no means have been assured. Wekiva would have shut down their running game, and I have a hard time seeing the young Columbus QB having much success against them given the pressure they would have brought to bear on him.

Welton Coffey/Raines 1997 4A title 1st season as HC Mike Pittman took over at Suwannee in 1985. Suwanee had 14 straight losing seasons prior to that. In 1987, Pittman led Suwannee to the first of 4 straight 3A titles.

...one of the best turnaround stories. Dwight Thomas went to Escambia in 1983 after being fired by Choctawhatchee (despite a very good record). Escambia had a reputation for drugs and crime and prior to his arrival, had only 1 winning season in 23. That year, Emmitt Smith was a freshman at Escambia. Thomas started Emmitt, another freshman, and 11 sophomores. Many of the seniors left the team during the season, but Escambia finished 7-3. The following year, 1984, Escambia won the 3A title, and the following year, Escambia won the 4A title. Escambia was ranked as high as #2 in the USA Today poll that year.

Rick Darlington, Apopka. Took over in 1999 won the 6A title in 2001.

Vero Beach and DFB should play They both teams i never trust in a playoff game lol

I don't support the current legislative enforced rules and the way football programs in particular have subsequently used them, but the fact of the matter just about every program that is experiencing success on the football field is doing it! So I'm like you I have a hard time swallowing the castigation of Mandarin as well. Without the rules as they are today, you have at least at 7A & 8A private schools as your state title teams this year......that is a fact! That in the end gets us right back to the original compliant prior to the rule change, that private football programs have an unfair advantage over public football programs.

Joe Kinnan came to Manatee prior to the 1981 season: 1st season - 1st round playoff loss 2nd season - did not qualify for the playoffs 3rd season - won the state 4A title (Florida's largest classification)

Got my copy a few weeks ago. Great stuff in there and will lessen my football withdrawal symptoms until next season.

Yes Peezy, that is mostly correct. Why the officials would have a holding foul when the runner goes out of bounds after losing 3 yards, is beyond me. But since Jeff Carlson is much smarter than everyone else, so maybe he can explain it someday. Also, questioning the play-calling and decisions of Bill Castle, who is one of the all-time legends of coaching in Florida High School Football was pretty interesting and quite hilarious. I feel for any play-by-play man who has to carry that dead weight for an entire game or season.

This might help OldSchool 1. Sheffield started all last season at previous school, saw an opening at Lakeland's center position this year, or so he thought. End up playing only when the running clocks started. Bad move on his part, but he got a ring out of it. 2. Rodman, see previous memo. Not sure how much he played at Victory but should have stayed there. Had an INT in a runninng clock game against Bartow's reserves. But he was lights out on KO return team. 3. DB's Ware/ Nixon played so little at LGibson why stay as seniors? Add to the fact that Lakeland's entire secondary graduated last year, so they also saw possible playing time as seniors for a good team. And they played, with some good coaching. But if anyone's thinks those two are All-Stars, get some professional help. 4. Martin and his folks were LIED to by LG staff and left the school. I will leave it at that. He fits the All-Star category now, he didn't 4 months ago. 5. Summerall= All Star 6. Ski McWilliams has been zoned for Lakeland HS all his life, and yes he was key to winning this year. Without him they go 13-1 7. Crawford and Hohentaner's family moved to the area 2 years ago as Greg already stated. Crawford played "behind" the leading tackler last year who graduated. He got his opportunity to play this year and did well. Lakeland has a soph LB behind him who is even better. Bottom line there are some people on this site who intentionally put out innuendos and misleading info.

2015 and 2016 Madison didn't even make the final. Last year game versus Blountstown was pretty close. In theory, Madison should be due for a down year being a 1A school, so I'm not quite ready to say they are running away with 1A. If they win the next two titles, yes.

FL_HS_football since the night of August 24th

I remember back in the 00's when Madison would beat a D1 laden tallahassee Lincoln (5A or whatever the highest class was) and go to GA and beat Valdosta the next.... Now Madison a program and a coach I still highly respect basically are men playing against boys in 1A.

Great example. Whether it's better to have fewer or more teams in the playoffs...I can see both sides of the argument. The unhealthy aspect of the latter is the mindset that I have seen grow with it...coaches bitchin about their team not making the playoffs, fans bitchin because their team didn't win a state title for the third time in 5 years, players feeling like failures because their team got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs for the third year in a row. It's a bit like computers. They were supposed to make our lives easier, but people are more stressed than ever. Our game should be better than the past, and in some ways it is. But I see more unrest and lack of gratitude today. In a manner of speaking, we had a lot less back then, but people were a lot less miserable.

Some small changes I would make in the FHSAA for a better state championship: 1) Go back to 4 teams for 1A-4A (only Champagnat Catholic and Taylor County made it the 3rd Round for a #5 or 6 seed). Granted Champagnat might win the state championship and they make a great story of the team that isn't supposed to be in the playoffs, but the reality is that it was an extra round of games for little benefit overall. I also will state that putting state championship games on a Thursday night after playing on Friday, seems suspect. Either a) get a favor so that 2 games can be played on Sunday or two weekends or go to neutral sites. I have said it 100 times, Gene Cox Stadium in Tallahassee, Tiger Stadium in Lake City, or Citizens' Field in Gainesville would all be better locations for the 1A state championship (except if Pahokee is playing). 2) If we are going to stick with 1 site, and 8 classifications. Then we Thursday morning game should be the 2A game or 3A game, these small private schools just do not bring people. Put them in the least interesting of the three slots. I get Thursday night being necessary, but put the 1A game there. They would actually draw a crowd.