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Turned out to be an extremely even matchup with talent on both sides. The Edgewater QB is the returning starter from last year and gave them a spark running the ball which I don't think we expected. He has a good arm and talented receivers, but not a lot of time to throw and operating against an extremely talented OHS secondary so sledding was tough for them thru the air. They had some success on the ground working the edges as one of our 4* DE was held out with an injury. They have a couple excellent backs to compliment CJ Baxter, so found more productivity on the ground than I thought they would. Our LB core have not jelled yet, but should be better prepared after competing with talent like Edgewater has. On offense we had mixed success on the ground and relied on our inexperienced sophomore QB to make plays with his arm, which he did an excellent job throughout the game. Trailing 22-19 with under 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter, he engineered an 80 yard drive and hit about a 35 yard pass with 40 seconds remaining to re-take the lead 26-22. They were unable to muster any offense in the final 40 seconds and the clock ran out with us in the lead. Penalties weren't a major factor for either team and ball security was perfect by both sides with neither team losing a fumble or a pick, although we probably should have gotten a couple of interceptions. Looking at each team's roster, both will be a handful for anyone. Great game for the fans with Osceola leading early, then falling behind and then retaking the lead. As always, it is just a Spring Game and the way it was conducted both coaches probably got out of it what they wanted. Good luck to Edgewater going forward. GO KOWBOYS!!

Sure. Summer recruiting classes can change things. So can off-season player development; position and scheme switches etc. If Venice's fall roster includes several big-time players that didn't play last night, they might could become competitive with Lakeland in the "suburban" playoffs. Should be interesting to gather details on who, if anyone, was missing or hurt from both teams last night.

I've seen a lot of teams get smoked in the spring but came back in the fall as a powerhouse. There are a lot of factors in the spring game where teams can have a lot of guys sitting out or not playing spring for various reasons. You can also look really ragged as it is the time to experiment with moving different guys around to find the right mix. If Venice is talented, which they always are, then dont even sweat it as they will be good.

What can I say WHAT A ATMOSPHERE!! You would have thought it was a real game , the community really came out. there were over 15 college scouts , including UM & OREGON. There were about 300 fans in the stands that came with energy even tho we had no opponent even the band & cheerleaders were in full effect. NOW THE GAME: Defense: we’re gonna be a PROBELM!, nothing but str8 DAWGS on the line & they go about 3 deep each. Our corners and safety’s are all ball hawks and they have size. OFFENSE: even with the star transfer our QB’s go 4 deep and they all can ball our WR’a are tall and aggressive but looked a lil rusty which is to be understood it’s SPRING. But come regular season I expect to see us full force. We look to have 55-60 kids on the roster not including jv which is another major plus also. overall all I loved what I seen, it got me mad hyped tbh but now I got to wait until august for more football smh lol.

So, this is NOT (I repeat, this is NOT) a defense of the FHSAA. In my mind, I tried to figure out what the motivation was behind this new concept. Was it really as simple as "we want the best two teams in the finals of each region" and a classic 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5 bracket is the best way to do that? If so, what are the flaws with the new system? Are the power rankings (that will be used to determine the seeding) too 'unscientific' and unreliable? Will the reseeding result in teams having to travel too far? Does it not reward district champions? Let's take that last question and run with it a little . . . (no wrong answers here), hypothetically speaking, and within each region, should a district winner always have home field advantage over a non-district winner? Let me use an example that could play out this year: Metro Class 3, Region 3. Under the most recent formula, the four district winners would host the four best non-district winners in the opening game. District 11 has both Dillard and STA. District 12 has Plantation, South Plantation, Piper and Nova. Now, Plantation has had some good seasons lately (9-3 last year, with a close loss to Dillard and a blowout loss to Northwestern in the playoffs). But, I think most observers would agree that, this season, both Dillard and STA will be better than Plantation. (If you disagree, that's OK, but just stick with me for a minute and accept my hypothetical set of facts as true). With that in mind, let's say Dillard squeaks out a narrow victory over STA in the regular season, but loses a couple of non-district games along the way. STA suffers the single loss to Dillard. As a result, Dillard wins the district championship, but STA ends up with a higher power ranking. Under this scenario, STA has the best power ranking in the region and Dillard is number 2. And let's assume, for purposes of discussion, that Plantation ends up 5-5, but beats their three district opponents. Nevertheless, from a power ranking standpoint, let's say they finish 8th in the region. Under the old system, Dillard would host a first round game (against the fourth best non-district winner). Plantation, as the fourth best district winner, would host STA (as the highest rated non-district winner). Under the new system, STA gets the No. 1 seed (based on power ranking) and would host Plantation. Plantation would not get a single home game, even if they run the table. Dillard would host the 7th rated team. But, here's where it really gets interesting. Say STA and Dillard both win their first two games. Notwithstanding the fact that Dillard beat STA in the regular season and won the district championship, STA would host the Regional finals. [Caveat: I have not read the FHSAA language to see if there is an exception for this scenario). I guess the question comes down to this: should a district champion be guaranteed at least one home game even if they are the worst of the 8 teams playing the regional playoffs?

Goodluck to them this season

My second favorite team in the State, first of course is the Cocoa Tigers! Good luck to the Raiders this season.

Going to be a very tough game for the Raiders to win. AHP is loaded to the brim with talent. But as you know, any given Friday...

I sure hope soo ! Trinity always has my heart racing because you never no if there going to play good or bad !!! I will keep y'all posted tho

If Edgewater had dominated, it would have made headlines in the Orlando Sentinel. With Kowboys winning, not so much.

Credit to Lakeland tonight: they dominated in every phase of the game. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there; I have some family In town right now or else we could have met before the game. I hope this isn’t a precursor of the regular season, as Venice’s offensive line seemed really spotty. On some plays they looked like the o-line of last year, but most of the time it looked like they were blocking thin air. Bentley had almost no time to throw. Defense looked ok at points, they had a few plays where they got good pressure and I think they even registered a sack. But overall it was the pitiful offense that doomed them to lose this game. They need to sort out the issues with the offensive line quickly, or else they could be in for a 3-7 season with the kind of teams scheduled to play. With that being said, I can’t wait for the season to begin. I know they will get the issues sorted out and a least be in the mix for another run in 2022. But it’s going to be very tough to get back to the big dance with you guys, Osceola, Riverview, and LG in the way. I am hopeful that they can repeat but realistic as right now, the odds do not appear good for another magical run. However, Father Time has yet to tell a lie and we will have to wait and see how everything shakes out. Go Indians!

One of the things that makes high school football interesting is the way in which tactical advantages and disparities in efficiency in execution- things like "hidden yards"- play a role in the outcome of games. Venice has always been a master in these areas since Peacock has been there. In some combination of credit to Venice, criticism of Lakeland, or an indictment of the officiating, a true miracle happened at Bryant Stadium tonight. Venice lost to Lakeland by a final score of 31- 24. That that was the final margin-given what anyone who viewed the game observed, is hilarious. This was a running clock match up. It should have never been merely 31-7 in the 4th. Yet, it was. And then Venice "back-doored" their way to the final margin. There will be people who didn't watch the game who will assume it was kind of a close game. LOL. Credit to horrifically outmanned Venice team that found a way to make the final margin of defeat seven points.

From the genius wizards who brought us a State championship a and B. Now they are going to reseed the regional in football according to power ranking which means a district champ can be a 8 seed and face the number one team in first round. Real nice that a district winner is seeded lower than wildcard. This board is full of idiots and simpletons. This is what happens when the backwoods areas of Florida control the FHSAA. 2 crummy ideas passed in one year. Way to go board. Barney Fifes are running our state association now.

Nah Dillard trash, Madison County better.

Don’t remind me SMH! @ STA at that

we’re in 6A metro & yes, yes they do.

A slight correction to your understanding of the new seeding system. Under the new policy approved in April, in each region, the four district champions and the next four highest ranked teams will be seeded 1-8 and the higher seeded team will host. However, if a district champion is playing an at-large team, in the first round of the regional tournament, the district champion will host, regardless of seeding. If two district champions or two at-large teams play each other, the higher seed will host. From the second round on, the higher seed hosts, regardless of district considerations. So under the scenario you outlined, Plantation would indeed host STA in the first round. So the real question is does a district champion deserve a top-4 seed?

Initially I thought it was due to the fact that the 3 marquee games in central Fl were APK vs Lake Gibson, Lakeland vs Venice and Osceola vs Edgewater all scheduled for Friday (05/20) would make it difficult for recruiters to attend them all. Thus the move to Thursday which as I currently understand, all 3 have been moved for Thursday (05/19). Looking at the bright side it is one day less WAIT.

Not an issue for Madison County, though. All teams that play them are trash. So even if they don’t get a game, they win vicariously through... well, I’ve never made it this far!

Shout out to the administrators for being proactive. Much better to play the games a day early than risk bad weather on Friday and then having to cancel all the games. Plus, now all coaches have a built-in excuse for a poor performance Thursday night: "Yeah, pushing the game up a day really threw us off our game plan . . . we weren't able to stick to our normal game-week prep schedule and, well, you saw how we played. We were all off by a day . . . even the coaches were out of sync. I can assure you this won't happen in the fall!"

Aye guess we gonna find out in a few months, long as we ready come playoff time I’m good

mannnn chaminade is not losing to them ppl. chaminade a beat yall a** if we keepin it real. dillard can win everything else except cent & cm.

PK 28-Lake Worth 0 PK 26-South Fork 0 …gotta find some playmakers on offense (WR, TEs) they all graduated. OL is solid, have 3 good RBs. Defense is lights-out, just have to get reps for the CBs (both starters graduated and will be playing college football).

Hmmmmmmm, Will the raiders be ready

Congrats bro , good wins

Thanks for the update! It will not be hard to get receivers especially the ones that are on the coast and want to comeback to where their family are from! Also, once that foolishness is cleared up with coach we can say let the transferring begin!!! Go BLUE DEVILS!!!!!!!

You also forgot Dillard gets no respect