BrowardHandicapper

Give us your top 10s in the counties Zoe Boy . At least Dade anyway.

Next year, I think this would be a much better match up once this class of Sophs become Juniors or so... . I know BTW has the athletes to match but I just think the STA coaching and Defensive pressure is going to force BTW into too many mistakes to keep this game close.

Booker T is getting wrecked guys....I don't want to see them get hammered like this, but can you say turnovers?

Give us your top 10 in Palm Beach Muckowl 2008 . I admit, I know my Broward teams better than Palm Beach and Dade...

I see where you are going with that and that is where ranking becomes tricky ....How do we know a team that plays that schedule and loses 3-4 close games is not better then say a Dwyer that plays a cream puff schedule? The 10-1 7A school or the 5A 7-4 school? the 10-1 school will always get the nod. How about we swap those schedules around now and Dwyer might become 6-5 and Hallandale 10-1 ....Just saying. The 3rd place team in that District and the 3rd place team in the Flanagan/Miramar District likely could beat most District Champions in South Florida...Doubt it would ever happen but do you realize there is a very slim chance the AHP team that just beat IMG might not see post-season?

@Mighty....I don't get it , why do you have such a serious gripe against Hallandale and Coconut Creek? Also, not for nothing but you don't even have Flanagan in your South Florida top 10? I believe by mid-season, I will have Flanagan at # 3 . For now they got some things they are working on, and I believe they will peak late. If St. Thomas Aquinas and Flanagan are both undefeated playing each other the last game of the year how can ESPN NOT have that game on? That could arguably be two top 10 teams in the country at that point....

Factoring injuries and where the teams are currently... this is what I got for now: Broward 1. St. Thomas Aquinas 2. Hallandale 3. Flanagan 4. Coconut Creek 5. Deerfield Beach 6. American Heritage Plantation 7. Dillard 8. Miramar 9. Plantation 10. South Plantation Palm Beach 1. American Heritage Delray 2. Atlantic Delray Beach 3. Oxbridge Academy 4. Dwyer 5. Glades Day 6. Wellington 7. West Boca Raton 8. Seminole Ridge 9. Royal Palm Beach 10. Pahokee Miami Dade 1. Miami Central 2. Miami Columbus 3. Booker T. Washington 4. Miami Jackson 6. Carol City 7. Norland 8. Northwestern 9. South Dade 10. Westminster Christian South Florida Combined 1. St. Thomas Aquinas 2. Miami Central 3. Hallandale 4. Flanagan 5. Miami Columbus 6. Coconut Creek 7. Deerfield Beach 8. Booker T. Washington 9. American Heritage Delray 10. Dillard

8A Preseason 1. Flanagan- Good luck scoring on this team. Defense very physical. Special teams improved. New QB looking to gel with new O-talent could help Dirty Birds soar to Central Florida. 2. Dr. Phillips- Return enough talent to get by Apopka this year which says a lot. 3. Miami Columbus- Well coached, well oiled, efficient machine as good as anyone in 8A. 4. West Orange- Will take advantage of Apopka being down and make a run at 8A States. 5. Manatee- Perhaps the FL west coast version of BTW? Down but not out.... I don't see a FL team beating them until late in the 8A Playoffs. 6. Miramar- Disastrous season last year but time heals...This team will reload and will look to retake the 8A-12 from Flanagan. You hope they stay injury free with back to back @IMG and 6 days later @ STA! 7. Osceola- Good enough to play with Lakeland but not good enough to score on STA.... 8. Deerfield Beach- Got a few players from last year's talented Monarch team. After they beat Bolles on 9/25 they will gain some respect... 9. Apopka- Well coached but lost some talent...Will struggle to defend the 8A Title. 10. Delray Beach Atlantic- First year in 8A but roster has plenty of talent and some post season experience. Good enough to win a couple games in the playoffs.

Muckowl2008 and muckboy561, so it sounds like Glades Central is really under the radar in your opinions. Where would you rank them in South Florida (PB, Broward, Dade) after STA and Miami Central? Is Glades Central the best team in Palm Beach County?

Closest to STA and MC, would be Columbus on the BTW regular schedule.

Some noise??? If BTW wins both of those game, I think Glades Central is trouble .

Here is the Oxbridge Academy 2014 Schedule and Results: @ Lakeland Christian 21-20 Loss (Very good team, lost to Trinity Christian Academy in 3A State Semifinal 42-28) Keys Gate 48-17 Win (Bad team) @ Archbishop McCarthy 38-20 Win (Average team at best last year) Key West 43-12 Win (Consistently a pretty good team) Inlet Grove 68-0 Win (Absolute horror show) @ Coral Glades 70-7 Win (Beat Inlet Grove 6-0) North Broward Prep 44-6 Win (Average team last year and will challenge Key West and Archbishop Mc for Goldcoast conference in 2015. This team actually got some transfers in from STA, Stoneman Douglas ,Cardinal Gibbons, Western, and Coral Springs Charter in 2015. D1 players on the roster) @ Pembroke Pines Charter 46-0 Win (Bad team) Champagnat Catholic 70-49 Win ( Won 2A States in 2013 . Current Flanagan QB Kato Nelson was on this team, and clearly shredded up Oxbridge but defense obviously an issue) North Broward Prep 57-15 Win (No chance vs the ThunderWolves) Key West 52-32 Win (Oxbridge wins the Independent Goldcoast Conference Championship!) Stepping up to Carol City will surely be a challenge to Oxbridge but it is good to see a new upcoming 3A team play what appears to be a pretty good 6A team. The 8/27, 9/3 game vs. Gulliver Prep, Carol City falls on a Thursday! That means, I might be able to catch one of those plus the regular scheduled Friday night lights! If Oxbridge wins one of those 2 games , I think it is fair to say we can take them seriously. The best game to catch for Oxbridge Academy though might be the 10/2 @ American Heritage Delray. This game is already a rivalry and they have not even ever played each other. Oxbridge Academy Athletics AND staff (Coaches and Teachers) was basically established 2 years ago with a American Heritage Delray Exodus!

I like your Prep enthusiasm muckboy561 but for starters....I would just like to see if Gulliver can beat Oxbridge Academy?

Agree STARaider2014. Finishing the season @ St. Thomas is not necessarily a good method to stay healthy going into the playoffs... Flanagan is a little light on both the O and D line. But everything else is pretty loaded..Even Special Teams will be improved this year. I think Dr. Phillips will be the team to beat out of the North. I also would not count out West Orange , Manatee, Osceola or even Lake Mary.

You are welcome columbiahighfan. Hopefully I can thank you at the end of the year for assuring me this year's Columbia team will return to it's winning ways! The way you talk about them convinces me they are on a mission this year!

1. Miami Central - No weakness I am aware of. Should change their name to The Mean Green. 2. St. Thomas Aquinas- Junior QB Allen still a question mark to me, but the O-Line is beefed up and will take care of him. Could go undefeated. 3.*IMG- Not Florida HS Post Season eligible and they just got better as you were reading this. 3.. Flanagan- Good luck scoring on this team. Defense very physical. Special teams improved. New QB looking to gel with new O-talent could help Dirty Birds soar to Central Florida. 4. Daytona Beach Mainland- Another shut down nasty defensive team. Other then that, the only team that seems to stop them is Miami Central. 5. Booker T. Washington- I know this team is relatively down, but hard to ignore that streak. Lots of young, talented players looking to prove themselves among the best. 6. Dr. Phillips- Return enough talent to get by Apopka this year which says a lot. 7. Miami Columbus- Well coached, well oiled, efficient machine as good as anyone in 8A. 8. Cocoa- Don't let the small team roster fool you. Could this be the year they finally catch BTW? 9. Hallandale- Very good team last year and inherited some Miramar talent. Might have 20 D1 2016/2017 players on the team. If coaching is solid, might see Orlando. 10. West Orange- Will take advantage of Apopka being down and make a run at 8A States. 11. Lakeland- Always wondered how a team in Central Florida got the name Dreadnaughts which are also known as a battleship...Will likely go undefeated and look to challenge STA in Orlando. 12. Wakulla- Play in the best 3 team District in the USA. Return almost the whole 2014 team. This 2015 the War Eagles may visit Mickey Mouse. 13. Manatee- Perhaps the FL west coast version of BTW? Down but not out.... I don't see a FL team beating them until late in the 8A Playoffs. 14. American Heritage Plantation- I really wanted to put this team in the 20-25 range but know I will hear it for putting them at 14... QB will be a ?, O-line is down, Top WR gone. Very well coached and have a elite Kicker. 15. Miramar- Disastrous season last year but time heals...This team will reload and will look to retake the 8A-12 from Flanagan. You hope they stay injury free with back to back @IMG and 6 days later @ STA! 16. Venice- Should squash every Florida team in their way but a soft schedule could leave them unprepared to go deep in 7A Postseason. 17. Osceola- Good enough to play with Lakeland but not good enough to score on STA.... 18. Coconut Creek- Sorry, I drank the Kool Aid...Not because the 7 on 7s. Because of a BCS secondary, a D1 QB, and BCS Wide Out! Still have room on their schedule if anyone want's to play them...Any takers? 19. Deerfield Beach- Got a few players from last year's talented Monarch team. After they beat Bolles on 9/25 they will gain some respect... 20. Apopka- Well coached but lost some talent...Will struggle to defend the 8A Title. 21. Delray Beach Atlantic- I originally had Trinity Christian here but after seeing a roster with 8th graders on it I figured I would replace with a very talented 8A team that might win a couple post season games. 22. Dwyer- The party goes on till late November with veteran coach Jack Daniels! 23. Lake Mary- One of the most consistent winning teams of late in the State. Defense could be a question. 24. Oxbridge Academy- No, this is not a pre-school or choir.... After they win @ American Heritage Delray the state will know the ThunderWolves 25. Columbia- Slim chance of upsetting Apopka early on.... This team could flirt with post-season play. Other teams worth mentioning that almost cracked my top 25: Armwood, American Heritage Delray, Jacksonville Bolles, Trinity Christian, Oakleaf, Heritage Palm Bay, Glades Central, Carol City, Clewiston, Tampa Plant, Gainesville, Godby, Vero Beach, South Dade

Interesting....Will Wellington win their district?

Muckboy I have to disagree with Wellington, but you likely know the area better then me. Great season last year but unfortunately for them, they had a pretty hard crash @ Flanagan in the playoffs. The lost a lot of Seniors as well , right? Muckowl 2008. Atlantic! Now that is a improved team. Could be very dangerous this year! Tampa-Plant. I believe is 7A and they top tier QB I believe just tore his ACL and out for the year. Manatee ...never count them out!

Who is it going to come down to in 8A? Columbus, Miramar, Flanagan,Deerfield Beach, Dr. Phillips, and Apopka. Am I missing anybody?

When was the last time or how has BTW done in big game public underdog situations. Some kids/coaches feed off this stuff and some think the other team is actually the underdog. We all know see/hear through news and social media what STA will bring to the table....not so much with BTW other then they are down. Like Zoe Boy says....the unknown and BTW could be a dangerous combo to underestimate.

@Muckboy. So as far as Booker T. Washington matchup... I take it you feel the stars could be in alignment to beat them? Booker T. appears to be a little down, young, and Glades Central is on the up-n-up and not getting the respect they deserve. Hopefully, we get that matchup! Glades Central has a pretty hard back to back @American Heritage Delray and @ Atlantic ....that is followed by returning home and you get Palm Beach Central. You hope to go 2-1 in that 3 game stretch. 3-0 would be impressive.

I can't argue against that 09mrslick. I saw 2 of the games in person and saw box scores of all games. They could indeed could have been 10-0 and coaching , discipline and I still feel they needed a stronger QB for them to have taken states. Anyway, new Coach, new QB and you can bet they will be back in business for the District.

Larry Blustein had a great read today on his South Florida Sports Website that answered a lot of questions about Miramar. Yes, they have indeed brought in a very experienced QB and they still have a lot of Seniors on their roster. That said, the Patriots should have a lot of things ironed out by September. Looking forward to seeing Miramar rebound and should be a great game vs. Flanagan!

@09mrslick Does Miramar have a QB this year? I believe the QB from last year transferred to Hallandale to play his natural position - WR. Surprised he did not stay at Miramar.... You could always see he was athletic but QB may not have been his natural position. Miramar's Defense will likely be good enough to contend for 8A but the offense is up in the air at this point...I got them @ Deerfield Beach for the first playoff game though!

I am curious on Apopka as well. I am not as familiar with that region to give a fair opinion. From what I have heard they are expected to contend for a 8A Title again this year. Last year, Apopka started kind of slow and seemed to peak late. I also know Columbia is a very established program and will be looking for a big win in this one. Both teams apparently are very will coached and this should make for a nice early season matchup.