BrowardHandicapper

Saw Monarch play last week. Damn good team....they play Oregon/Baylor style offense and are also solid on defense. That is how they gave the ball away 6X and STILL were in the game but lost in triple OT...I think Miramar's D would keep them in the game and eventually win a very close game ....but offensively I doubt Miramar and their QB could trade TDs with Monarch.

While heading into work this morning around 8am in downtown Fort Lauderdale I did indeed see the protest outside the Broward School Board building. Also, on the way out around 11 AM their was a larger crowd...There were news trucks, parents, Miramar supporters and Miramar school board members....the most disturbing part was about 35 football players obviously skipped school today. I understand the passion and how it effects the kids but when the nature of the situation is of low GPA(s) and academic in nature... perhaps it is not the best idea to be skipping school to attend this protest. This kind of stuff is usually handled behind closed doors and board members. Sure, the parents and the community should be heard 100% but the student athletes skipping school??? What message is that sending to the student athletes (and at this point the media) about the priorities of Miramar High School? Unfortunately, it just backs up the previous alleged rumors of the Miramar program. Now, the rumors are spreading to possibly up to more then 5 players and the grade/transfer scenarios may have been going on for a few years and also CASH benefits (paid to play). Again, just rumors and again only the Miramar players are stating they are not playing in the post season and there is no official ruling as of yet - according to reports....Students are supposedly tweeting 2 year ban coming... I agree Zoe Boy/STARaiders, Miramar might be in for a few rough years...- mass exodus on the way. Why Carol City though? I think they also spread out to other stronger programs -Norland - could be coming up next year, Flanagan -well coached and maybe Hallandale-solid program? Matt Strout surely wanted to bring the ship down with him and he likely will never be able to get another Coaching job in South Florida.....The Eric Mangini of SFL HS Football now...Very unfortunate situation for the student athletes that were not involved with this mess.... So if all this is official, and Miramar is out ...shouldn't Cypress Bay get in now to face Monarch? Supposedly the rules state theses scenarios are handled with a bye/forfeit...which is not really fair to Coral Springs or Flanagan who have to earn the win to advance and had nothing to do with this.

Just to update on this situation.....the new rumor is Miramar will be officially out of the Playoffs due to ineligible players participating throughout the regular season. Friends and Family of the Miramar program will be protesting the apparent suspension outside the Broward County School headquarters early Thursday Morning. Cypress Bay has filed legal paperwork as the third seed in the District claiming they should be allowed to face Monarch. Monarch apparently will receive a bye in the first round and automatically advance to face the winner of Flanagan/Coral Springs. So it appears because of the situation, not only Miramar but Cypress Bay and even Flanagan are also losers here. Overall, just a black eye for South Florida High School Football. Fans lose a great matchup(s) as well....I have no idea what the protest for Miramar Football to play is for. Rules and laws are in place for a reason and the allegations seem to be pretty obvious at this point. Matt Strout surely took the ship down with his departure and it looks like this mess is going to cost the Miramar program a pretty penny. It is possible the program could get banned from postseason play in 2015 when this is all sorted out. The impact that would have on the Miramar program would be costly. Don't want to speculate further on this until more facts come in...

In the North I think it will come down to the winner of a Raines/Bolles rematch . I would lean Bolles here just because they are home. Madison County might make a little noise if the stars are in alignment.... In the South , BTW will march into the Championship. Glades Central could pull off a upset with maybe a +6 turnover ratio! Clewiston has destroyed opponents all year but I think their popcorn schedule might finally catch up to them. Cocoa/Clewiston should be a great game but as far as anyone challenging BTW in 4A .....only BTW can beat themselves!

Does anyone think Coconut Creek can beat Monarch this week? I believe 2006 was the last time Coco beat Monarch 44-34 victory. From what I gather Coco Creek also has several D1 Caliber players and is a bit younger then Monarch. Coco Creek has played the better schedule this year but had a few hiccups. Monarch suffered it's first loss last week vs. a Dillard team that physically outplayed them and took the ball from them 6X! Could very well be over 100 combined points in this one! This is the game to watch Friday night and Saturday night be sure to catch the Dillard/Ely showdown! BTW, anyone know where this game is being played ? I heard Monarch is technically at Home but the game is being played at Coconut Creek High?

Ely has won 3 straight and showed up and been in every game this year except for the opener - @ Clewiston ( they didn't really have a choice - damn good team) ....Outside of that loss they have 3 losses to Plantation by 8,@ Miami Northwestern by 3 and @ Deerfield by 2. Their 2 best wins this year were Cardinal Gibbons and Glades Central. Dillard to me is the more talented team but whenever we start to take them serious they fold....lol - you know that better then anyone Dillard_High_Panthers ....I agree though...we may as well throw those numbers out when these two teams get together...this game will be fought of adrenaline and is a pure rivalry! Will the revenge factor give Dillard a boost this year? Damn hard to predict this one but I'll go : Dillard: 27 Ely: 23

Ely is the more consistent team this year. Dillard - good enough to get the W but can Dillard put 2 good games together back to back? Not sure they have done it this year....

I don't care who you are....you let a team take the ball from you six times you gonna struggle to win....Monarch has to play Coco Creek this week and if they struggle with them they are in trouble. Coco Creek is now pushover though.... they should have had Boynton this year but they fumbled on the last drive to take the lead and Boynton gets the ball-game over 63-58. Coco Creek ..yes, I agree Mr. Slick Monarch will likely have their hands full vs. Miramar. Miramar is playing with a chip on their shoulder right now because all the drama around them. I think they are trying to prove the haters wrong. If Monarch or Flanagan are able to beat Miramar, they will have to earn it the hard way. Dillard was talented enough to be a playoff team but just was way to erratic all season long. Coco Creek has a more consistent offense then Dillard and they were not even able to get to post season. Not a easy District.... At the same time, I still think Miramar on paper (specifically their Defense) is as good as anybody in the state. I do not believe anyone has played a in state schedule as hard as Miramar this year. They played 4 teams arguably in the top 10 in the state!

I see the Dillard defense forced 4 fumbles and six takeaways for the game! Way to close the season and knock off one of the top teams in the county! So was it a matter of Monarch playing a sloppy game? Dillard just finishing the season and saving their best performance for last ? Or a little bit of both?

The Sun Sentinel Newspaper reported that Miramar Head Coach A.J. Scott said Jovon Durante has been reinstated by the school to play while the matter continues to be investigated by FHSAA and Broward County Public Schools. Durante and all Miramar players have been cleared by the school and will be dressed for their final game vs. Cooper City Saturday. Hopefully this investigation will be completed and fully addressed one way or the other before the post season begins.

I heard a rumor from a Head Coach at a prominent Broward County school that former Miramar Head Coach Matt Strout NEVER wanted to make a QB change early in the season but sort of was forced/pressured socially to do so by the school and parents. This is just a rumor... The QB change was made in the second half vs. Heritage Delray because Miramar struggled to score and only put up 14 pts (and went on to win 14-7) vs AMH- Delray. It turned out Heritage Delray might be the best team in Palm Beach County, a top team in the state and actually beat AMH- Plantation....Then when the offense (and the QB throws picks and fumbles) struggles to get first downs vs the strong schools when the Patriots needed -them it was on the Head Coach and play calling - never the QB???. Perhaps it was a little bit of both...Keep in mind Miramar held St. Thomas Aquinas to 62 total yards for the game but could not finish in the 4th quarter ...(not to take anything from STA on a great comeback with big sacks, fumble recoveries , INT and special teams play) but whether it was an interception, bad play calling, special teams mistakes, teammates fighting with one another... that 4th quarter may have been a nutshell of Miramar's season. I wish Miramar the best ( Their defense alone might be good enough to take them all the way)... I believe on paper they are as good or better then anyone they will face (hopefully) going forward into the post season. Just like 09mrslick and Zoe Boy said their were a lot of things going on within the program that were not positives...I just believe that a change was needed but perhaps the former Head Coach was not the only Achilles Heal of the season.

Glad to see the better team Miramar take care of Cypress Bay and advance to the post-season during this rocky week for the program. Hopefully, this stuff will get cleared up this week one way or another so the team can prepare for Monarch.

I would have liked to seen a little more offense in their closer vs. winless Suncoast. Every team they played this year had a offensive field day on them. You would think the O-Cord might try to show some promise or something. Time to clean shop @ Dillard in my opinion.

Regardless of how erratic defense was at times the one thing Coco Creek was consistent with was their offense. Dillard never really had that breakout game offensively and averaged 13 points per game this year. Time to make changes for the Panthers...

USA Today National Newspaper broke a story on the Jovon Durante and Miramar situation.

Damn, it won't let you read it unless you have a digital subscription. I read the article through my phone and it loaded ok.... I would say if this is factual, Miramar may unfortunately have to forfeit all previous games Durante played in which would eliminate them from post-season play. If you hear the Miramar AD resigns in the next 48 hours you know the $#^+ has hit the fan...

Good call 09mrslick and Zoe Boy, there was a lot more to the Miramar situation then stats, wins and losses.... According to the Sun Sentinel rumors are stating that the former Miramar Coach and the Norland High School AD are reporting that star Wide Receiver and West Virginia commit Jovon Durante transferred from Norland High School with a 1.67 GPA and chose not to attend summer school. Durante, allegedly then transferred to Miramar where his GPA was "fixed' to a 2.27 which made him eligible to compete this season for Miramar. Again, these are just allegations that the Sun Sentinel is reporting. If this is true, my only question for the Miramar coach is why are you concerned about Durante's GPA now? Details will trickle in about this one...

I would agree and say they are favored but the bulk strength of 7A Football this year looks like it is Central and Northern Florida. Some strong teams that will beat on each other up there will be Lakeland, East Lake, Niceville and Osceola-Kissimmee. Winner of that bunch will likely get St. Thomas Aquinas. Other contenders around the state are Fort Myers, Oak Ride, Oak Leaf and Viera... Have you seen the 2014 Playoff Central 2014 link on the homepage? Check it out!

Agree STARaiders2014, he likely was sat down and told his options. Resignation looks better then getting fired. Perhaps it would have been more fair to give him a shot at a post season run and if he does not do what he is supposed to there he is gone. You would think Miramar made that schedule(non-conf vs both Heritage schools plus STA) maybe to help prepare them for a postseason run. Win or lose, it should make for a better team when it counts. They happened to lose 3 of those 4 games but only one of them affected them for the District. Also, not for nothing but while the coach took a lot of the heat for the 4th quarter meltdowns let's point out that their QB situation has been their weakness against elite teams. In fact, their current QB Simpkins looked great against the Everglades and Plantations of the world but was a combined 24 for 65 (1 TD with several critical interceptions/fumbles) vs Heritage-Delray, Heritage-Plantation, St. Thomas Aquinas and Flanagan. Most of the points scored against those teams were all defensive or set up by the defense anyway... Along with their coaching situation, that is also something that needs to be addressed. As well as Miramar can run the ball, sometimes you need to be able to execute that 8 yard slant pattern on 3rd and 6....

According to the Miami Herald, Miramar coach Matt Strout did indeed step down/resign . A change was needed, but what should be said is no one was complaining when Miramar had their way with Booker T. Washington and beat down Hallandale for fun in pre-season football. Then the Patriots go into the regular season beat the best team out of Palm Beach County and lose to 3 of the top 10 teams in Florida in the 4th quarter and now are about to head to the playoffs against another top 10 team in Florida....Would a different coach have won all of these games? Maybe not all of them. I think with that schedule and tthat very talented Miramar team even the best coaches would have struggled to win all of those games. At the end of the day Miramar could and should have handled those 4th quarters better but ultimately that schedule got the best of Matt Strout. Miramar only struggled with elite defenses. If I am not mistaken (please confirm slick) Strout fired his own Offensive Coordinator and took the job over himself? If that is the case, that may have been what started the downward spiral. Perhaps he should have brought in a seasoned OC rather then just take over himself? I imagine it is enough pressure to just win and hold one title (as head coach) at such a heralded program...why add pressure as the new OC ?

Quite an accomplishment for Tucker! I look forward to seeing him on Saturdays next year... Were any of those records held by Tebow?

From what I am seeing ST. Thomas potentially has some pretty favorable matchups into the playoffs. They will likely get Dwyer who is down a little this year and the Raiders have revenge on their mind for that one.....Might be looking at a buzzsaw to Orlando...

Well Dillard_High_ Panthers, it was great reading the commentary and your support of the program. Hopefully they make the needed changes and get back to the playoffs next year. They played a pretty solid schedule this year and as you stated the erratic offense just caught up to them. I hope you stay around and give your opinions and predictions of all the upcoming big games . You saw both Boynton and Hallandale and they will meet next week...any opinion on who wins that matchup?

Gibbons lost @ Jackson last night 14-12...

Game goes tonight...I believe 7pm kickoff!