SPCjessica2004

Right now, I have CCC 35, Chaminade 31 if it happens. I'm giving CCC the nod since it would be played in Clearwater, plus they have a huge edge in playoff experience. A lot of football to be played before that one, and I think the injury report (especially with Chaminde playing IMG week 11) will play a role in the outcome. That said, I really hope that game happens- I think it would be a great thing for 3A this year and an instant classic. But, I would also salivate at a American Heritage (Delray) vs Chaminade game. I think AHD, with their transfers (especially Noah Curtis and the RB that just came in) and the return of Alec Sincfield and Cameron Smith make them a very formidable, battle tested team. Can't wait for the season!

No worries. Welcome to the board btw!

Steve Ricks, You're a curious fella! In this thread you rank Chaminade #10. Yet, 2 hours ago in the thread http://floridahsfootball.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1180-preseason-top-25-small-classes-1a-4a/ You rank CCC over Chaminade. If CCC and Chaminade play in the final 4, you're covered- you've essentially picked them both to be in Orlando vs JaxTCA :-)

That CCC preview was a very strong preview- excellent work!

JaxTCA has the easiest path to the state finals as they should host all 3 playoff games. Rounds 1 and 2 will be teams that JaxTCA will easily overpower. Rd 3 I believe they'll host Tampa Catholic- a team they beat 49-7 last year in the final 4. Now, Tampa Catholic is better this year- but they're still 3 TD's behind..and that's assuming they're healthy. So, the question is- is there a team in 3A that can upset a well-rested JaxTCA team in the finals and the answer is, probably not. So, the next question is- which 3A team gives JaxTCA their toughest game? Some feel Chaminade, some feel CCC, some feel AHD.

Oops! I apologize- I didn't put 2 and 2 together. Sorry!

I posted on 3A just after the Spring ended; however, I only posted the top 5 teams. I won't rehash what I mentioned; however, I will post a top 10 now than my Hubby, myself and brother have learned a bit more. My top 10 going into Fall in 3A. 1) Jacksonville Trinity (3x Defending State-Championship, loaded athletically) 2) Clearwater Central Catholic (4x defending Regional Champion, 15 players with at least 1 d-1 offer, veteran team, well rounded). 3) American Heritage Delray (2x defending Southern Championship, major graduating class, but still talented enough to make a run) 4) Chaminade-Madonna (20 players with at least 1 d-1 offer, composed mostly of transfers. Proven coaching. Toughest run to 3A championship due to late season schedule). 5) Tampa Catholic ( Strong offensive group, defense should be improved from last year. Playing @ Bergen Catholic, will represent Florida) 6) Oxbridge Academy (Lost Doug Socha as coach, but enough talent to make things interesting. Still waiting to see who transfers in and out) 7) Orlando First Academy (Underrated group of athletes that run the Wing-T, should have a very strong roster in 2016) 8) Berkley Prep (Lead by Tampa Bay Buc's head coach son at QB, a strong- fleet footed offensive line and talented play makers at WR. Berkeley could make noise) 9) Lakeland Christian (Talented group that had a big graduating class and suffered from some key transfers out, part of a tough 3 team district). 10) Ocala Trinity Catholic (Celtics suffered a rough season in 2015, 2016 term should start making solid gains) The popular preseason prediction is JaxTCA vs Chaminade in the finals. I do believe that JaxTCA will be in the finals; however, Chaminade will come up a few plays short after playing a 5 week gauntlet of double-tough teams. I see your final 4 being JaxTCA hosting Tampa Catholic in the North. I see CCC hosting Chaminade in the South. I've got JaxTCA 42-21 over Tampa Catholic and I've got CCC over Chaminade 28-24 in the South. I see JaxTCA and CCC going tooth and nail for most of the game, but in the 4th JaxTCA makes timely plays and pulls out a 35-24 win for a 4th consecutive state championship.

I can relate this story to Florida High School Football. One of Clearwater Central Catholic's coaches is a HUGE Bellevue High School football fan- he's flying out to Bellevue for 2 weeks to spend time with their football team and hear the stories about how they beat De La Salle, Long Beach Poly, Trinity Tx and Cal-High. I think he has dinner planned with some of the new coaches as well. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little jealous regardless of Bellevue's current situation.

Interesting that a player is transferring TO Oxbridge Academy.

C/O 2019 WR/CB Ahmarean Brown transferred from Tampa Jefferson to Tampa Catholic. He's a big-time transfer for TC as he already has offers from Missouri and Michigan State- it gives them a 3 headed monster at WR with Bentlee Sanders, Darius Corbett and now Ahmarean Brown. Devan Barrett is a 40 division 1 offered RB and the QB is a very quality player. With all of the noise of Chaminade/JaxTCA/CCC/AHD, Tampa Catholic has quietly assembled an impressive list of talent- no doubt trying to arm themselves for the game @ Bergen Catholic.

STARaiders2014, You've hit the nail on the head. A big reason in my mind is that JaxTCA is a very successful football team because in 3A, they field a roster of 55-60 players and they wear teams down. In 2013, at half-time JaxTCA and CCC were tied 0-0, JaxTCA won the 2nd half 35-7. In 2014, JaxTCA and American Heritage were tied 0-0, JaxTCA pulled away in the 2nd half. In 2016, JaxTCA 7, American Heritage 0. JaxTCA pulls away in the 2nd half. 11 on 11, both of those teams could match JaxTCA, but those starting 11 on offense are also starting on defense and JaxTC is able to have guys go 1 way. JaxTCA has some impressive wins against 7A/8A schools; however, if they had to go against teams consistently that can match their athletes and had just as much or more depth it would be tough. Then again, isn't that part of the theory of the current classification system? So teams with 30-35 players in a school of 600 play against other teams with 30-35 players in a school that draws similar numbers?

With Spring 2016 in the books and teams getting ready to head into the weight room and prepare for 7-7 season, I wanted to present my post Spring 2016 thoughts and rankings. Please note, I don't care how many D-1 kids a team has or how much hype they get. I take things into consideration such as graduating classes, returning talent, coaching, general know how. 1) Jacksonville Trinity Christian- JaxTCA isn't just #1 in 3A, they maybe #1 in most classes in Florida. This will be the #1 small school in America until somebody not named IMG beats them. They dismantled Jacksonville Raines in Spring and really showed a flashy offense with their in-your-face defense. Ranking JaxTCA #1 is a no-brainer. 2) Clearwater Central Catholic- CCC is the 4x defending Class 3A Region 3 Champion and brings their roster from 2015 back almost entirely in tact. CCC knocked off a very stout 6A Clearwater High School football team on the road without 3 starters (Sr. WR/DB/S Dillan Scargle, CB/WR Jaylen Jones, OL/C Aeromis Gonzales). Last year, I felt that CCC could go blow-for-blow with American Heritage but would come up a few plays short because they lacked maturity. American Heritage was senior loaded, CCC was Junior/Sophomore loaded. CCC lost 31-24 in the final 4 last year. The team went down to Heritage as boys, but came back men. This year- I see the Marauders winning the South especially because they would host the final 4 game this year in Clearwater where they've compiled a 28-3 record since 2012. CCC is a senior loaded team that features a plethora of players who played on their 2013 State Runner-Up team. 3) American Heritage Delray- The Stallions once again are loaded. They beat Titusville 3-0 and Palm Bay Heritage 14-7. I do think the Stallions will miss Devin Singletary, DJ Davis, Greg Benoche and that was before Lamonte McDougale transferred out. Still, with Alec Sinkfield and a host of transfers (and maybe more..more on that in a moment) this is a team still very much in contention for the south. The defense is still as good as even, but there are concerns about the offense. Never underestimate the Stallions, especially when it comes to crunch time. This will be a potent team this year. 4) Chaminade-Madonna- I'm aware of the talent the Lions have compiled and have returning. I'm also aware of the overwhelming hype and media coverage the Lions have received. I said last year the Lions are going to be a formidable team this year; however, I can't, in good conscience, put Chaminade into the top 3 when 1) They didn't play a Spring game 2) They consist mostly of transfers that haven't played a game together yet 3) The 3 teams ranked ahead of them have all played in a state championship game in the past 3 seasons and 4) The team hasn't won their district in recent memory and 5) The team hasn't won a playoff game in recent memory. It may sound like I'm poo-pooing on the Lions, I'm not- these are cold hard facts I'm presenting. Despite all of that, this is arguably the most talented team in class 3A..JaxTCA included. They currently have 19 players on the roster with 1 Division 1 offer or more and I've no doubt they'll make a strong run. Starting week 10, they face a gauntlet of very strong teams including Flanagan and IMG. 5)Oxbridge/Tampa Catholic- We all know what happened with Oxbridge Academy, it's everywhere. I don't want to touch that from a non-football perspective. With Doug Socha no longer in charge and the AD being let go- what happens to the roster? For now, I'm keeping Oxbridge at #5 but the cold reality is, with the school clearly wanting to downplay football it's expected the players will transfer to Dwyer, STA, American Heritage or their zoned public school (Does that even mean anything anymore?). Because of that, I'm going to say it's a tie between Oxbridge and Tampa Catholic for the 5th spot going into the season. Tampa Catholic has quietly put together a strong program that returns the likes of superstar RB Devan Barrett, Darius Corbett and Austin Sessums. As always, things will change. I forsee all of these teams adding and losing pieces over the next few months. I see Oxbridge losing some pieces and CCC/American Heritage gaining some major pieces to the puzzle. Chaminade has gained a lot of pieces and lost some key pieces, Tampa Catholic will most likely add a few more pieces as well.

Josh, I think Clearwater High School is going to have a really strong football team this year, maybe the best team in 20 years or so. They have a huge senior class filled with stars like Adarius Lemons, Jaquez Jones, Kane Taylor, Austin Day and Tramar Reece. They're strong along both lines and have a good coaching staff. Because they're senior loaded, the window isn't going to be open very long for them to make a deep run, so even though they may take one on the chin against Cocoa- it's better than blowing out a bad team 55-0. According to most of the preseason polls I've seen, Clearwater is ranked #2 in the county and a top 10 team in the Tampa Bay area.

Clearwater High School at Cocoa High School is my pick, along with Oxbridge vs Columbus and Chaminade vs Deerfield Beach.

Spring Football 2016 Class 3A Spring football is a rite of passage in Florida where reporters, fans, family, coaches and players can evaluate where a program is likely heading going into Fall. I, for one, have never put to much stock into Spring games- some of the best teams in Fall lose their Spring game, and some teams that win by 70 in Spring can't reproduce those results in Fall; however, if we take Spring for what it is- 20 days of practice and a glorified scrimmage we can enjoy its subtle nuances. Class 3A is going to be different this year- for the first time in recent memory, I believe there will be a legitimate challenger to Jacksonville Trinity Christian's throne. The off-season in 3A has been plastered with the rise of Chaminade-Madonna and there 16 division 1 offered athletes. There's also been much Bru-ha-ha made about Tampa Catholic fielding a team that has extremely high expectations with a healthy senior class and a load of division 1 athletes, TC made national news when it was announced they would be flying up to New Jersey to play national powerhouse Bergen Catholic. So, the question remains- who are the contenders and who are the pretenders to still be playing late November? Here's some general thoughts on 3A going into Spring. 1) Can Jacksonville Trinity Christian 4-Peat? It's hard to win a state-championship in Florida, but can you imagine the pressure to win 4 in a row? Trinity has been the flag bearer for small school excellence for quite awhile and I have every expectation this will remain the same this year. Outside of Tampa Catholic, the North of 3A is rebuilding. Trinity will need to rework major parts of their offense as they've put together a highly competitive schedule that includes Ribault, IMG, Cocoa, Pine Forrest and Godby. The defense is expected, as usual, to lead the way. 2) Chaminade-Madonna, already a national Super-Duper-Power? - It's amazing how quickly things change in Florida. Just two seasons ago Chaminade-Madonna was the poster child for 1-9 teams making the playoffs while 7-3 teams didn't. Now? The Lions feature a plethora of playmakers, defensive prowess and the class 4A Player of the year QB Henry Columbi who transferred in from Uschool. Chaminade, wisely realizing that they play in the South of 3A which will feature no less than 4 teams in Maxpreps national small school rankings, is playing up most of the season to prepare them for a long playoff haul. 3) Oxbridge Academy has finally arrived- this time last year, most reporters were crowning Oxbridge as the De Facto 3A team. I still had them behind American Heritage Delray, but this year? I think Oxbridge has finally arrived and they've built a schedule that's comparable to IMG's schedule. Oxbridge will be playing a bevy of 8A schools throughout the year. Oxbridge, similar to Chaminade already knows 3A South is a gauntlet and they're preparing accordingly. 4) Any Dark horses? Oxbridge/Chaminade/JaxTCA/CCC are going to be talked about in Class 3A as the 4 top teams; however, are there any teams that could spoil the party? Looking around the state this year, 3A is going to be very top heavy. I think Tampa Catholic and American Heritage Delray can play the spoiler roll. Heritage is in a position where, for the first time in, maybe ever, they go into the season as a clear and convincing underdog. Tampa Catholic has the talent and expertise to make another long playoff run as well. Berkeley Prep is expected to have a strong/competitive football team this year and there is some hype around Winter Park Trinity Prep and Lakeland Christian. If you're looking for a dark horse for 2016, Tampa Catholic would be it. 5) Ocala Trinity Catholic- up or down? The Celtics aren't used to experiencing many 4 win seasons; however, the schedule was unmerciful last year as the Celtics played a highly competitive schedule in 2015. 2016 should see the Celtics starting to resemble their old selves a bit more. The talent and coaching is there, but the 2015 version was young and immature by most accounts. This year, I think it's safe to say they'll be more competitive and I'm thinking, be a 2nd round playoff team this year. Who has the toughest and easiest route to the Championship game? Without question, Chaminade-Madonna has the toughest route to Daytona Beach. If you go by expectations and popular opinion, this is what Chaminade is most likely looking at to get to Orlando. Week 10: @ Flanagan Week 11: IMG Rd 1: Vs American Heritage Delray Rd 2: Vs Oxbridge Rd 3: @ CCC That is the very definition of crazy. That CCC game, would come at the worst possible time considering CCC has a senior loaded roster that will feature 12-15 division 1 athletes of their own and that's before they get their expected transfers in June. But, even to get to Clearwater there's heavy resistance- Oxbridge is loaded, American Heritage will end up being loaded, IMG is IMG and Flanagan despite having some transfers out- is still the defending 8A State Champions. If Chaminade does get to Daytona or win it, they'll have earned it. Ironically, the easiest route to the Championship game is most likely Jacksonville Trinity Christian. Jacksonville Trinity is in a unique situation that they stand a a great chance of hosting all 3 playoff games in the North. I don't expect rounds 1 and 2 to be trouble at all as the teams in Region 1 are rebuilding. That would leave JaxTCA with a home game against Tampa Catholic and/or LCS/Berkeley Prep/Trinity Prep. JaxTCA will be heavy favorites at home against any of those teams. Those are my thoughts for now- keep in mind, it's APRIL. Teams will get transfers in, out..those who transferred out will come back if others transfer in and vice versa. But, as Spring goes- there's enough story lines to keep people interested in small school football!

Even though American Heritage Delray has received some transfers, that's a huge, huge loss for the Stallions. He was the heart and soul of their defense from what I saw.

I'm finishing up my Class 3A Preview and will be posting it in another week or so; however, Region 4 in Class 3A is just insane. Oxbridge, Chaminade, American Heritage Delray, Westminster are 4 very good programs. All 4 teams had good cores coming back and have added some key transfers. I don't know whose coaching Westminster, but Chaminade/Oxbridge/AHD have very good coaches. All 4 teams will have highly competitive schedules. It blows my mind that two of these teams will be knocked out in round 1. Whoever represents the South in 3A this year will of gone through some big-time small school powerhouses to get there.

One of the more interesting head coaching vacancies in small school football to me was the position at Melbourne Central Catholic high school. Coach Mike Riazzi has been at MCC for what seems like, ever and leaves some pretty big shoes to fill. MCC is a very up and down team. In 2009 they knocked off North Florida Christian in round 1 before running into a Jamie Harper lead Jacksonville Trinity Christian team. In 2013 the Hustlers were 11-0 before running into one of Tampa Catholic's best ever teams. The Hustlers typically have talent, but with the rise of Melbourne Holy Trinity and the re-emergence of John Carroll the district is always a battle. With that as a preface, I felt it was important for the Hustlers to make a strong hire and I do think Stacey Sizemore is a strong hire for the Hustler program. Coach Sizemore has a long history with American Heritage Del-Ray including leading the Stallions to a State-Final in 2014 and winning championships with the Stallions in 2009 and 2011 as an assistant. My brutally honest opinion? He's the right guy for the job; however, he's got a lot of work to do. He's going to inherit a young Hustler team that needs a LOT of work. To make the playoffs, he's going to have to find a way to upset John Carroll or Holy Trinity. Holy Trinity has a very promising team in 2016 that has expectations of making the 2nd round of the playoffs this year; however, it's not unrealistic to think MCC could upset John Carroll a huge rival that has some rebuilding to do.

Yahh!! Peezy is here:-) I don't mind fans of other teams taking shots at me- but there were some..."Remarks" made that crossed a line into personal family stuff. Still, that was then and this is now. I've been wrong a lot and I've been right a lot- but it's always in fun.

I just heard about the Chaminade transfer earlier today and now it's posted:-) So much for giving the scoop. This is the 2nd time in a handful of years where Uschool has had a mass exodus of talent. THe first time it was obvious why everyone left, I'm curious what the reasoning is this time. Uschool has lost quite a bit it seems.

Great post! I agree with you. I don't know if this is going to be a televised game or not; however, Bergen Catholic does live stream their home games (I watched Bergen vs American Heritage and Bergen vs IMG this way last year). if I hear any rumblings from the TC faithful, I'll pass it on.

Okay, to the point of the topic- and because I had WAYYY to much time on my hands last night, I compiled some numbers on the team that Florida is sending to face Bergen Catholic, Tampa Catholic. Many fans consider the "Modern Era" of current high school football to of started around 1995/1996 (This, I know, is debatable- but let's go with it for the sake of this post). I only have records that go back to 1998; however, here's a brief history: Since 1998 Tampa Catholic has been to 2 State Championship games (2007, 2009), been to 5 Final Fours and won their district 6 times. The 2016 version of the team features Devan Barrett one of the top running backs in America according to most major recruiting sites (Usually in the top 20). They feature a dynamite offense with Austin Sessums at QB and strong WR play with stars such as Bentlee Sanders and Darious Corbett. The Crusaders finished 2015 10-3 with a Final 4 appearance. The offense averaged close to 45 ppg; however, the defense was suspect all year. This is a senior laden team that has played together for 3 years under a good head coach in Mike Gregory. The bug-a-boo on Tampa Catholic is that they have a history of not showing up in big games. Tampa Catholic has two major rivals, Tampa Jesuit and Clearwater Central Catholic. Since 1998: TC is 0-17 against Tampa Jesuit TC is 4-15 against CCC Combined record against rivals is 4-32. In a total of 36 games, the Crusaders of TC are batting a 12.5% win average.... Tampa Catholic is expected to have a strong football team this year, but on paper, they're clear and convincing underdogs against Bergen Catholic. That said, this game has apparently been in the works for awhile as the Crusaders started hitting their alumni up for money late last year. In the end, I don't have a problem with Tampa Catholic traveling to Bergen Catholic to play- it's an experience the players will enjoy for a lifetime. Plus, on a senior laden team- I've no doubt this is their best chance to be competitive.

Thanks! I have to update my account here- I'll be back on twitter at some point; however, there were just to many people sending inappropriate DM's that I just got tired of filtering. Glad to finally be over here, a great group of posters!

Haha- yes, Sportsnut:-) I had to step away for awhile; however, I had planned to come on over here awhile ago- but couldn't make it in time as the season was already half over. I have a few things going on that will keep me busy until late March, but plan on doing my usual in a more condensed form. Bowardhandicapper, I didn't ask questions when I was being told about the kids coming from Pembroke- I freely admit, the Miami area isn't my Forte so I wasn't educated enough to ask. I'm aware that Coach Milgrom has Chaminade on the map. What I think people like about them is their POTENTIAL to be great but- and this is just being honest, this is still a team that hasn't won a playoff game in years and make no mistake, the Lions face by far the toughest road of any of the traditional 3A power's to get to Orlando, let alone win it. If you look at Chaminade, this would be the likely path to a state title: Round 1: vs American Heritage Delray (2x defending Class 3A Southern Champions, Nationally Ranked Small School by MP). Round 2: vs Oxbridge Academy (Returns a hefty portion of team, will add transfers, very well coached, Nationally Ranked Small School by MP) Round 3: @ Clearwater Central Catholic (Only graduated 5 seniors, and has already replaced them all with transfers in January, 60 wins in past 6 years, 30-3 at home since 2012, Nationally Ranked Small School by MP) Round 4: Jacksonville Trinity Christian (Enough said..seriously..I'm saying no more). They're also doing it the right way by making a hugely competitive schedule.They've scheduled games against American Heritage Planation, IMG and Manatee. I think the kids are seeing that and taking a shot at transferring to Chaminade...or..as I was told they're calling themselves, "The Nade' " I like them since assuming they win their district they would host the first two rounds of the playoffs in Hollywood before traveling 5 hours to Clearwater in the final 4. The transfers are just icing on the cake, the team already had the blueprint to be successful.

Chaminade-Madonna has done a lot to help their program this offseason. The Lions will be a force with Columbi from Uschool, Willams, Shivers and the host of other talented players. I currently have them ranked #2 in the South just behind CCC and just ever-so-slightly above Oxbridge. I'm also hearing rumors of 2 kids coming from Pembroke to Chaminade this offseason. Speaking of transfers, CCC picked up one of the top linemen in America, Dillian Gibbons from Northside Christian to go along with their billions of other D-1 athletes they have this year. Word on the street is from some friends in St. Petersburg, they're also about to pick up a slew of linemen transfers- but everyone is tight lipped right now on specifics. Must be nice to be a Chaminade or a CCC or STA or Trinity sometimes.