SPCjessica2004

Good question! My understanding is that the SSAC are just FHSAA schools that chose not to participate in a district starting back in 2008/2009. Key phrase being FHSAA schools. According to the quite in the article Superior is flat out not a member at this time. I'm sure Josh or somebody a bit more in the know can chime in- but that's my thought process.

Superior Collegiate has just released a response to the FHSAA statement; however, I can't drag and drop it here due to size constraints. It's posted on the AD's twitter which is @alex_Christo2.

Ironically, despite only having 7 games in he regular season, they do have a KOC against Nature Coast Technical.

Very active day in the world of high school football, specific with Clearwater based Superior Collegiate Academy. The school was hoping to be listed as a full FHSAA member for the next classification cycle. They started high school football last season (2017) and blossomed quickly. They attracted some of the best athletes in Pinellas county and quickly built a 2A roster capable of winning a state title. The schedule this year is a major step up from last year. They took players from Calvary, CCC, Dunedin, Clearwater Academy and further down south in the Dixie Hollins HS area. They've essentially been ruled a sports academy (think IMG). I've attached the article below. The Superior Collegiate coaches and administration feel they have been incorrectly labeled and I am interested in hearing their side of the story, but part of the issue is that they had a chance to freely speak this morning with the FHSAA Board of DIrectors and not one individual from Superior showed up to tell their story. Instead the AD is running around on twitter telling people they aren't being treated fairly. The one question I've been asked quite a bit today (obviously) is what happens to the players? I have no clue- but, here is my thoughts. 1) Stay at Superior Collegiate and graduate before moving onto college. The supporters of SC say the academics are just as good as any public schools and there is a rigorous curriculum in place. The school has taken pains to inform the public that they are accredited to awarded high school diplomas. I've verified they are indeed accredited so the diploma is good. SC had a 10 game schedule, but some teams dropped them. For instance they were scheduled to play Jacksonville Oakleaf which ended up falling through. Right now the schedule sits at 7 regular season games. 2) Attend private school. Most private schools in Tampa Bay do not allow students to transfer for just their senior season; however, quite a few seniors transferred to SC from other private schools. For instance, Ethan White transferred from Calvary. I imagine he could transfer back to Calvary for his senior year. Same goes for the CCC transfers. This is a far more realistic option for the underclassmen. 3) Attend public school. This one shouldn't be a surprise, but the athletes can simply transfer to a public school and with the new transfer rules in place- shouldn't be an issue. I've attached the Times article in the link below for you to formulate your own opinion, but it's a great read and really dives into the current trend in high school. http://www.tampabay.com/sports/high-schools/2018/06/12/fhsaa-denies-membership-to-superior-collegiate/

Great question Hwy17! I like the idea behind a KOC, but it's hard to determine who uses it for what. It's been suggested to me in the past that the ideal way to set it up is- play starters and key backups the first half, 2nd string in the 3rd quarter and JV's in the 4th; however, the major programs seems to use it as an 11th game that just doesn't get put in the record books. My issue isn't so much with the games themselves, it's with the "noise" on twitter when come week 7 you see a knucklehead say, "Yeah, they're good- but we beat them in the KoC". OR, they talk about a team winning/losing without prefacing it's a KoC game. I'm in favor of KOC games over an 11 game season as long as the KOC games are not factored into rankings or Strength of Schedule.

OldSchoolLion, You're 100% correct and if we applied the same metric to academic students it would be interesting. When I look at this situation the QB was probably best off staying at Tampa Catholic. It's sad that stories like this pop up every day it seems, I could only imagine what goes unreported.

Huge transfer for CCC.. Makkah Jordan transferred from Calvary Christian to CCC. By all accounts he was expected to be one of the key cogs for the Warriors this year and probably "the man" next year after Jordan Maynard graduated. This one hurts them, but it's a huge pickup for CCC. I'm hearing rumors of some other key members of Calvary jumping to CCC as well, I'll see if anything turns up. UPDATE: Melvin Jordan IV also transferred to CCC from Calvary Christian.

It's interesting that the same day that Charlie Dean transfers into Hillsborough that that Hillsborough QB Tyler Thomas transfers to Jefferson per Putnam. Now, I think Jefferson has the makings of a good team with some of the TC transfers, especially at WR. I think it's more of a pride thing. The young man is already committed to UCF- had he stayed at Plant he would have been the back-up. Hard to imagine a kid today being a commit to a hot college program while being a backup in HS. He'll clearly be the man at Hillsborough now that there's no competition for him to beat out, although I can't speak for how Hillsborough is looking this year they strike me as a solid team year in and year out.

Charlie Dean, last years Tampa Catholic QB who is committed to UCF and transferred to Plant after the season has transferred again. He's now at Hillsborough HS per Bob Putnam.

2021 WR/CB Richie Illaraza (Southern Miss offer) has transferred from CCC to Calvary Christian. 2019 WR/CB CJ Catia has transferred from CCC to Superior Collegiate. Calvary Christian is officially loaded across the board. This was the solid WR they needed beside Mykkah Jordan, Jaden Celeste and Kendrick Maynor Jr. 4 solid WR's, 2 solid running backs and a lights out QB with an offensive line that averages 285 and goes 2 deep. Calvary might be the highest scoring team in Pinellas County this year.

Pinellas county never winning a state championship in football always surprises me, considering you have some serious state championship firepower in other sports. The great Clearwater High School basketball teams, CCC has the most boys soccer state championships in the state. Calvary Christian has been one of the more dominant baseball teams in recent years. East Lake is competitive in a lot of sports. Football wise, there have been quite a few Pinellas county teams in the state finals- but nobody seems to be able to close the book. Great topic! Curious about the other counties who have never won.

I have them playing Hallandale, but then there's a rumor going around they're going to play Columbus- buts I think Columbus already had a KOC. Hallandale makes sense due to the Coach Jones connection. I'll see if I can confirm that!

Good information! I'm really excited for the week 1 game between Chaminade and DFB. I was favoring 'Nade by 14, but it'll be interesting to see how these xfers impact DFB.

Proset, You ask a fair question, which is why I think we need to wait for the Kickoff Classic vs Robinson to see where TC is at right now. Wiregrass Ranch is a solid 7A 2nd round team that features 5 or 6 D-1 caliber players. This year, they're also a pretty veteran ball club with a heavy junior/senior class. Of all the games featuring teams I follow, I knew TC/Robinson would be a good test. TC was without 4 offensive starters in the loss to Wiregrass. They didn't have their star RB Jalen Bussey. He reminds me a bit of Shaun Shivers from last year. He doesn't have the top end speed, nor the brute force in his legs- but he has got similar take off. They also didn't have their top WR Chris Murray, a 6'3 185lb player who doubles as the teams starting safety. The 2 others that didn't play were 2 junior offensive linemen, both starters. I'm not saying TC would have won, but this will be Bussey's 3rd year starting at RB and is key cog in the Crusader offense. TC moved the ball at will between the 20's, but couldn't finish drives. The QB is a absolute stud- check out his highlight tape below. He's a rising Sophomore. He's the son of Kenny Kelly of Miami Hurricane fame. I believe Kenny was also a Parade All-American for TC. Let's chat again after TC/Robinson in the KO Classic. https://www.hudl.com/video/3/10007017/5b01ad77041f4506ec3bbd21

According to BCP, Jesuit is loaded from top to bottom and has 6 different running backs that can tote the ball, plus the QB looks good. Robinson has a lot of momentum going into Summer. I would agree with those saying Jesuit would be the favorite. I can see them going 10-0 and blowing out most of the teams on their schedule. Jefferson picked up 2 huge transfers from Tampa Catholic- Ahmarean Brown and Joseph Hodge. Both players transferred out of Tampa Catholic after Charlie Dean transferred out thinking that Kiael Kelly wouldn't get them the ball in open space due to being young. Rumor is that after Kelly's performance in Spring Brown tried to transfer back into TC, but TC wouldn't let him since he made his decision. Brown is listed as one of the top 100 WR's in the county and has committed to Maryland, despite having an Alabama offer. Both Brown and Hodge can also play DB.

There's a lot of good ones, but the one I'm most interested in is Tampa Catholic vs Tampa Robinson. I've heard a lot of good things about Robinson this off season and TC has quite a few potent weapons. I can actually see Tampa Catholic going 9-1 this year and might be shocked if they don't.

St. Pete is Pinellas County. There are 2 Central Catholic's in Florida. Melbourne and Clearwater. It could be either. Kibid is a CCC historian, I'll check with him as long as he hasn't moved to Bellevue, WA yet.

Final: Lake Wales 21 American Heritage (Delray) 14 AHD's secondary apparently played a great game and QB Blake Moreland threw for 330 yards. Lake Wales is usually a very solid team, so this was a good showing for the Stallions. There's some star power here. They're young- but with a much more bearable schedule this year than years past. I noticed they have a game scheduled @ Pensacola Catholic- I hope they're flying and not driving. That's a 10 hour drive one way!

POST SPRING OBSERVATIONS I generally do not change rankings regardless of how a team does in Spring with the exception of there being a glaring and obvious change. I didn't really see that in Spring with any team. 1) Chaminade-Madonna: There really isn't much to say here. They didn't play a Spring game, instead they had a scrimmage. Regardless, the Lions were always going to be #1 by virtue of being the defending champions and thus...they are here. 2) Clearwater Central Catholic (defeated 6A Clearwater 38-21): QB Rory Hicks was very impressive throwing for 5td's, 314 yards and rushing for 40. Brett Seither caught 3 of the TD's and also racked up an invite to the US national team for his efforts. Brothers Jerjuan and Jerzhan Newton had relaxed games offensively, but were aggressive on defense as both accounted for an interception apiece. Sophomore WR Richie Illiraza is an explosive young player that had multiple highlight-reel catches. 3) Oxbridge Academy (defeated Royal Palm Beach 41-0): Oxbridge has a really good core of players with Gio Richardson, James Meeks, Antavious Lane and Dorian Jones. All 4 players should be major, power 5 players down the road. If Oxbridge can hold onto their players and maybe add a few pieces, they should coast to the state championship game. If they start losing pieces, it becomes a wide open race. 4) Tampa Catholic (lost to Wiregrass Ranch 36-17): The hype started early for Kiael Kelly with Big County Preps calling him one of the top players in Tampa Bay and Chip Bennett calling him a national recruit. So- how did Kelly and the Crusaders do? Well- he's clearly going to be great- but right now he's a young QB going through growth pains. TC has some pieces to be really good, DJ Taylor, Chris Murray and Quincy Hipps are as good as advertised. Both lines are filled with 285+ lbs linemen, but Wiregrass Ranch had no issue getting pressure on Kelly. To be fair to TC, superstar RB Jaylen Bussey didn't play, but in this game it probably wouldn't have made a difference. 5) Florida High: I haven't been able to find any results regarding their Spring game- nor is there any word of a scrimmage. Other impressions: Calvary Christian (Clearwater): Boy was I wrong about these guys! They have a loaded roster full of talent. If you don't know the name Makkah Jordan, you will hear it for the next 3 years. He's a CB/WR with tremendous speed and agility in the open field. Calvary also has a solid QB/RB combination with Harold Cook who threw for 5TD's and RB Jordan Niles. Calvary also has a solid WR in Jayden Celste who made timely big plays all evening. They also home to Kendrick Maynor a major D-1 recruit that can play multiple positions. I can't move them into the top 5 yet, but they are clearly a team to watch. I'm waiting for the American Heritage Del-Ray vs Lake Wales game on 5/22. I'll update the thread as information comes in regarding made-up spring games. I'm waiting to see if OTC vs NFC occurs or not.

Lemon Bay 14, Tampa Berkeley Prep 13 Wiregrass Ranch 36, Tampa Catholic 17 Oxbridge 41, Royal Palm Beach 0 Admiral Farragut 13, St. Pete Catholic 6

Final: Calvary Christian (Clearwater) 55 Cambridge Christian 18 The Calvary Christian QB Harold Cook is solid. Running back#15 Jordan Niles rushed for 3 TD's. #9 for Calvary Christian is a rising Sophomore and he's going to be a guy they can build their program around for years to come. Going into Spring I didn't know a lot about Calvary, but I like what I see. I knew Reggie Crume would build a respected, solid program and he's clearly on his way to doing so. Entertaining first half, blowout in the 2nd half. UPDATE: #9 for Calvary is Mykkah Jordan. Here's some video thanks to a twitter poster. He's fun to watch!

I'm late on this one!! Clearwater Central Catholic 38 Clearwater 21 I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to watch this one online with my husband and father-in-law. My husband was raving over #9 for Clearwater Brandon Gary at linebacker. He was everywhere. I also thought Keedrick Murray played exceptional. The QB Rent Montie played well in spurts. I had him for 2 TD's passing, including multiple bombs downfield. The running back for Clearwater, #3 (Quayshawn I think- sorry I don't have a roster!) is also really good. CCC really impressed me. I knew they were going to be good, but they really moved the ball on offense. The Qb Rory Hicks threw for 5 TD's, 3 to 6'5, 223lb Sr. Brett Seither. The defense also had 4 interceptions and 6 sacks according to facebook stats. The younger Newton brother, Jerzhan was the county offensive player of the year last year. He's moved to linebacker, but also linked up on the defensive line, running back, wide receiver and I believe he even lined up as a QB for one play. His older brother Jerjuan Newton was a pest, every time Clearwater would start to gain momentum he would make a huge play. Both teams should have excellent seasons. I'm very curious for the Clearwater vs Cocoa game and the Clearwater vs Largo game later in the season maybe a classic. CCC vs Berkeley Prep is quickly turning into a week 1 game worth paying attention to. Berkeley's MLB picked up offers from Alabama and Clemson within 48 hours and their QB Joshua Youngblood currently holds 24 offers. Tonight I'll be watching the Calvary Christian (Clearwater) game vs Cambridge Christian game. I received an E-mail with a link to the game, it's on NFHS streaming.

Mashburns, that was my first thought as well. Who took time out of their day to report this? Due to Chaminade-Madonna's rapid ascension to power I'm sure they stepped on a few toes along the way, but they've put together a good product and they aren't exactly bragging about what they have on social media or trashing teams they've defeated on social media. Interesting to see if anything comes from this or not

Okay, so SFL SPY is pretty on point (almost always is!). It sounds like Oxbridge is only dressing between 21-25 kids depending on the day, but the day that PB Post went to cover them they dressed 27. They are anticipated to roll with a Varsity roster of 32-37 come Fall, which is what most teams in 3A go with. I, for one, take Spring game results with a grain of salt as some of the top teams in the state don't play in Spring or have transfers not eligible or players not available due to testing. But, Oxbridge's numbers are going to be one of the things I will follow-up on throughout the off season.

Good conversation about Oxbridge. I've been in contact with the PB Post, according to a few E-mails I have, they are dressing 27 for Spring but there are rumors of 5-6 transfers after the public school year ends. I'll see if I can have my hubby making some calls and ask around to get some information.