SPCjessica2004

Yes, I know I'm "gone" for the offseason- but I'll still post about transfers when I hear about them or they're brought up to me. One of the bigger ones in the Tampa private school area is that Steven Sargeant TC OL Co 19 has transferred to Tampa Plant according to this twitter page. That's a big loss for Tampa Catholic if that turns out to be accurate which it was hinted at a few weeks ago..

I'm going to be signing off for a bit to focus on other life responsibilities after this post; however, I wanted to give some general thoughts on 2018 since questions are already being asked. Who are my personal top 5 teams going into 3A for Spring 2018? Keep in mind that these are just random thoughts BEFORE these teams get their transfers..which we know are coming.. it's really to early to have this discussion until we know who is playing where, but when has that ever stopped me in the past? Well.. never! Here you go: 1) Chaminade-Madonna: Despite the graduation loss of some key offensive (and defensive) players- this is still the best team in 3A until a 3A team beats them. They could have the best secondary in the state and they're just bigger than everybody else in 3A next year on the lines. The offense will need some tweaking without the game breaker WR's and Shaun Shivers- but there's enough still here to be the best team. 2) Oxbridge Academy: The Thunderwolves have a lot of talent to replace and it remains to be seen if the administration will let transfers come in to ease the burden of replacing some amazing athletes. The north of 3A will be competitive, but I don't see any stellar teams thus even an average Oxbridge team should find their way back to Orlando unless one of the teams in the north picks up some transfers and hits their stride. Gio Richardson has really made himself a household name and James Meeks will push for top RB in 3A next year. 3) Clearwater Central Catholic: The Marauders did what they needed to do in 2017. They survived a huge graduating 2016 class and also survived a mass exodus of talent. On paper, last year's CCC team should have been 4-6 with running clock losses in 5 of the 10 games. 2018 will be far more kind to CCC, first- I don't see them losing any players to Calvary Christian and second, they have an amazing core group of players returning. 4) American Heritage Delray: Chaminade ran all over AHD last year, but with the horses the Stallions have returning in addition the coaching staff they're rumored to be assembling is there any doubt this will be one of the most improved teams in 3A. The Stallions have taken their lumps in previous years, but I think 2018 is the year this team finally puts it together and puts their name back into the state championship conversation. 5) Tampa Catholic: Tampa Catholic will have a very explosive offense, maybe push for the top offense in all of 3A next year. TC brings back their entire offense except for 2 offensive linemen in tact. Arhmeran Brown, Jalen Bussey and Joseph Hodge alongside QB Charlie Dean make up a terrific group of offensive athletes. TC has the athletes, linemen and coaching to challenge Chaminade. Actually, TC beat Chaminade in 2009; so, there is history there if the two teams meet. I have it on good authority that TC should be picking up multiple transfers from local teams and even dip into Pinellas county for a few transfers. Teams that were good in 2017 that I think may take a step back in 2018: 1) Calvary Christian (Clearwater): Calvary Christian finished with the best record in school history and was a regional finalist in the highly competitive region 3. But, what do you do for an encore? With Amari Burney, Deandre Ferguson, Jacque Sarnoff, QB Alex Laccube and a host of others graduating it's hard to see where this team will end up without significant assistance. The Warriors do have a couple of solid offensive linemen returning, but who will they be blocking for? The top RB on the team, River Wood transferred out. Calvary won 7 games in 2017, but right now it's hard seeing them duplicate that performance going forward. 2) Melbourne Central Catholic: The Hustlers finished 2017 with a 7-4 record, but they played a very difficult schedule. In 2017 MCC was briefly in the state championship discussion and had a loaded roster with high expectations from 2016's state final 4 finish. MCC graduates a bulk of their talent including QB Joaqun Collazo and WR Lorenzo Hardy. So. running back LaAnthony Valentine will see a significant increase in minutes as well. MCC was a stout, solid and fun team to watch for the past few seasons- there are a lot of questions about where the team goes from here as they will need to rebuild. Outside of the teams listed above- I think Florida High (FSU School) will win a bit more consistently next year. Jarrod Hickman's program took some lumps early, but found themselves in the state final 4. This is a team that only graduates 6 seniors and brings a bulk of their talent back. Berkeley Prep is an enigma- they bring back some really good talent, but also graduate a lot of talent. I'm not sure where they end up right now. I'm not sure where Taylor County (Perry) ends up either. Ft. White is a team I plan on keeping an eye on a bit more in the off-season. The Indians need to replace some key talent on the line, but this is a quality program that just fell shy this year. Orlando First Academy went undefeated in the regular season to finish as the top seed in region 2, but ran into a tough MCC team. What happens to them? They have a small senior class, but the seniors they need to replace are key names. Lastly, the question that I'm really interested in is scheduling. Scheduling is done mostly in 2 year intervals, but many 3A teams chose to only do 1 year agreements from the coaches I've interacted with. I can see Oxbridge and Chaminade picking up out-of-state games. Tampa Catholic I believe is in talks with a team from the north as well. Curious to see if MCC continues to play out of state. Alright, I'm done! For my brother and husband, have a Merry Christmas and happy new year! :-D

Joe Pinkos final 3A Power Poll: CLASS 3A POWER 5 1. Chaminade-Madonna (11-2) 201.5 2. Oxbridge Academy (10-2) 196.8 3. Clearwater Central Catholic (11-1) 183.8 4. Melbourne Central Catholic (8-4) 182.8 5. Tampa Catholic (7-4) 178.0 I'm going to be creating a new thread soon to wrap up 2017 and look to 2018 and then sign off until Spring of next year to focus on household stuff.

You know, I do vaguely recall hearing that one of the reasons why Brantley left was because he spent more time fighting the administration than coaching on the field. Interesting hire in Shane Matthews, I don't believe I'm familiar with the name.

Ocala Trinity is a gold mine for the right coach. There's plenty of talent to pull from in that area- hope they land a good one!

You're correct, that's a lot of talent returning. But, my point isn't about Chaminade's talent which we're in agreement with- as long as the Step-Up Scholarship and McKay Scholarship's are available- Chaminade will use it to get guys in, like all private school do. My point is, who is Chaminade going to play? The Lions are about 1 year away from being forced into 5A the way that JaxTCA was. I've already spoken to multiple coaches in the Miami/Broward area and none of them are willing to play Chaminade again unless they're a national powerhouse (AH-P, Miami Northwestern). My point is also, Chaminade is talented- but I can see some blowouts if they have to play a national schedule, the 2017 could handle it- the 2018 team, remains to be seen. The key to Chaminade's success from what I've seen and spoken to their coaches about is that the team isn't completely built from transfers. They have a core group of guys that rose together through the tough times and put Chaminade on their back and ended their career's with a well deserved championship. I don't see nearly the same desire in the underclassmen that I did the seniors, even Shivers called them out publicly for being selfish on twitter midway through the season. As a fan, I wanted to root for Chaminade. A lot of those guys have lost family members in brutal ways- you wanted to root for them if you know their personal stories. Those guys cared and put their heart into it- it wasn't a championship is was the fulfillment of a promise they made to each other. Don't get me wrong- I still have Chaminade as #1 until a 3A team beats them and I hope they continue to win, it makes 3A look good.

I can easily see Gio Richardson and Menard being 2 of the top 5 QB's in the state next year. Oxbridge has a slightly better group on offense coming back, while Chaminade has IMHO, one of the best secondaries in America in 2018 with Keontra, Deidrick Stanley II, Tecory Couch and Mayo moving to CB. The question is going to be scheduling. I don't think Chaminade can schedule the teams they have the past 2 years without taking some serious bruises, or some significant transfers. Chaminade already had a difficult time getting games last year and those games were 1 year agreements, not contracts. So, they maybe on the hook for scheduling up to 7 games this year. I imagine they'll need to look toward the Apopka/Dr, Phillips, Cocoa, Northwestern, Jax Trinity's to fill out their 10 games. Oxbridge will need to keep their schedule light as well, but the question everybody is waiting to see is how the team approaches the offseason. Is the school going to let guys transfer in that maybe aren't the highest IQ guys. The base is there for the team to be successful, but if you take away the Senior class things start looking thin. Still good enough to get to Orlando, but the north will be very competitive in 3A next year, while the south will still come down to the same 3 teams it has for years. This off season will be very interesting.

This was an amazing game from both Oxbridge and Chaminade-Madonna. Congrats to the Lions for winning the state championship. On message boards, it's very easy to say one team is going to win a classification and be done with it; however, it's the players, coaches and staff that still have to go out and play the game each week. In other words, they can't afford to be bored. Chaminade was the best team in 3A this year, and I commend them for playing a tough schedule early. I actually think their schedule would have been even tougher if some traditional powers didn't stumble. For Oxbridge they are one of the best runner-up's I've seen in ages. They didn't quit and they played to the very end. A few missed tackles at the very end was the difference. Coach Kent and his staff had a great game plan and executed to an almost upset. Gio Richardson is a man out there, he played at a very high level. Anywho- with Chaminade being the state champions, here is my final top 6 for 3A for the 2017 season. 1) Chaminade-Madonna; State Champions. 2) Oxbridge Academy: State Runner-Ups. 3) Clearwater Central Catholic: Region 3 Champs. 4) Melbourne Central Catholic: Regional Finalist. 5) FSU School: Region 1 Champs 6) Tampa Catholic: Regional Semi-Finalist I'm curious if there are any post state championship games that Chaminade would be eligible for. This is a program that should go national before Shivers/Williams and that loaded Senior class moves on.

Couldn't agree more! Really excited for this one.

It's almost here! The Class 3A Finals that will feature the Chaminade-Madonna Lions and the Oxbridge Academy Thunderwolves. Both teams have had tremendously successful seasons in 2017 that have featured games against some of the state and nations best. At the start of the season many people picked Chaminade vs Oxbridge as the 3A Finals, it's the game the fans want and it's the game the teams want. The history: This will be third time the teams have faced each other. The teams met in 2015 in round 1 of the Class 3A Finals. Oxbridge won that game 32-24 at home. In 2016 Chaminade returned the favor in Hollywood by knocking off the Thunderwolves 30-13. The all-time series is 1-1. Both teams are senior loaded with capable underclassmen. How they got here: Oxbridge Academy enters the 3A finals ranked #15 in Florida (according to maxpreps) and with a 10-1 record. The Thunderwolves only loss came in week 1 against PA powerhouse Archbishop Wood. The Thunderwolves feature a plethora of major D_1 talent behind CJ Smith. V'lique Carter, Keidron Smith and a host other others. Their defense has been impressive to say the least- in their 3 playoff games they've defeated teams 115-14. That includes only giving up 7 points to a highly vaunted MCC offense. Many feel that the issue Oxbridge has struggled to get to the 3A finals was due to a grueling regular season schedule that was perhaps too grueling. The Thunderwolves still played a competitive schedule but didn't feature the major Florida powerhouses of years past. The Thunderwolves are healthy because of it and enter the game with no major injuries. Chaminade-Madonna entered the season with lofty national expectations; however, those expectations were quickly tempered after losing in blowout fashion to Miami Central and American Heritage (Plantation). After the loss to AH-P the seniors on the team held a closed door meeting, since then- they've taken a wrecking ball to every team they've played including state powers University School and Clearwater Central Catholic. Currently ranked #10 by Maxpreps in the State and in the top 80 in all of America- the Lions have one of the most star studded and talented rosters you will see in high school. The Lions didn't duck anybody in creating their schedule, playing a proverbial whose-who of Miami powers. How they stack up: Oxbridge Academy runs a more disciplined offense that is a balance of QB GIo Richardson's ability to throw and James Meeks ability to run. The defense is one of the top in all of Florida. Chaminade is more loose on offense, preferring to allow QB Dalean Menard freedom to get the ball to IMHO the best core of WR's in Florida. No player is more explosive than Auburn committ Shaun Shivers. He will be the focal point of Oxbridge's defense, but Lions have a lot of weapons to throw at Oxbridge. Alabama commit Xavier Williams and Kentucky commits Marvin Alexander and Akeem Hayes are all threats. The game will come down to Chaminade's ability to run the ball. The trenches will be huge as both teams are big and deep between the tackles. I think the secondary for Oxbridge will be in position to make plays and they also feature enough speed to match the team speed of Chaminade. For Chaminade they'll have to play sound in the secondary. Chaminade features 3 underclassmen who could form the best secondary in all of Florida for 2018 in Keontra Smith, Tecory Couch and Deidrick Stanley. Prediction: At the start of the season I picked Chaminade-Madonna to win the State 3A championship. I still do. Oxbridge is a very good team that's playing with a sense of urgency and has the tools to compete, but Chaminade-Madonna has a mean third gear that can wind to 120mph on the open highway. Oxbridge can match most of the weapons of Chaminade, but in the 4th quarter Shaun Shivers will start to find running room and the Lions will pull away. Chaminade-Madonna 28, Oxbridge 21

You're fine Badbird, you're not wrong either. You went by Maxpreps which was wrong since it lists the game as cancelled. I think the result was a cancelled game since the 2nd half was never rescheduled, but Rockledge beat Yulee 26-7 or something like that in one half of football in week 2. The game was at Rockledge. There's highlight video the half took place. Overall, this thread, while fun has really gotten off course. CCC vs Chaminade is history and there really isn't anything else to say about the game outside of Chaminade won. I think it's time to highlight the two teams remaining and really break down this match-up as it should be the most competitive 3A finals game in years.

Try again.. it was Rockledge's 5th game of the season. Technically 6th game with the KOC. It was also week 7 of the regular season as Rockledge had a normally scheduled bye week even before the hurricane screwed things up. Now, if you want to get super technical you could say the Yulee game didn't count and if you do nothing more than look at Maxpreps, then sure- that's accurate, but the teams did meet and play an entire half in week 2. It was a blowout in Rockledge's favor, but the 2nd half was never finished. Also, Rockledge was already battle tested going into the game having played Viera and Osceola. Overall, the bottom line is this. CCC beat Rockledge. Rockledge declined to return the game in Clearwater. CCC asked for a return game back in Rockledge in 2018, Rockledge declined the return game. End of story..both teams move on. This thread is not about CCC vs Rockledge, it's a talking point to a much bigger issue regarding Chaminade-Madonna.

I would love, love, love to see you at CCC next year. They've got a great team coming back and if I understand correctly will be getting a massive influx of talent coming in. I'm fairly positive that coach Bruch is leaving based on conversation from Mr. Wellman and you may want to check with Kibid, but I think he's taking a job at Bellevue College. He was just out there a few weeks ago for an interview and apartment hunting with his father, also I didn't realize how many people he knew in Bellevue. I'm not sure what their staff situation is like, but as long as Harvey and Davis are there, they'll win 9-10 games a year and be in the final 4. But they both adore Kibid, even Davis's daughter said on FB if Kibid left it would take part of the soul of CCC away. I like Clearwater High School, I really want them to do well and thought the page was turned in 2016. The talent is there, but there needs to be a lot more discipline. The 2018 Tornado team should actually be quite talented and just needs a few pieces to round the team out.

They played in week 7, that's not early- that's in the second half of the season after Corbin made the switch to QB. Now, I think it would be more fair to say that the loss to CCC is what catapulted Rockledge into how they finished the season. Plus, the pink elephant in the room is that Rockledge was 100% healthy and CCC lost 2 starting offensive linemen early in the game for the season. Also, it's telling that CCC asked to go back to Rockledge in 2018 and the Raiders declined. I would also say the difference is that Rockledge got better during the season; however, Chaminade reinvented themselves when they fired the old OC and the special teams coach started calling plays. It also changed when Shaun Shivers called a closed door seniors only meeting that the team was being selfish.

Thank you for the insight Broward! I was at the CCC vs Chaminade game, I sat on the Chaminade side in the first half since their fans arrived early. Very friendly bunch! Berkeley Prep has 3 guys that maybe better than Chaminade in the trenches, but as a whole Chaminade is a lot better and as you mentioned Chaminade is better everywhere else across the board. CCC focused on shutting down Shivers and was successful in the first half, but couldn't stop the passing attack which was very efficient for the Lions. My prediction for the game was 49-14, this makes 3 out of 4 weeks I've correctly guessed Chaminade's point total. Chaminade vs Oxbridge is going to be a great one, just stinks it's a 10am game on a Saturday.

If we're going to count games that don't count, then shoot- I'll take Chaminade's varsity team beating Deerfield's varsity team 7-3 in a half of play. It was a good win for Clearwater- maybe even the high point of the entire year before the wheels fell off and the players were throwing helmets and cursing out coaches (saw it on TV, it was ugly) but let's face reality- the team CCC rolls out on the field in Spring is a shadow of the team they roll out in Fall. This is true for most private school teams.

This is a good point; however, if they play 8th graders (and they historically have)- then that class needs to be taken into consideration. When I see anything over 800 and in class 3A, that's a red flag. I could somewhat understand if there was a travel issue, but they already play Uschool who would be in their 4A region.

Oxbridge- it would remain to be seen; not so much Chaminade. I think they'd do just fine. This is a team that beat Miramar in wk2 before Chaminade even got it together (The same Miramar that pounded STA). I would like to see Chaminade vs Heritage a second time, Chaminade was without key starters in that one including their starting QB. Heritage is probably better, but it should be a dogfight not a blowout. I think the problem you have is that i threw all of Tampa public schools under a bus with gusto. Notice I said public schools.. I don't back down from it and think I'm correct in saying it. Now, I will say this. Armwood and Chaminade would be a classic match-up, but in a battle of a stacked public Tampa team vs a stacked Broward private team, I'm taking the Broward private team 9/10 times, sure the Tampa team may pull off a shocker here or there- but it's a different caliber of athlete down there. I'm NOT backing down from TBT/Hillsborough in 2017 being roughly equiv to Rockledge in 2017. I'm not saying that CCC would beat TBT/Hillsborough. This CCC team should have finished 6-5, but they did beat Rockledge on the road which is a team I feel is similar to those teams. Chaminade kicked the holy poop out of CCC, I believe they would pound those teams as well. I do have a problem with you saying CCC beating Rockledge isn't impressive. That's just flat out disrespect, like you dated a CCC girl and she broke your heart so I hate them for the rest of my life kinda disrespect. That's an impressive win for what this CCC team was expected to do this year, which was a bunch of nothing. If you picked this Marauder team to win that game or finish undefeated this year- your pants are on fire. Overall, I respect that a Tampa football fan takes it personally when a person known for supporting small private schools makes a big girl statement. But, I truly believe that this Chaminade-Madonna football team is special in a way that few teams are. Now, Oxbridge is a formidable foe and I believe is one of the few teams that can go athlete for athlete with Chaminade. I've probably sold Oxbridge short in the past year, that's my fault. But this game will be an amazing athletic contest. Overall, I don't have anything against you 181pl. I appreciate your commentary and somebody needs to stick up for Tampa public football. I guess I get defensive when I see the old BCP posters, since most of them were jerks. You're a good guy! No printer, just fax!

I wouldn't have agreed with this year at the time, but hindsight being 20/20 I do actually agree with it. Oxbridge in 2016 had a ridiculous schedule and Chaminade caught them at the ideal time. I think that's why this 3A final is so great. You have 2 powerhouses with as much talent as anyone in the state getting ready to battle each other on the grandest stage. I'll be posting a preview on this one later.

2017 Oxbridge could compete with Armwood, maybe not beat them. I think CM after week 5 of this year could beat Armwood- Columbia.

Oxbridge is another team that could probably beat every team in Tampa, although I think CM is deeper hence why I would give them the nod over Armwood. Nice pot shot there bud.

The list on the first page that MBHS provided is missing some key Chaminade players and completely missed the boat for CCC. I think MBHS posted that more as a knife rib that CCC didn't have a chance, but CCC has a lot more than one D-1 guy. As for Chaminade, any list that leaves that Tecory Couch off isn't an accurate list. He's a key CB for Chaminade. Also, it's missing Marlin Mayo and I believe 3 other guys that have an offer to an SEC team.

I have a feeling 181pl just looked up Chaminade-Madonna's roster for the first time and said, "Oh, shoot Jess is right."

They are what they are, a team that lost to CCC on their homecoming night...

I was comparing Rockledge to TBT and Hillsborough. I feel it's a fair comparison.