SPCjessica2004

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/highschool/fl-sp-santaluces-forfeit-20181025-story.html
...not making the playoffs because an opponent forfeited a game(s)...that would sting

Historically speaking, playoff teams that do not finish the regular season as district champion and have 3 or more regular season losses have a very small chance of making a deep playoff run.  Back in 1993, the FHSAA started to allow a lot more teams to make the playoffs.  The data below shows that the vast majority of these "additional" playoff teams have not fared well.  There are some limited exceptions.  It makes one wonder if adding some of these additional playoff teams was really worth it, at least in terms of helping us determine the truly best team in each class.     
Between 2000-2017, about 1150 district runners-up/wilcard teams made the playoffs in the upper classes (5A-8A from 2011-2016 and 3A-6A from 2000-2010).  Of those teams, only 4% made it to a state semifinal or beyond and 1.5% made it to a state final.  Only 1% of those 1150 teams with 3 or more regular season losses made it to a state semifinal or beyond. 
Listed below are the teams that made a state semifinal or beyond during this time frame.  After each team name is their regular season record, the class in which they played that year, and the team that won their district that year.  I've italicized some of the outliers.  
Here are some interesting facts about these teams during this time frame:
21 of the 45 teams below finished the regular season with one loss. Only 2 teams that did not win a district title and finished the regular season with 3 or more losses made it to a state final: Apopka in 2014 and Carol City in 2016   Only 12 teams that did not win a district title and finished the regular season with 3 or more losses made it to a state semifinal Only 6 teams have won a state title without winning a district title: Godby, Apopka, Armwood, South Dade, Carol City, and Miami Central Apopka won each of its 3 state titles without winning their district those years.  Carol City won 2 state titles in years they did not finish as district champion. One team with a losing record made a state semifinal...Deerfield Beach in 2001.  They were in an especially weak region that year. Classes 5A-8A below
2017 Miami 8-1 (8A-Columbus)
2016 Navarre 9-1 (6A-Gulf Breeze), **Carol City 6-3 (6A-Northwestern), Clay 7-3 (5A-Baker County)
2015 Columbus 9-1 (8A-Coral Gables), Tate 7-2 (6A-Pine Forest), **Miami Central 5-2 (6A-Carol City)
2014 **Apopka 6-4 (8A-West Orange)
2013 **South Dade 9-1 (8A-Killian), Bartram Trail 5-5 (6A-St Augustine)
2012 **Apopka 8-2 (8A-Olympia), **Godby 9-1 (5A-Wakulla), Miami Jackson 6-4 (5A-Norland) 
2011 Fletcher 8-2 (8A-Deland), Bartram Trail 9-1(6A-St Augustine)
 
Classes 3A-6A below
2010 *Norland 9-1 (3A-Belen Jesuit)
2009 *Deland 9-1 (6A-Mainland), Miami Central 9-1 (6A-Northwestern), *Manatee 9-1 (5A-Venice), Lake Wales 8-1 (3A-Winter Haven)
2008 Boone 8-2 (6A-Dr Phillips), Miramar 8-2 (6A-Cypress Bay), *Northwestern 8-1 (6A-Central), Seabreeze 5-5 (4A-Merritt Island)
2007 Cocoa 7-3 (3A-Astronaut)
2006 *Lake Brantley 9-1 (6A-Oviedo), Boone 6-4 (6A-Dr Phillips), Bartow 7-3 (3A-Kathleen)
2005 None
2004 Ely 7-2 (6A-Deerfield Beach), Riverview 7-2 (5A-Sarasota), *Lake Gibson 9-1 (4A-Auburndale), **Armwood 8-1 (4A-Middleton)
2003 Deerfield Beach 9-1 (6A-Ely) **Carol City 9-1 (6A-Northwestern), Dunnellon 8-2 (3A-North Marion)
2002 *Wharton 9-1 (5A-Chamberlain), *Jefferson 9-1 (4A-Armwood)
2001 **Apopka 9-1 (6A-Edgewater), Deerfield Beach 4-6 (6A-Douglas), Dillard 6-4 (6A-Piper), Atlantic 8-2 (5A-Boca Raton), 
2000 Miami Jackson 6-4 (6A-Central), Tate 6-4 (5A-Rutherford), *Dwyer 9-1 (5A-PB Gardens), Armwood 8-2 (3A-Haines City)
*State runner-up
**State champion

There can only be one champion each class so either way someone is gonna b left out who we feel should or could have won if they were in a different class point is you are who your record says u are and by that you should be rewarded or concequented point blank 3-5 is 3-5 8-0 is 8-0 it does not matter who u play u still had to play the game 

A modified points system is probably fairest. However, there are still kinks that need to be worked out. 
At the end of the day, a perfect system does not exist. If a better job was done putting competitive districts together with at least 5 teams each in the larger classifications, and the various schools did not complain, bitch and moan and were willing to travel in cases where that was necessary to put together competitive districts, I would be for the old district winner and runner up making the playoffs. But the previous district qualification system was grossly unfair to a number of teams and should be buried forever unless a better effort was made to have competitive districts. 
A simple example of making districts more competitive would be to move two of: Central, Northwestern, Norland and Carol CIty to two other districts. One, of these teams, for example could be moved to Dillard's district and another to the next closest 6A district (even if that meant travel to the Collier County area up through Charlotte County). 

Dillard,

I get what you're saying, and understand it in the big schools; however, the smaller schools in 1-4A have to create their own 10 game schedule. Booker T. is a known name, meaning, sisters of the poor aren't going to play them. They're forced into playing Chaminade-Madonna, Central, Carol City, Southridge etc.    I think you have to cut these guys some slack with their record. 

The bigger schools 5-8a I tend to feel a bit more empathy for since they get placed into districts. Some districts are tougher than others. I think the FHSAA was trying to avoid those super-districts where there is a 6 team district and 3 of the teams are elite superpowers but only 2 make the playoffs so they end up beating each other up and then in the sister district a 5-5 team playing joe nobody is a champion.

The question becomes, what's the best system to use? There probably isn't one everybody will agree on, but as Josh says the point system is here to stay.
 

...some games tonight with interesting storylines
Palmetto(7-1) @ Killian (3-5) 8AD16 matchup     Big rivalry game for the "Cat Trophy."
Norland(3-5) @ Northwestern(3-5) 6AD16 matchup     A 4-loss Norland team shocked Northwestern last year...likely two of the better 3-loss teams in the state now 
Deland(7-1) @ Sandalwood(5-3) 8AD1 matchup     Sandalwood has won the last 3 meetings easily..is this Deland's year?  If Deland wins and Mandarin loses to Palm Coast, it's a 3-way tie in the district race.
Flagler Palm Coast(7-2) @ Mandardin(5-3) 8AD1 matchup.  FPC has won 4 of the past 7 meetings, including a 24-17 2OT win last season.

30.2.1.1 Level 1 Suspension. A student-athlete who commits an unsportsmanlike act or a flagrant foul for which he/she is ejected from the contest will be ineligible to compete for the remainder of that contest and for a minimum of the next two (2) contests, at the same level of participation in the sport of the suspension and in any interscholastic athletic contest in any sport, at any level, during the period of suspension, in all sports except football. For football, the student will be ineligible for a minimum of the next football game, at the same level of participation, and any interscholastic athletic contest in any sport during the period of suspension. If the unsportsmanlike act or flagrant foul occurs in the last contest of a season, the student will be ineligible for the same period of time as stated above in the next sport in which the student participates; or

30.2.1.2 Level 2 Suspension. A student-athlete who receives a second Level 1 Suspension or commits an unsportsmanlike act, as defined in Bylaw 7.2.1, will be ineligible to compete in the next interscholastic athletic contest in any sport, at any level, for a period of up to six (6) weeks; or
The student-athlete has exhausted his/her eligibility in the sport in which the all-star contest is to be conducted;
 and
district; however, internal account funds generated from fund-raising activities may be used.

 26.1.1.2.1 26.1.1.3
Exception. This does not apply if the contest is held out-side of the state of Florida.
Fees for the student-athlete who participates in the all-star contest are not paid by the school, coach or school
     2018-19 FHSAA Football Sport Manual A41
30.2.1.3 Level 3 Suspension. A student-athlete who receives a second Level 2 Suspension or commits an egregious unsportsmanlike act, as determined in the sole discretion of the Executive Director, will be ineligible to compete in the next interscholastic athletic contest in any sport for a period of up to one (1) year; or
30.2.1.4 Level 4 Suspension. A student-athlete who receives three (3) or more Level 2 Suspensions or commits an egregious unsportsmanlike act, as determined in the sole discretion of the Board of Directors, will be ineligible to compete in any interscholastic athletic contest in any sport for the duration of the student-athlete’s high school career.
30.2.1.5 It is the responsibility of the local school authorities to ensure this policy is enforced. When an ineligible student is allowed to participate, forfeiture of the contest is mandatory. This policy applies to all regular season and Florida High School State Championship Series contests.

Or could it?  Our system awards 3 bonus points for scheduling a playoff team and 35 points for a category one loss.  So it is possible to get 38 points from a category one loss as has been pointed out before.  In the lower divisions they do not play in districts. So a lower division school could, in theory anyway, schedule 10 elite power houses, all category one with bonus points, finish 0-10 and have 38 points.  Right now, 38 points would be enough to make the playoffs in the lower divisions.  

I have no clue how this works.  I've heard 3 different responses all of which seem fishy. I believe there were 5 ejections in total, all on CCC. The best explanation I heard was that the players would be suspended for this week since they all received 2 unsportsmanlike penalties; however, since no blows were thrown and none of the players got into an officials face the suspension would only be for this week.

Another individual seemed fairly confident they would be out for 6 weeks minimum due to the ejection, but I seem to recall that only being accurate if there was a brawl. I don't think we live in times where any ejection results in an automatic 6 week ejection, it probably has to be a specific set of circumstances.

Overall, I just don't know enough about the situation and rule interpretation.

 

Ejections means those players can’t play for two games? That use to be the rule but don’t know what’s been changed in recent years.

Cardinal Mooney has beaten Bishop Verot(7-2) and Berkeley Prep(6-2), has been in some tight games, so know about pressure/poise, average 35 points per game, and have a legendary coach who knows how to get a team ready for a game.  That's a lot of positives.   

It's no secret that Cardinal Mooney has been game planning CCC for the last 3 weeks. I communicated with a few sports writers in the Bradenton area that are convinced that Cardinal Mooney has an excellent game plan to beat CCC on Friday. More to the point, a Mooney coach sent me a DM after I made my 38-14 pick in another thread yesterday that this has been, by far,  their best week of practice all year with players volunteering to stay an extra hour to get additional film study in over and above their already length film study sessions.  You can listen to On the Grid later today and they'll likely say as much.

CCC is nowhere near full strength and is in desperate need of a bye week, in addition, they had multiple ejections last week against Jesuit. 

I don't want to feed into the CCC complex that they're underdogs against everybody they play because that's hogwash, but with the CCC injuries, ejections and factoring in a likely monsoon I can understand why Cardinal Mooney has become a trendy upset pick in the past 24 hours.

I think Hwy17 does a great job with his poll and appreciate anybody who takes on that challenge and posts it in public. It's good message board fodder!  As for the game, I think it has the makings to be one of the great games of the weekend if not the season.
 

Snapshot of the area - Pinellas, Hillsborogh, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee, DeSoto, Highlands counties.  Looking at how these teams stand now vs. how high their maxpreps rankings are.  For example Mantee and Riverview are both 5-3 but have a higher maxpreps rankings than say Largo or Lake Wales who in my honest opinion are playing better ball right as of right now.  Secondly, not a lot of posters on this board from this area, so this puts some names out there that people probably aren't paying attention to - Like Clearwater Academy Int. who I had never heard of before but they are 8-0, even if it is in a smaller class. Another would be Pinellas Park is undefeated but rarely gets mentioned when talking about who is a serious contender in 7A.  

Class 3A, Week 10 rankings:

#1) Chaminade-Madonna: Chaminade scored a quality win over a good, but not great Doral Academy team 47-17. In the game Chaminade had multiple TD's called back and quite honestly could have won 80-7. As mentioned last week, the Lions have hit their stride at this point in the season and it's hard seeing anybody slow them down right now. I kept them ranked #1 this week due to the early season win over Muscle Shoals. The Trojans have gone on to great success and should finish their season in Alabama 8-2.  Also, I'm giving a tip of the hat to their win over Booker T who would then go on to compete for 3 quarters against Carol City. As far as week 10 is concerned, I see another 70-0 type win over hapless Flanagan before setting up a huge week 11 game over the current #1 team in Class 4A, University School.


#2) Clearwater Central Catholic: Many computer polls had  Tampa Jesuit as a top 15 team in the state (highest being Pinkos who had them at #11). Many felt that if CCC was going to pull off the upset it would need to be a high scoring, overtime type game where maybe Jesuit didn't bring their A game. Remarkably, CCC gave up only 2 field goals in the win and shut down the vaunted Jesuit rushing attack.  I'm personally impressed they did this without the services of 4 starters, including superstar Jerzhan Newton.  While I believe this is the best individual win any 3A team has scored this year, I believe Chaminades body of work up to this point is slightly better than CCC's, even with 2 losses. Now, if the Marauders win on Friday against undefeated Cardinal Mooney that could change.

#3) Sarasota Cardinal Mooney:  When it comes to Florida High School football coaches in Florida, few are more respected than Cardinal Mooney coach Paul Maechtle who has racked up 290 victories and 2 state championships in his career. He inherited a highly talented team at Mooney that was ready to make a deep run in the playoffs. RB Trayvon Hall has had a special season in 2018 continually running past defenders.  Mooney has put together a series of quality wins, but they haven't earned that signature win. That could come this week when the CCC Marauders arrive in town boasting a 22 game regular season winning streak.

#4) Benjamin School: Because the Buccaneers play in the same region as Chaminade- it's easy to overlook the quality of play coming out of Benjamin. Benjamin has won 15 of their last 18 regular season games, including being undefeated so far in 2018.  Kaiir Elam is having a phenominal season with 650 all purpose yards and 4 TD's, but it's the Buccaneer rushing attack that has really come to the attention of opposing defenses.  Benjamin has 4 running backs that have run for at least 200 yards this season, 3 of which have rushed for at least 300 yards.  The Buccaneers are playing high quality football and look to finish the season undefeated against rival and also high performing King's Academy.

#5) Tampa Berkeley Prep: There were a lot of teams considered for this #5 spot as there's a proverbial jammed highway here, but it was determined to give the spot to Berkeley Prep.  Berkeley has 2 losses, but they were early season losses to two undefeated teams that are currently in the top 75 of Maxprep and other polls. Berkeley has also scored quality wins over Tampa Catholic, Lakeland Christian and Mitchell.  This weeks comes a defensive challenge from a good 6-3 Tampa Sickles quad to finish the season. If you haven't seen Berkeley Prep QB Joshua Youngblood play, you owe yourself to check out his Hudl highlights.

ROUNDING OUT THE TOP 10

#6) Tampa Catholic: Crusaders continue to impress after a strong 15-3 win over #4 state ranked team Bishop Verot. The hype has already started for 11/2 when Tampa Catholic hosts Jesuit.
#7) Florida High School: The Seminoles fought hard, but eventually dropped the game against a high quality Wakulla team. It doesn't get easier this week with Godby on tap.
#9) American Heritge Delray- The Stallions had a great opening to their season, but have stumbled in previous weeks. Still, at 5-3 AH-D can finish the season strong  against Key West and Everglades Pre.
#10)  Baldwin: The Indians were upset last week against Santa Fe, but Florida High lost as well- thus, if the Indians can win out they stand a good chance to grabbing the #1 seed in the region if Florida High stumbles against Godby.

GAMES OF THE WEEK:
Clearwater Central Catholic (9-0) at Cardinal Mooney (8-0)

This game is likely a preview of a regional finals match in mid November as both teams are expected to finish #1 and #2 in the region.

THE PICK: Cardinal Mooney has had a strong season and will be a formidable foe. I have no doubt that Mooney will make things interesting for a half, but CCC is playing for a 2nd consecutive undefeated season and more importantly, home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

CCC 38, Mooney 14

King's Academy vs Benjamin

North Palm Beach meets West Palm Beach in this is a very interesting Class 3A Region 2 vs Region 3 match.  King's Academy comes in with 1 loss, Benjamin is undefeated.

THE PICK: These are two really good teams that I can see having success in the playoffs. I expect both teams to finish the season at category 1 teams, so there's lots of points on the board.   I don't think either team has played a super challenging schedule, but they've won the games they should.  I expect a close contest, but the Bucs seal it with a late fumble.

Benjamin 35, King's 28


OTHER GAMES
Baldwin over West Nasseau by 3. (West Nasseau plays Baldwin on Monday, 10/29- it will be their 2nd game in 3 days).
Berkeley Prep over Sickles by 10
Orlando First Academy over Lake Highland Prep by 28
Calvary Christian (C-Water) over IMG White by 42
Chaminade-Madonna over Flanagan by 50+
North Marion over Ocala Trinity by 21
St. Pete Catholic over Gulf by 14
Pensacola Catholic over Pensacola Pace by 7
Lakeland Christian over Avon Park by 14
University School over Melbourne Central Catholic by 42
AH-D over Key West by 21
Fort White over Newberry by 35+
Glades Central over Cardinal Newman by 20



 

Interesting to see this many teams unbeaten still or only 1 loss.  Have a hard time putting a 3 loss team in this poll, despite how high they are ranked.
1.  Lakeland    9-0
2. Venice  7-1 
3.  Pinellas Park  8-0
4.  Clearwater Central Catholic  8-0
5.  Armwood  7-1
6.  Plant  7-1
7.  Hardee  8-0
8.  Cardinal Mooney  8-0
9.  Plant City  8-1
10. Bloomingdale  7-1
11.  Tampa Bay Tech  7-1
12. Jesuit  7-1
13.  Braden River  6-2
14.  Lake Wales   7-1
15.  Palmetto  6-2
16.  Clearwater Academy Int.  8-0
17.  Berkley Prep  6-2
18.  Tampa Catholic  6-2
19.  Chamberlain  6-2
20.  Largo  6-2
HM:  Sarasota Riverview 5-3; Manatee 5-3; 

Class 3A, Week 10 rankings:

#1) Chaminade-Madonna: Chaminade scored a quality win over a good, but not great Doral Academy team 47-17. In the game Chaminade had multiple TD's called back and quite honestly could have won 80-7. As mentioned last week, the Lions have hit their stride at this point in the season and it's hard seeing anybody slow them down right now. I kept them ranked #1 this week due to the early season win over Muscle Shoals. The Trojans have gone on to great success and should finish their season in Alabama 8-2.  Also, I'm giving a tip of the hat to their win over Booker T who would then go on to compete for 3 quarters against Carol City. As far as week 10 is concerned, I see another 70-0 type win over hapless Flanagan before setting up a huge week 11 game over the current #1 team in Class 4A, University School.


#2) Clearwater Central Catholic: Many computer polls had  Tampa Jesuit as a top 15 team in the state (highest being Pinkos who had them at #11). Many felt that if CCC was going to pull off the upset it would need to be a high scoring, overtime type game where maybe Jesuit didn't bring their A game. Remarkably, CCC gave up only 2 field goals in the win and shut down the vaunted Jesuit rushing attack.  I'm personally impressed they did this without the services of 4 starters, including superstar Jerzhan Newton.  While I believe this is the best individual win any 3A team has scored this year, I believe Chaminades body of work up to this point is slightly better than CCC's, even with 2 losses. Now, if the Marauders win on Friday against undefeated Cardinal Mooney that could change.

#3) Sarasota Cardinal Mooney:  When it comes to Florida High School football coaches in Florida, few are more respected than Cardinal Mooney coach Paul Maechtle who has racked up 290 victories and 2 state championships in his career. He inherited a highly talented team at Mooney that was ready to make a deep run in the playoffs. RB Trayvon Hall has had a special season in 2018 continually running past defenders.  Mooney has put together a series of quality wins, but they haven't earned that signature win. That could come this week when the CCC Marauders arrive in town boasting a 22 game regular season winning streak.

#4) Benjamin School: Because the Buccaneers play in the same region as Chaminade- it's easy to overlook the quality of play coming out of Benjamin. Benjamin has won 15 of their last 18 regular season games, including being undefeated so far in 2018.  Kaiir Elam is having a phenominal season with 650 all purpose yards and 4 TD's, but it's the Buccaneer rushing attack that has really come to the attention of opposing defenses.  Benjamin has 4 running backs that have run for at least 200 yards this season, 3 of which have rushed for at least 300 yards.  The Buccaneers are playing high quality football and look to finish the season undefeated against rival and also high performing King's Academy.

#5) Tampa Berkeley Prep: There were a lot of teams considered for this #5 spot as there's a proverbial jammed highway here, but it was determined to give the spot to Berkeley Prep.  Berkeley has 2 losses, but they were early season losses to two undefeated teams that are currently in the top 75 of Maxprep and other polls. Berkeley has also scored quality wins over Tampa Catholic, Lakeland Christian and Mitchell.  This weeks comes a defensive challenge from a good 6-3 Tampa Sickles quad to finish the season. If you haven't seen Berkeley Prep QB Joshua Youngblood play, you owe yourself to check out his Hudl highlights.

ROUNDING OUT THE TOP 10

#6) Tampa Catholic: Crusaders continue to impress after a strong 15-3 win over #4 state ranked team Bishop Verot. The hype has already started for 11/2 when Tampa Catholic hosts Jesuit.
#7) Florida High School: The Seminoles fought hard, but eventually dropped the game against a high quality Wakulla team. It doesn't get easier this week with Godby on tap.
#9) American Heritge Delray- The Stallions had a great opening to their season, but have stumbled in previous weeks. Still, at 5-3 AH-D can finish the season strong  against Key West and Everglades Pre.
#10)  Baldwin: The Indians were upset last week against Santa Fe, but Florida High lost as well- thus, if the Indians can win out they stand a good chance to grabbing the #1 seed in the region if Florida High stumbles against Godby.

GAMES OF THE WEEK:
Clearwater Central Catholic (9-0) at Cardinal Mooney (8-0)

This game is likely a preview of a regional finals match in mid November as both teams are expected to finish #1 and #2 in the region.

THE PICK: Cardinal Mooney has had a strong season and will be a formidable foe. I have no doubt that Mooney will make things interesting for a half, but CCC is playing for a 2nd consecutive undefeated season and more importantly, home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

CCC 38, Mooney 14

King's Academy vs Benjamin

North Palm Beach meets West Palm Beach in this is a very interesting Class 3A Region 2 vs Region 3 match.  King's Academy comes in with 1 loss, Benjamin is undefeated.

THE PICK: These are two really good teams that I can see having success in the playoffs. I expect both teams to finish the season at category 1 teams, so there's lots of points on the board.   I don't think either team has played a super challenging schedule, but they've won the games they should.  I expect a close contest, but the Bucs seal it with a late fumble.

Benjamin 35, King's 28


OTHER GAMES
Baldwin over West Nasseau by 3. (West Nasseau plays Baldwin on Monday, 10/29- it will be their 2nd game in 3 days).
Berkeley Prep over Sickles by 10
Orlando First Academy over Lake Highland Prep by 28
Calvary Christian (C-Water) over IMG White by 42
Chaminade-Madonna over Flanagan by 50+
North Marion over Ocala Trinity by 21
St. Pete Catholic over Gulf by 14
Pensacola Catholic over Pensacola Pace by 7
Lakeland Christian over Avon Park by 14
University School over Melbourne Central Catholic by 42
AH-D over Key West by 21
Fort White over Newberry by 35+
Glades Central over Cardinal Newman by 20



 

Class 3A, Week 10 rankings:

#1) Chaminade-Madonna: Chaminade scored a quality win over a good, but not great Doral Academy team 47-17. In the game Chaminade had multiple TD's called back and quite honestly could have won 80-7. As mentioned last week, the Lions have hit their stride at this point in the season and it's hard seeing anybody slow them down right now. I kept them ranked #1 this week due to the early season win over Muscle Shoals. The Trojans have gone on to great success and should finish their season in Alabama 8-2.  Also, I'm giving a tip of the hat to their win over Booker T who would then go on to compete for 3 quarters against Carol City. As far as week 10 is concerned, I see another 70-0 type win over hapless Flanagan before setting up a huge week 11 game over the current #1 team in Class 4A, University School.


#2) Clearwater Central Catholic: Many computer polls had  Tampa Jesuit as a top 15 team in the state (highest being Pinkos who had them at #11). Many felt that if CCC was going to pull off the upset it would need to be a high scoring, overtime type game where maybe Jesuit didn't bring their A game. Remarkably, CCC gave up only 2 field goals in the win and shut down the vaunted Jesuit rushing attack.  I'm personally impressed they did this without the services of 4 starters, including superstar Jerzhan Newton.  While I believe this is the best individual win any 3A team has scored this year, I believe Chaminades body of work up to this point is slightly better than CCC's, even with 2 losses. Now, if the Marauders win on Friday against undefeated Cardinal Mooney that could change.

#3) Sarasota Cardinal Mooney:  When it comes to Florida High School football coaches in Florida, few are more respected than Cardinal Mooney coach Paul Maechtle who has racked up 290 victories and 2 state championships in his career. He inherited a highly talented team at Mooney that was ready to make a deep run in the playoffs. RB Trayvon Hall has had a special season in 2018 continually running past defenders.  Mooney has put together a series of quality wins, but they haven't earned that signature win. That could come this week when the CCC Marauders arrive in town boasting a 22 game regular season winning streak.

#4) Benjamin School: Because the Buccaneers play in the same region as Chaminade- it's easy to overlook the quality of play coming out of Benjamin. Benjamin has won 15 of their last 18 regular season games, including being undefeated so far in 2018.  Kaiir Elam is having a phenominal season with 650 all purpose yards and 4 TD's, but it's the Buccaneer rushing attack that has really come to the attention of opposing defenses.  Benjamin has 4 running backs that have run for at least 200 yards this season, 3 of which have rushed for at least 300 yards.  The Buccaneers are playing high quality football and look to finish the season undefeated against rival and also high performing King's Academy.

#5) Tampa Berkeley Prep: There were a lot of teams considered for this #5 spot as there's a proverbial jammed highway here, but it was determined to give the spot to Berkeley Prep.  Berkeley has 2 losses, but they were early season losses to two undefeated teams that are currently in the top 75 of Maxprep and other polls. Berkeley has also scored quality wins over Tampa Catholic, Lakeland Christian and Mitchell.  This weeks comes a defensive challenge from a good 6-3 Tampa Sickles quad to finish the season. If you haven't seen Berkeley Prep QB Joshua Youngblood play, you owe yourself to check out his Hudl highlights.

ROUNDING OUT THE TOP 10

#6) Tampa Catholic: Crusaders continue to impress after a strong 15-3 win over #4 state ranked team Bishop Verot. The hype has already started for 11/2 when Tampa Catholic hosts Jesuit.
#7) Florida High School: The Seminoles fought hard, but eventually dropped the game against a high quality Wakulla team. It doesn't get easier this week with Godby on tap.
#9) American Heritge Delray- The Stallions had a great opening to their season, but have stumbled in previous weeks. Still, at 5-3 AH-D can finish the season strong  against Key West and Everglades Pre.
#10)  Baldwin: The Indians were upset last week against Santa Fe, but Florida High lost as well- thus, if the Indians can win out they stand a good chance to grabbing the #1 seed in the region if Florida High stumbles against Godby.

GAMES OF THE WEEK:
Clearwater Central Catholic (9-0) at Cardinal Mooney (8-0)

This game is likely a preview of a regional finals match in mid November as both teams are expected to finish #1 and #2 in the region.

THE PICK: Cardinal Mooney has had a strong season and will be a formidable foe. I have no doubt that Mooney will make things interesting for a half, but CCC is playing for a 2nd consecutive undefeated season and more importantly, home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

CCC 38, Mooney 14

King's Academy vs Benjamin

North Palm Beach meets West Palm Beach in this is a very interesting Class 3A Region 2 vs Region 3 match.  King's Academy comes in with 1 loss, Benjamin is undefeated.

THE PICK: These are two really good teams that I can see having success in the playoffs. I expect both teams to finish the season at category 1 teams, so there's lots of points on the board.   I don't think either team has played a super challenging schedule, but they've won the games they should.  I expect a close contest, but the Bucs seal it with a late fumble.

Benjamin 35, King's 28


OTHER GAMES
Baldwin over West Nasseau by 3. (West Nasseau plays Baldwin on Monday, 10/29- it will be their 2nd game in 3 days).
Berkeley Prep over Sickles by 10
Orlando First Academy over Lake Highland Prep by 28
Calvary Christian (C-Water) over IMG White by 42
Chaminade-Madonna over Flanagan by 50+
North Marion over Ocala Trinity by 21
St. Pete Catholic over Gulf by 14
Pensacola Catholic over Pensacola Pace by 7
Lakeland Christian over Avon Park by 14
University School over Melbourne Central Catholic by 42
AH-D over Key West by 21
Fort White over Newberry by 35+
Glades Central over Cardinal Newman by 20



 

Below are the year-to-date records for some of the out-of-state teams that played Florida teams earlier this season.  Most are proving to be reasonably good teams, if not very good teams.  
Dematha(MD)-lost to STA 38-0; 6-2 record; LOST 13-7 to nationally-ranked St John's 
St Joseph Regional(NJ)-lost to AH Plantation 20-17; 7-2 record (only other loss was by 4 points to ranked Bergen Catholic) WON
St John's(DC)-beat Central; 8-0 record WON
Milton(GA)-beat Cardinal Gibbons 42-17; 7-2 record WON
North Gwinnett(GA)-lost to Wekiva 28-14(NG's lowest offensive output of the year) ; 8-2 record WON
Buford(GA)-lost to Deerfield Beach 19-14(Buford's lowest offensive output of the year); 7-2 record WON
Westlake(GA)-lost to Deerfield Beach 41-16; 7-2 record (only other loss was close game with Grayson) WON
Lee County(GA)-beat Dr Phillips; 9-0 record WON 
Lowndes(GA)-beat Lincoln 51-15; 7-2 record WON 
Muscle Shoals(AL)-lost to Chaminade-Madonna 28-21; 8-2 record (only other loss by 1 point to Top 10 AL team) WON
Bob Jones(AL)-beat Mainland 39-36; 6-4 record WON 
Clay-Chalkville(AL)-beat Niceville 58-14; 9-1 record WON
Fort Dorchester(SC)-beat Viera 31-28; 8-0 record IDLE
Louisville(MS)-beat Navarre 14-6; 10-1 record WON 
Holmes County Central(MS)-lost to Niceville 35-7; 9-1 record WON
 

Flagler Palm Coast (7-2) at Mandarin (5-3) (Thursday)

Raines (7-1) at Lincoln (6-2) (Thursday)  

No. 1 Carol City (8-0) vs. No. 2 Miami Central (8-1)

South Dade (7-1) vs. Miami Southridge (6-2)
 
Cocoa (6-2) at Pahokee (5-4)
 
Barron Collier (7-1) at Naples (7-1)

Apopka (6-2) at Wekiva (7-1)

Gulf Breeze (7-1) at Navarre (7-1)

Tampa Bay Tech (7-1) at Plant City (8-1)

Clearwater Central Catholic (9-0) at Cardinal Mooney (8-0)

100th meeting coming up between Hardee and Desoto.  Hardee leads series 59-35-5. Not counted was a game in 1909. Hardee comes in with an 8-0 record. Desoto is 6-2.
1.      1921- DeSoto County 6-0
2.      1922- DeSoto County 14-9
3.      1923- DeSoto County 9-6
4.      1923- DeSoto County 14-0
5.      1924- Hardee 20-0
6.      1924- DeSoto County 20-0
7.      1925- Hardee 10-3
8.      1926- Hardee 20-0
9.      1927- Hardee 7-0
10.  1928- DeSoto County 18-0
11.  1929- DeSoto County 12-6
12.  1930- Hardee 13-12
13.  1931- Hardee 13-6
14.  1932- Hardee 18-0
15.  1933- Hardee 40-0
16.  1934- Hardee 13-0
17.  1935- Hardee 20-0
18.  1936- Hardee 13-0
19.  1937- Hardee 6-0
20.  1938- Tie 0-0
21.  1939- Hardee 18-7
22.  1940- DeSoto County 13-0
23.  1941- Hardee 18-6
24.  1942- DeSoto County 7-0
25.  1943- DeSoto County 6-0
26.  1944- Tie 7-7
27.  1945- DeSoto County 19-18
28.  1946- Hardee 20-0
29.  1947- DeSoto County 25-14
30.  1948- DeSoto County 33-8
31.  1949- DeSoto County 6-0
32.  1950- Hardee 20-19
33.  1951- Hardee 27-19
34.  1952- Hardee 19-7
35.  1953- Hardee 53-0
36.  1954- DeSoto County 27-0
37.  1955- Hardee 15-0
38.  1956- Hardee 19-0
39.  1957- DeSoto County 7-6
40.  1958- Hardee 40-0
41.  1959- Hardee 35-13
42.  1960- Hardee 40-14
43.  1961- Hardee 33-20
44.  1962- DeSoto County 13-6
45.  1963- DeSoto County 20-6
46.  1964- Tie 14-14
47.  1965- Hardee 41-0
48.  1966- DeSoto County 26-7
49.  1967- Tie 27-27
50.  1968- Hardee 20-13
51.  1969- Hardee 40-20
52.  1970- DeSoto County 14-0
53.  1971- DeSoto County 40-13
54.  1972- DeSoto County 47-7
55.  1973- DeSoto County 40-0
56.  1974- Tie 13-13
57.  1975- Hardee 27-7
58.  1976- Hardee 21-7
59.  1977- Hardee 15-6
60.  1978- Hardee 6-0
61.  1979- Hardee 14-6
62.  1980- Hardee 21-14
63.  1981- Hardee 40-6
64.  1982- Hardee 14-0
65.  1983- Hardee 21-7
66.  1984- Hardee 14-7
67.  1985- DeSoto County 21-17
68.  1986- Hardee 20-0
69.  1987- DeSoto County 28-24
70.  1988- DeSoto County 21-7
71.  1989- DeSoto County 34-28
72.  1990- DeSoto County 14-7
73.  1991- DeSoto County35-15
74.  1992- DeSoto County 16-12
75.  1993- Hardee 14-6
76.  1994- Hardee 14-0
77.  1995- Hardee 60-6
78.  1996- Hardee 42-20
79.  1997- Hardee 47-28
80.  1998- DeSoto County 20-14
81.  1999- Hardee 54-6
82.  2000- Hardee 41-0
83.  2001- Hardee 56-21
84.  2002- Hardee 40-21
85.  2003- Hardee 50-0
86.  2004- Hardee 19-7
87.  2005- Hardee 16-12
88.  2006- Hardee 10-7
89.  2007- DeSoto County 17-0
90.  2008- DeSoto County 21-20
91.  2009- Hardee 28-6
92.  2010- Hardee 14-12
93.  2011- Hardee 42-6
94.  2012- Hardee 21-13
95.  2013- Hardee 26-7
96.  2014- DeSoto County 23-18
97.  2015- DeSoto County 17-14
98.  2016- Hardee 34-3
99.  2017- Hardee 34-0

1909 Wauchula Wildcats 

1923 Arcadia Bulldogs 

Well this just helped with the pick'ems for this week.

Polls and rankings can be distracting and misleading. Lots of rankings go off what a select group of coaches/writers think and often miss many less known teams that are a level above teams ranked higher.
Just cause someone thinks a team is number 1 doesn't mean they are.
The only poll that really matters is the one at the end of the season when the championship is played. A Class 8A Champion doesn't always mean they are better than a Class 5A champion. I've seen some special 1A teams that could give 8A teams fits and win many of the games they played. Off hand Pahokee and Madison County come to mind. Don't believe it, just look at their past history's.
justsayin...

Have finished adding historical information for each of the matchups listed in the original post. 
As if Central vs Carol City is not enough, Southridge vs South Dade promises to be a close game.  South Dade just lost to Palmetto in OT, opening the door for Southridge to claim the 8AD16 title with a win.  If South Dade wins, these 3 teams should all end up with one district loss.   
And Miramar vs Western up the road in Broward promises to be a good game.  Miramar won by 2 points last year and Western won 7-6 the year before.   With a win, Western can claim the 8AD12, something it has been wanting for a long time.  A loss sets up a 3-way tie between these two and Plantation.  Plantation beat Miramar and Western beat Plantation earlier this season.