Hwy17

Don't sleep on Winter Haven. They went 8-3 last year and only lost to Lakeland 14-13. They return many of their key players and have a seasoned coaching staff. http://www.polkpreps.com/article/20160525/SPORTS01/160529665/1230/CAMPUS42?Title=Spring-football-preview-Winter-Haven-camp-features-large-turnout

What does Clewiston have this year?

If they were 7a, that means they would have to go through St. Thomas to win state. Not much easier IMO. 8A, idk?

With Winter Haven moving up to 7a they should remain a playoff team. They need to add some tougher teams to their schedule and learn how to prepare for a playoff game. All those years of coming in 3rd place in the district and missing the playoffs but still having a winning season didn't teach their coaches on how to prep for a big game. That playoff loss to Armwood showed they didn't know what hit them. No reason they should have lost to Lake Gibson last year either. Sebring always has had the potential but never the coaching or the mindset that comes with winning. They need to drop the East Lee's and Westminster's off their schedule.

Lakeland, Kathleen, Winter Haven, Fort Meade, Victory Christian, Sebring, Avon Park, Lakeland Christian, Hardee,

Ah, forgot about Tenneroc. Fairly new school, they are 4a. Avon Park is in Highlands County.

Since when does St.John's county down to Daytona get referred to as the Heartland? The Heartland refers to Polk, Hardee, DeSoto, Highlands.

Really? I thought they were in your district. We have them in the kickoff classic.

I don't know enough about Osceola or Brevard but will give you a top 5 for Polk: Lakeland, Kathleen, Winter Haven, Fort Meade, Victory Christian.

Polk County: 8A: Haines City, Ridge Community 7A: Lakeland, Kathleen, Winter Haven, George Jenkins, Bartow 6A: Lake Gibson, Auburndale, Lake Wales, Lake Region 5A: None 4A: Mulberry 3A: Lakeland Christian 2A: Victory Christian 1A: Fort Meade, Frostproof Ind: All Saints (Jordon Christian, Santa Fe Catholic, Vandgaurd)* 17 teams; the other three private schools don't field a team every year. Lake Wales should be 5a but opted to play 6a due to travel. Winter Haven was a power in 6a until they got moved up and should benefit from the wildcard format.

Southeast hired a coach with a proven track record. I agree, they should be a force in a couple of years.

1. Armwood 2. Braden River 3. Jesuit 4. IMG 5. Plant City 6. Manatee 7. Venice 8. Plant 9. Tampa Catholic 10. Tampa Bay Tech

IMHO - if IMG was to play top Florida teams and lose, it would hurt their ability to sell their program.

IMG just doesn't impress me as the "best team in the nation" let alone the state of Florida. There, I said it. I'm not saying that they're not good, nor am saying they don't have top talent, but look at their schedule and the teams they ran the score up on: Miramar 5-5, DeSoto, TX 6-6; Cocoa 10-3, Bergen Catholic, NJ 7-4; St. Joseph, NJ 8-4, Southern Lab, LA 10-3, Paramus Catholic, NJ 3-6, Eastern Christian, MD 3-6. So of the two Florida schools, Miramar was average for 2015 and Cocoa, while good, keep in mind is a 4a school. Makes me wonder how IMG would have fared against Booker T. Washington? Those out of state schools are not the top teams in their respective states. The way I see it, I think they could find better competition here in Florida than those schools they played. IMG only played one top team in Florida, AHP, and they lost that one! I can't help but think that Charlotte, Manatee, Venice, Braden River, Armwood, Tampa Jesuit, Plant City, Lakeland, Hallendale, Wakula, Miami Central or STA, and probably some others that are worthy of mention, wouldn't have been better competition for them than those they did play.

When I was in 9th grade, my Hardee Wildcats played Live Oak Suwanee for the state title. Live Oak won the state title 4 years straight, 1987-1990. Hardee was 8-2 in the regular season that year and beat Orlando Jones and Key West in the playoffs. There was a 3-way tie in the district and we advanced. Our rival, Desoto, was 9-1 and beat. Palmetto had beaten Desoto 14-13 to force the 3-way tie. Back then only district champs advanced and tie breakers were done from the 10 yard line. I always though DeSoto would have had a better chance against Live Oak than we did. I remember Live Oak use to play, and beat, Lakeland back then.

Pro's and con's of long standing rivals: One hand it makes for great tradition, the stories, the history, and sense of community pride. One the down side, fans and alums tend to put more emphasis on winning the rivalry games and accept being a regional power instead of striving to become a state power. If your rivals aren't any good, now you have a weak schedule.

Fort Myers and Estero were along the same line. Some big games between each other in the 1990's and early 2000's before South Fort Myers and took all the talent.

There's those you always have on your schedule. Hardee has played Fort Meade nearly every year since 1930, but its not our "rivarly" like DeSoto. A few times that game has been a kickoff classic and because its typically the first or second game of the year, its gotten cancelled or cut-short due to weather. Avon Park and Sebring have been on the schedule nearly every year since the mid 70's. I'm hoping the new coach will be willing to put Palmetto back on the schedule.

I thought the big rivalry in Tampa was Hillsborough vs Jefferson

Eastside??? They were 1-9 last year. Are they returning every starter or something? Jesuit or Dunbar should be on that list.

I hope the new coach at Hardee will have the balls to put Palmetto back on the schedule.

Over the weekend, Hardee High named Brian Kemp as its new head coach. Kemp is a 2003 Hardee grad and 2007 grad from Wofford College. Formerly Kemp was an assistant coach at Union County South Carolina

Over the weekend, Hardee High named Brian Kemp as its new head coach. Kemp is a 2003 Hardee grad and 2007 grad from Wofford College. Formerly Kemp was an assistant coach at Union County South Carolina.

That's what I figure. Many fans were disappointed that we didn't make the playoffs this past year. We were 3-0 in district play and beat the eventual district champs Lemon Bay before being upset in the last two district games and finishing the season 5-4. I felt like we matched up better with the early playoff games than Lemon Bay or Southeast did. We return a lot of starters for next year and felt like it would be coach Martin's opportunity to match the success he had in 2013. Now we are in a hurry to find someone with spring football a little more that a month away.

It was announced last Tuesday. Looks like I was the last person in town to hear about it. LOL. Coach Jerod "Buddy" Martin resigned to take an assistant coaching job with Toombs County Georgia.