Hwy17

Hardee 20  George Jenkins 14
 
Fort Meade 27  Haines City 0
 
Bradenton Southeast 52  Tampa Leto 3
 
Braden River 38  NPR River Ridge 10
 
Cardinal Mooney 29  Desoto 15
 
Palmetto 39  Booker 8

The team I'd keep my eye on is Winter Haven.  8-3 last year but no playoffs.  Their 3 losses: to Osceola 27-18, to Kathleen 23-13 and to Lakeland 14-13.  The return a lot of players, including a really good QB and a veteran coaching staff. 

The team I'd keep my eye on is Winter Haven.  8-3 last year but no playoffs.  Their 3 losses: to Osceola 27-18, to Kathleen 23-13 and to Lakeland 14-13.  The return a lot of players, including a really good QB and a veteran coaching staff. 

I am leaning STA here. Unless the IMG defense has drastically improved from last year, I feel STA is the more seasoned team versus facing elite talent. IMG can bring in all the kids they want nation wide and I guarantee most of them have not seen the rampant speed and physicality of elite SFL football. I just think the STA players have seen a lot more kids on IMG's level than IMG players have seen on The STA level.
Another factor I will note is that I believe STA has more depth. STA's second and third string players run circles around the IMG backups. I have seen some of those IMG "backups" and only the Lord knows how those kids are on the IMG roster. At STA, they don't just put a bunch of kids on a roster that pay max tuition to compensate for all of the starters. Every number on STA's team is hard earned and you can be assured they are all very capable SFL varsity players
 
Overall, I like better Defenses in big games. There was something missing last year with IMG defensively that I believe they will have to improve on this year if they want to win a fictitious national championship.

The game may be good, with great athletes. But is this what high school football is supposed to be? At what stage do we say enough? At the high school level it should be more about community and team. Most high school kids end their careers in October, November of December of their senior years.

Two different concepts, Darter. IMG is a private high school that specializes in turning out professional athletes, not just in football, but in all sports. That's what they do and they don't make any bones about it. If you play against them you know what to expect. Like it or not. They do not really have any district and are not allowed to participate in the playoffs. STA is a private high school just like all of the other private and parochial high schools all over the country. They are in a district and participate in the playoffs in their classification. Although they claim not to recruit, of course they do. Since they're a very successful football program every decent player wants to go there so recruiting is simply choosing the best players out of the hundreds that apply. I, myself don't think they are all that great, considering what they have to pick from. They were beaten last year by Deerfield, and had very close wins against 3 other teams. They are far from invincible. In fact there are two or three teams or maybe more in 3A that could possibly defeat them on any given Friday. STA is never going to change its mission. My take is that It is up to the other schools to just get better so that they can not only compete but defeat STA on a regular basis.   

IMG is not invincible by any means

The two have been in the same district since 2011.  Before that I don't know Southeast's history so I'd have to refer to the record book.  Hardee and Southeast played against each other in the playoffs in 2002.  From about 1975 to 2012 both programs were regulars in the playoffs but in different classes.  Paul Maechtle was a legendary coach at Southeast from 1980-2013.  Bob Martin, the same at Hardee from 1978-1995.  The two only met once.  

This district has had a different champ each year:
 
2015:  Champ: Lemon Bay      Runner-up: Southeast
2014:  Champ: DeSoto            Runner-up:  Booker
2013:  Champ: Hardee            Runner-up:  Booker
2012:  Champ: Palmetto          Runner-up:  Southeast
2011:  Champ: Palmetto          Runner-up:  Hardee

It's anybody's guess who finishes 1 and 2 in this district, outside of bayshore this district is really wide open this year which makes this district even funner to watch

Defending champ with a proven coach.  

I like the bishop morre pick, even though I'm 50/50 on picking between them and AHP but I'm glad to see someone picked the defending champs at 1

Key West High and Marathon High are the only two I know.
 
When I was in 9th grade we played Key West in the playoffs.  I though once we got to Miami we were almost there.  Heck no!  Another 2 1/2 hour ride!  It was freezing cold that night too.  A cold front came in and the wind chill off that water was brutal.  

Its the ruin of high school football!  Especially small town high schools. 

Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, and Rush Propst - This assures I am not the asshole at the table!

There were many SFL locals that actually thought Hallandale had a good shot at upsetting AHP in the playoffs. The Hallandale/Bishop Moore game could have gone either way last year. If you like Offense it was quite a show. I think AHP, Hallandale, Bishop Moore were all very close last year. All were capable of beating one another. Think about it Bishop Moore lost to AHP the previous year (2014) by only 3. Hallandale was in foreign territory playing a Bishop Moore team that was 3 pts away from states ( assuming they get by underdog Tampa Jesuit) the previous year and had much more playoff experience playing at Home. Those 3 teams were close last year , it is just AHP reloads the easiest and has the more established name. Now this year I favor AHP, not necessarily because they are any better than last, just Hallandale is way, way down and Bishop Moore will be down a bit (but not out of the hunt).

I still think Gainesville and armwood should get bumped to 7a, would give fresh opportunity in 6a and would give 7a north more competition and armwood would not have such a easy road to state

I posted in the thread about Lakeland not to sleep on Winter Haven.  I can't help but think if Winter Haven was still 6a that Armwood wouldn't have such an easy shot at state.  

Fair point. But the STA these days has a 1 year Head Coach and now a new DC .  Could be a little different animal.  We'll see how the teams that play STA locally fair versus them and how they attack the Raiders...

Probably about 30 minutes South actually.  I thought it was next to Bradenton but is just south of Sarasota. 3 hours from Broward is probably more accurate after looking at it on a map..-198 miles.

I remember the times Lakeland beat STA in the state title games.  I also remember when Charlotte knocked STA out of the playoffs in 2004 (?) and when Lincoln beat them in the title game.  One thing I remember about all those games was the winning team had to establish the run early and play smash mouth football. 

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

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.  

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. 

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.