DarterBlue2

49-30 St John's over Jones. Jones has shown an ability to score. Unfortunately, their defense seems unable to stop St John'.s. It is now late in the 4th.

It is now 42 to 24, St. John's over Jones. Jones looks like they will never kick a PAT this year.

Jones is down by 17 in the third. St. John's 35 Jones 18.

You should have sold it with more complex language. That would have given you a shot at getting paid!

In the case of Manatee it could as their overall schedule is weak and they could lose the District to Sarasota Riverview. By dropping Lakeland, they have sacrificed at least 3 points since I believe Lakeland was a playoff team last year. It may be more as Lakeland could end up having a very good season. I would think it it in Manatee's interest to want to makeup this game.

1. Cardinal Gibbons vs Southridge 2. Jones vs St Johns College Prep DC 3. Bartram Trail vs Cartersville 4. American Heritage vs Bishop Sullivan Those are four I am aware of. Lots of other Nationally significant games are also on tap.

Dillard is clearly better than they have been in recent years. They will make the playoffs all other things being equal.

That is all a fan can ask. No shame in the loss if they aren't able to catch BTW. Like you said they did not quit and kept the score respectable.

Thoughts on Apopka: The team played down to Ocoee's standard tonight. To be fair several starters were out with injuries sustained in the Mainland game. Apopka took a 31-7 lead into the half; scored on its first possession in the third quarter; did an onside kick which they recovered at the Ocoee 40. They proceeded to quickly score again; then they cleared the bench with all their backups as the running clock was on. Not a championship performance, but understandable under the circumstances. Next up Norland from Miami which will be a much tougher opponent.

Vero Beach wins 28 -21 with an interception with no time on the clock!

Apopka 44, Ocoee 7 Final Vero Beach 28 Oscar Smith 21 with a minute plus left in the game.

There are a lot of very good/great South Florida match-ups this year. The love is deserved.

At the high school level, Willie Green was every bit as impressive as Smith in high school. He led the only Osceola team to win a state title in 1998. Not sure what the star rankings were back then, but today he would have been a 4 star hands down. Went to UF and got injured in his first year. That, coupled with some off the field issues, did him in. The lesson is: in the sport of football, regardless of talent, nothing is a sure thing. Every player is only one bad tackle or hit away from ending his career. You gotta protect yourself as best you can without sacrificing your game and enjoy each game as if it were potentially your last. I remember seeing live the tackle that ended Bo Jackson's NFL career. It seemed like a pedestrian play. But it was not.

If Dillard can play the entire game as they did the first half against St. Thomas they have a chance and at a minimum should keep it close.

Willie was a Kowboy legend! Too bad adult life has not been especially kind. I did not know his son was on their roster this year.

It may be a sickness. But it is relatively benign! Besides, until DP proves it can beat Mainland, what can they say?

Agree. DP lacks a play maker on offense at this point in the season.

Thanks, Dan! Mainland's receivers will give DP fits if Jake Novollo gets enough time to throw the ball.

Since Bad Bird covered the game in totality, I will add the following: 1. I had Lingard at about 26 rushes for 80 yards, two rushing touchdowns and one run in excess of 10 yards. He also had two catches for about 5 yards. Orange City University's lack of a kicking game gave DP good field position all night. I see the comparison of McCray to Nick Patti. They are similar QBs at least at the high school level. DP gave up a lot of penalties; I did not count but must have been at least 20, many of which were of the 10 and 15 yard variety. OC University probably had no more than 40 kids dressed. Going on the rule of thumb that at public schools about 25% of your roster does not contribute much, means they are very thin. This could hurt them down the road. DP's pass defense was somewhat lacking. Their run defense was very good. It was a good, close game. As things stand at this minute, I can't see either team taking home a state title; however, the season is young and some teams grow a lot. University's 4th quarter drive that lasted about 6 minutes almost gave them the win. Unfortunately, they gave the ball back to DP with 2:12 on the clock and DP scored in 56 seconds largely because they got good field position to begin with and on the back of a good QB keeper which took the ball deep into University territory.

That is correct. However, Lincoln actually beat Armwood on the field in 2010. One of the big upsets of the state championships. Armwood had just come off a big win over Dwyer in the south Semifinal.

Lincoln actually beat Armwood on the field in a shocking upset in 2010. Think they won by 3 after being outplayed most of the game. Armwood may have had a field goal blocked and taken back for a touchdown by Lincoln if I remember correctly.

Thursday: Orange City University vs Dr. Phillips at DP. Friday: Apopka vs Ocoee at Ocoee. Though about making the trip to Lakeland to watch the Osceola/Lake Gibson game, but passed due to weather forecast.

We will see in a few weeks.

You may do so regardless of the Orange City outcome. I don't think DP generally matches up well with Mainland. The problem is they can't usually out athlete Mainland and their offense game does not have the wrinkles to score enough points to win.

It's hard to say. I have found that till teams play, you never know what the outcome will be. Who would have though that Pointe Verde would have taken American Heritage Plantation to the wire last year?