DarterBlue2

Not all starters, though. And Jones is kind of guilty, too. Their new HBC was at Oak Ridge before being forced out (I won't go into why on a public forum), took about 7 or 8 Oak Ridge kids with him which is a fairly big part of their good season this year.

Bad Bird is a man of his word!

In 2007 when they were in the same district as: Osceola and Lakeland (which started the season with the longest win streak in Florida). Lake Gibson was without a doubt one of the three best team in 5A North but did not make the playoffs as Lakeland and Osceola did. They had a big time receiver who caught anything within his range. Osceola handed Lakeland two losses that year; first for district championship and then in the second round of the playoffs. That Osceola team had the best high school skill player I have ever seen in Central Florida on it (Bubba Brown). IT gave St. Thomas a decent game in the state final despite being much depleted due to injury (T. Bell, the QB and safety who went on to play at Auburn, on the sidelines, and Bubba Brown playing at 50%). Had Bubba Brown not had significant off the field issues, there is no doubt in my mind he would have played on Sundays. The kid was a beast and even injured, gnashed ST. Thomas for a long touchdown run.

Venice and Braden River are both quality, state caliber teams. I have seen them with my own eyes and have no doubt about this. I am not saying they would be a lock to beat Dwyer; however Dwyer would have its hands full against both these teams.

Yes, we would have had: Cornelius Williams and Deshawn Massey back. In a close game that may have made the difference. Regarding Lake Gibson Osceola, the score in a half in the spring game was Lake Gibson 14 Osceola 0. Lake Gibson lost to Apopka 28-7 in a half and Osceola lost to Apopka 14-3 in a half with the ball at the Osceola 3 when the game ended with Apopka taking two knees. But those scrimmages were back in May, over 5 months ago. A lot could have changed.

It would take that for Glades to win. In a sense it is sad what changing economics of the sugar industry has done to Muck football, which used to be the pride and joy now just of Palm Beach County but of the whole state. Good luck with the game, but it will take a lot of luck to beat BTW.

I agree with your comments about Gibbons. If they are able to upset American Heritage, Bishop Moore would have its hands full against them, too. But BM's running game is at least as good as last year's. Unfortunately, the quarterback is not. 5A South could get interesting. Last night BM's defense more or less shut down a pretty potent Brantley running game.

Agree. Kid is a threat every time he has the ball. He is one of the most effortless runners I have ever seen and has a very nice touch on his passes. His future seems bright.

Looking at 8A, if Apopka plays to its potential, it will win the state title. This is not because it does not have its weaknesses, but because it is a very deep team, (two to three at most of the skill positions), with good to very good athletes, playing in what seems to be a relatively mediocre classification this year. In a situation like this, with no overpoweringly dominant team, RD should find a way to get it done. In many respects, this year's 8A reminds me of 6A the year Apopka won its first state title. That year, the North bracket had only Evans and Edgewater in addition to Apopka, and the South Bracket Northwestern, Dillard and South Ridge. All of those teams had their weaknesses, and Apopka had a sterling defense, and an offense that woke up in the playoffs. That was enough to win it all.

I have not seen Palm Bay this year either live or on film. If you look at their record, they seem to be a pretty good team. So in that sense yes. However, records can be deceiving. Just look at how Vanguard folded against Lake Gibson. I will say this. If Palm Bay beats Bishop Moore, they will have taken down a good team. Were it not for American Heritage, I would see Bishop Moore getting at least to the Semi Final, if not the title game.

This was a good game between two playoff bound teams. Unlike last year when Bishop Moore was destroyed by Brantley, but stormed back to win the 5A title, they got a degree of revenge this year winning 21-14 with the rain falling fairly heavily in the last 1.5 quarters. Bishop Moore is still a quality team. However, it does not have last year's passing game. Brantley struggled to move the ball consistently and appears to not have much of a passing game. They are also severely missing last year's quarterback. I think the better team on this night won. However, if these two teams played 10 times, I could easily see a 5/5 split. I feel Bishop Moore gets by its first two playoff opponents. However, they will probably have trouble against American Heritage, particularly if they have to travel to South Florida. Their running game does not seem to have missed a beat from last year, but the QB and Offensive Line is not as good as the championship team. As for Brantley, I think they have a 50/50 chance against Spruce Creek and a puncher's chance against Seminole, who I expect to handle Sandalwood. It should be interesting heading into the playoffs.

You guys are kind of hard on Columbiahighfan2016. I actually kind of like his passion for his school, as I do Dillard's. That they (both) are not always rooted in reality, actually make them the essence of the true fan, which as you probably know, was derived from: fanatic. But on the plus side, without hope, we are all lost. And, I trust, both Columbia and Dillard have enough talent within their boundaries that one day, each may realize his hope!

Proset, I am in agreement with your post. Vanguard, if they are as good as they seem to be, will beat Lake Gibson relatively easily. I don't think Vanguard has a much weaker schedule than Gibson and they have won their games far more convincingly. I do feel that the South bracket in 6a is much stronger all around than the North bracket. For that reason, it is possible that in the Semi Final or Final Vanguard could get taken out. But I firmly believe that they get to at least the Semis.

I am going to take Sebastian River by 7. Coach Pettis knows how to get the best out of his team.

Yes, that Orange City University team. They are far and away the best area team not in the playoffs.

Sounds like all three of the teams in the Jax shootout were about equal. My guess is that Seminole is a bit better than the two that made the playoffs. Spruce Creek is usually a fundamentally sound team that lacks overall team speed. But the truth is, I have not seen them in several seasons. So who knows. They eked out a win against Winter Park the week before. It would not surprise me if Lake Brantley took them down.

Orange City University Boone St. Cloud West Orange (usually one of the better teams) East Ridge Lake Highlands Prep That is all I can think of. You could make a case for Lake Mary, too, which lacked defense.

Dillard, I am rooting for your team. You are a passionate fan, and while I think CC and MNW are better than your Panthers, I don't think the gap is so wide that on a given Friday your team could not pull the upset. Especially at home! You need to pack your stands, have the band playing real loud and hope the football gods give you a couple favorable bounces. If things go well .. you never know.

It is 12 minute quarters, with Kansas City tiebreaker rules if both teams are tied at the end of 12 minutes. Unless you are a quick strike team with no running game, the coin toss, as Broward said, is critical. Milk 8 or 9 minutes off the clock on a scoring first drive and the other team is forced to go to a hurry up offense unless they take the kickoff return a long distance.

Good luck to Dillard tonight. I would like to see you win. I don't know that any of the three teams can beat MNW or CC, but you at least deserve the chance to strap up against them.

Yes, it does. It would probably be fairer to have the Kansas tiebreaker type situation with each team starting at the (5, 10, 20, you name it), and the first to "win" via a miss by the other team, going for 2, etc., getting to go to game 2, But it's better than just flipping a coin or even doing it the NFL overtime way.

Agree. This is total BS. It is bad enough that private schools were never constrained by boundaries. But to allow a kid not enrolled there to play is beyond the pale. It takes this for me to become aware of this egregious loophole.

It does not matter. In a fairer, juster world, a Private School would not be allowed to have a home schooled kid on its roster anyway. It is one thing for a Private to be able to offer scholarships or otherwise arrange financial aid to kids that could not afford to attend. It is quite another for them to benefit from using home schooled kids. I am not against a home schooled kid playing high school sports. But it should be at a local public school. If this kids wants to play at a private school, he/she should have to attend the private school.

Dr. Phillips should win this one comfortably. This is not your father's Manatee.

I expect Vanguard to beat Lake Gibson by at least 21. Gibson is good, but not great. A convincing victory by Vanguard would further confirm that it has a state caliber team.