DarterBlue2

Losses like that hurt deeply. But there are as much a part of the game, as they are a part of life. Taken the right way, and after putting it into perspective, your son can take positives from this. PHU is still 3-1. Even if this was a district game, you are certainly not eliminated from the playoffs. There is much that can still be accomplished over the course of this season.

VERO won easily. Why would you take them out?

Manatee is clearly decent; however, they have yet to face proven good competition, though Lake Minneola is probably a little better than its record. Both Lakeland and Venice should be close to the very top, if not 1 and 2, in class 4S at this stage.

@Pipe Dreams, there was more to the game than what you cite. First, both Dp., touchdowns were essentially created by your defense. One a scoop and score, the the other an interception that gave your offense the ball at the Apopka 12. Now you could argue the fumble was forced. But the interception certainly was not. It was driven by our strong safety playing QB in the absence of our starter due to injury. Also, just before half time, with your corner beaten, Apopka's receiver dropped a relatively easy catch in the end zone. The Darters left 4 points on the board there. From watching Dp. closely last Friday, what I gathered is this. The Panthers have the best Offensive Line Apopka has faced in 2023 (including the spring and KOC games). They also have a solid QB who has a very good arm and is difficult to bring down when he takes off. On the negative side, your defense needs work both up front and in the secondary. Will this Phillips team make a good run? Perhaps. But to do so it will need to make significant improvement on a couple fronts. Anyway, I bear no animosity towards the DP program and wish it success the rest of the season, at least up to and if there is a rematch with APK in the playoffs. Then it will be: "We gonna beat DP, throw a W on that schedule."

Given the nature of the rule which has been sited herein, the result could not be overturned. However, their officials association has acknowledged that bad calls that were results changing occurred in the final 88 seconds and have apparently suspended the crew. The above is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, it will discourage such bad officiating in the future. I do believe that the current rule should be change to allow, under egregious circumstances, an appeal that could overturn an obviously bad outcome.

For me, being home grown means you entered the school in 9th grade and stayed there. In the Orlando area, it has always been possible for out of zone kids to attend a particular school due to magnet programs and the like. So, even if a kid was not in the school's "natural zone" if he/she began high school there, I would count them as home grown.

1-12 looks very good. Maybe I would flip a couple teams but, overall, I think the first 12 are very accurate. Below the top 12, I don't feel I have enough knowledge of South Florida from 13 through the also rans. I will say I do think Ely should be somewhere at the bottom of the top 15. Regarding Dillard, given its schedule it will have opportunities to work its way back into the top 15.

Edgewater vs Jones Chaminade vs American Heritage-Plantation Columbus vs Miami Palmetto Jax Trinity Christian vs Bolles Plantation vs Coconut Creek South Sumter vs Hawthorne Raines vs Mainland Ocala Trinity Catholic vs Carrollwood Day School Wekiva vs West Orange Gadsden vs Florida High Braden River vs Manatee STA vs Western Dunnellon vs Williston Hudson vs Nature Coast Catholic Memorial,Ma vs Cardinal Newman Picks are bold underscored.

I will never find comfort in a dictatorship spearheaded by @Jambun82

The inability, as reflected in the rules, to appeal flagrant mistakes made by an officiating crew, as cited earlier in this thread. Obviously, overturning the results of a game should only occur in very rare circumstances. And, and a rule allowing for an appeal could be couched in language reflecting the fact that frivolous appeals shall result in some kind of meaningful penalty on the appellant. However, to have no right at all to appeal, smacks of the days of Kings and Emperors. You may feel comfortable in that kind of society. But I don't.

Lakeland was in both games (Norland and St. Joes) and could have pulled out wins had a few plays gone differently. So, I see no shame in their losses and in my opinion, they should remain highly ranked despite them. While a repeat as 4S champion is not guaranteed, they most certainly should be one of the favorites, if not the favorite.

The rule needs to be changed. It is totally undemocratic.

Based on the rulebook as posted in this thread, their hands were tied even if they were sympathetic to Cocoa's situation.

He's a good salesman and has a solid knowledge of the mechanics of playing the position. The fact he's relatively young probably helps, too.

They are probably related. The QB trainer you reference graduated high school in 2009 or 2010. He initially played at Boone but transferred to Oak Ridge his senior year to be assured he would be the starter.

From the video, it was not clear to me that there was a hold by Venice on their passing TD that was called back. However, @Cat_Scratch2, whom I have respect for, and who was at the game, said he saw one. Aside from the above, I really did not feel that the calls by the officials were overly one sided. I have certainly seen far more repeated questionable calls over the years. I close by stating that this was a close game between two evenly matched teams that on another night could have gone the other way. I was very impressed with Hart, the sophomore QB as this is his first year starting. For although Lake Mary's QB is probably a bit ahead of him as a passer, the Lake Mary kid began starting after LM's second game last season. Given they made it to the third round of the playoffs he had more than a full season under his belt coming into this year.

I am retired so I have the time. Either post or if you already did, direct me to the thread where it's at and I will watch it. Cocoa is always an entertaining team to watch, win or lose.

Naw even with our offensive issues, we would beat Colonial with a running clock beginning at the start of or very early in the third quarter. In 25 seasons of watching high school football in the Orlando area, Colonial has fielded one good team which went 7-3 and barely missed the playoffs. That team, BTW, had a player named Elliott, I believe, that eventually worked his way into an NFL roster. The current Colonial team is bad even by Colonial standards. Apopka deserves to be ranked but somewhere in the mid teens at this stage. Come back to me in three weeks, and I may be singing a different tune (one way or the other) depending on the outcomes of the Edgewater and Seminole games.

With the exception of Lake Mary being underrated, I think your assessment is better than Nole's at this stage.

First, I think under the circumstances, Cocoa is doing the correct thing. Now with regards to success in their appeal, I think the chances of getting the result overturned are slim: about the same as a poor person winning his/her appeal when relying on an attorney working on behalf of the indigent. With that said, I think the fact Cocoa had the guts to appeal will probably result in crews more being inclined to abstain from making decisions that are clearly over the top in the future. Most individuals don't like to be exposed to the light of day when engaged in wrongdoing. Good luck to the Cocoa program. I hope I am wrong and they win. With regards to Venice trolling them, holding calls are always controversial. I have not seen video of the Cocoa vs Venice game. So, I am not in a position to opine as to whether Venice was being called excessively or not. But failure to run the clock seems a cut and dry situation to me.

Yes, it was. We did have a touchdown called back at the start of the 4th. The ruling was that the receiver voluntarily stepped out bounds after the snap but before the ball was thrown to him before reentering the field and making the play.. Aside from that, both defenses dominated. This was the lowest scoring game Apopka ever played in. I may be wrong, but I believe our prior record was a 3-0 loss to Lake Brantley.

To an extent, Lake Mary reminds me of 2012 Apopka, in that they have the ability to score often against most teams in the state and would likely find the end zone against all teams in Florida. Unfortunately, their defense, while okay against most teams, is likely to give up a lot of points against state caliber teams. Thus, for example, the basketball score win against Dp. If they can beat Seminole and Apopka and take the district, their stock should, deservedly, rise a lot higher. Given their defensive lapses, I feel at this stage of the season Apopka would score about 28 points against their defense. Would that be enough to win? That's a very good question which will be answered with the passage of time.

After a horrible first week, I feel I am now well positioned to make a run this year. However, @KeemD321 is a great forecaster, so, it's going to be hard to catch him as he attempts to go wire to wire!

Sometimes there are brawls even with the umpires, LOL!

I have a beef with these rankings. You are ranking Apopka and Mainland (especially Apopka) way too high at this stage. We barely came back to beat Dr. Phillips which is a good team but which clearly has vulnerabilities. Also, you dropped Lake Mary too many spots after they came off a good win against a decent Oviedo team. At this stage Apopka should be in the mid-teens right behind Mainland with Lake Mary being somewhere around there, too. Just my ten cents.