DarterBlue2
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Posts posted by DarterBlue2
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5 hours ago, KeemD321 said:
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.
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3 minutes ago, KeemD321 said:
Yea. I feel either way the outcome would pit a little more pressure for associations to make sure they have certain officials designated for more marquee games and a mix of tenured and new officials in games as well.
As far as the Venice game I believe I posted it. If not I can post if you want to watch. It was a good game.
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.
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7 minutes ago, nolebull813 said:
Ok Apopka is unranked. I’ll put Colonial in their place. Lol
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.
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4 minutes ago, Jullian said:
1. Cham
2. Central
3. Norland
4. AHP
5. Cocoa
6. Columbus
7. BTW
8. Treasure Coast
9. STA
10. Armwood
11. Mainland
12. Seminole
13. Mia Palmetto
14. Homestead
15. Apopka
16. Edgewater
17. Lakeland
18. Venice
19. Vero
20. Jones
21. Gibbons
22. CCC
23. Lake Mary
24. St Aug
25. Coconut Creek
With the exception of Lake Mary being underrated, I think your assessment is better than Nole's at this stage.
- KeemD321 and nolebull813
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1 hour ago, KeemD321 said:
What do y'all think will happen.....the typical FHSAA response, officials going through extra training, or results being reversed? @nolebull813 @Cat_Scratch2 @VeniceIndianFan @DarterBlue2 @Jambun82 @Ray Icaza @DILLARD_HIGH_PANTHERS @Vero Indian
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.
- KeemD321, Ray Icaza and Cat_Scratch2
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1 hour ago, PinellasFB said:
Was the win vs Ocoee really a 2-0 score that I see? Man that had to be a weird game to watch.
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.
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2 hours ago, nolebull813 said:
Couple explanations
It was mathematical impossible for STA to get the ball back, so Cocoa was obviously robbed of the win, but since I’m human and not a computer, the ranking reflects Cocoa winning the game.
Vero took a tumble after Venice destroyed their only good win. A win that is said to have an asterisk. Lol.
Mainland took a huge jump after being undervalued for a few weeks. Same with Apopka, CCC and St Augustine.
Lake Mary dropped far down without losing just because I might have ranked them higher off a knee jerk reaction. They are well coached and have talent, but they really haven’t done much so far compared to some other teams. Their schedule is brutal towards the end. So they will sink or swim during that time.
Naples and C Newman didn’t really do much wrong, but teams with stronger cases got rewarded for good behavior.
Western got thrown out for losing to Coconut Creek. Creek is a tough one. They hung in with a top GA team and and beat Western. Creek has Plantation coming up. It would be hard not to rank Creek for winning that one. Western has STA. If Creek wins, and Western plays STA close, then Creek could drag Western in the rankings with them. Lol
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.
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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!
- KeemD321 and nolebull813
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1 minute ago, Cat_Scratch2 said:
Thanks man. I've seen some of the love the board is giving you. You know how it is... always the Refs fault, same as an umpire in baseball.
My computer was hacked. Just now getting back on the boards with new accounts.
Anyway, just so you know, I appreciate the refs even when the calls are iffy, it's not always easy and sports would be brawls if there were no umpires.
Sometimes there are brawls even with the umpires, LOL!
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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.
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22 minutes ago, VeniceIndianFan said:
This is a rivalry game now. Hope Venice and MNW play each other every year for a while. @cribboy305 Your Bulls played very well offensively, but neither defense came to play. Think they were outside the stadium waiting for the game to be over! LOL.
I think @cribboy305 needs to take the night off to regain his composure.
Great win by Venice.
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After three games that count in the 2023 season, and two that don't, I feel I am in a reasonable position to post comments on my long time favorite high school team.
Strengths: 1. The 2023 Darters have begun the season in a fashion consistent with how the team has performed under Head Coach, Jeff Rolson. The defense remains very strong, while the offense is a work in progress. Defensively, I believe that the current one is playing better as a unit than any of the Apopka defenses have since the 2019 season when the Rolson era began. For while there are no Jalen Carters, Nikai Martinizes or Kaven Calls on this team, at least none that I can discern at this juncture, overall, I feel the unit is deeper, more experienced and more cohesive at this stage of the season. The front 7 has recorded multiple sacks, and as many quarterback hurries and has just been generally very disruptive against opposing teams. In total, it has given up 5 touchdowns in five games against five solid teams (Jones, Osceola, Ocoee, West Orange and Dr. Phillips). And the secondary spearheaded by Davey and Grant has been very very good by Apopka standards. If the old adage, "defense wins championships" holds, this team certainly has a shot. 2. The 2023 Darters has, overall, its best special teams unit in several years, including those preceding the Rolson era. The kicking and punting game are much improved under the leadership of two seniors in their third season; the team has blocked two punts which have resulted in points and, against Dp., created sufficient agitation to contributed to a bad snap which contributed to a terrible, hurried punt that set up more Apopka points.
Weaknesses: 1. While there is adequate talent on the offensive side of the ball, the offense has yet to develop an identity. This, too, has been a characteristic of Rolson coached teams. They have tended to start slowly on offense, and, to date, have peaked around playoff time. None, so far, has been outstanding; however, they have been good enough to get Apopka to to three state title games and a losing semi-final in four seasons. If recent past is prolog, then one expects that this offense will follow that trajectory. At spring practice, there was a second QB on the squad who had recently attended high school in a small, rural Georgia county. In the spring inter-squad scrimmage, this kid showed very good pocket presence, a strong arm and decent mobility. I believe he's returned to Georgia having concluding that Florida "big boy" football may have not been for him. Not having a viable alternative of his caliber hurt us against Dp., as our starter was out injured and his absence or the lack of a viable alternative hurt the team a lot during the first half of the Dp. game. 2. Despite being reasonably experienced, the Offensive Line has yet to fully play up to its potential. This has affected both the passing and running game. I believe this can be easily fixed.
Prognosis: If the Darters can remain relatively healthy and follow their recent trajectory under Coach Rolson, another deep playoff run is highly likely. However, Apopka is in a very competitive district that has no scrub teams this year. As such, securing the District title with critical district wins will be a priority, as securing a couple home playoff games to begin the run to state would help the cause a lot. If Apopka gets back to the title game, and the opponent is Miami Columbus, I believe that the Darters will win a hard fought title game this time, securing for Coach Rolson his first state title in Florida.
Final Comment: Rolson coached Apopka teams remind me a lot of Carol City teams under the legendary Walt Frazier from the 1990s through the first four years of the new century. Like Apopka, those teams leaned heavily on the defense to set up the offense. And, unlike many inner city teams of his era, Coach Frazier teams had strong special teams units. The year they beat Edgewater 13-0 in the final, they had a kicker who was good for field goals from 50 yards, and who routinely boomed his kickoffs into the back of the end zone.
Epilogue: This may well be my final season in the state of Florida which has been my home for 33 years. I would love to see the Darters and Coach Rolson end it with a well deserved state title.
- VeniceIndianFan, Jullian, Ray Icaza and 2 others
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1 hour ago, Vero Indian said:
Then it is what it is.......I understand the hate for STA tho
STA should have travelled to Cocoa for this game. Cocoa had to travel to them both times.
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43 minutes ago, Drogo said:
TC is certainly surprising everyone this season, myself included. They still have STA, Cocoa and Vero yet, but very impressive nonetheless.
I have to agree. I was wrong. Their offense scored about the number of points I expected against Seminole. What really impressed me was their limiting Seminole's high powered offense to just 7 points.
Teams that can do that are for real.
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6 minutes ago, KeemD321 said:
Here's video proof of the whole sequence and a pic from the Hudl sideline vid of STA with 12 players on the field during Cocoa's punt where the flag was waved off. @Jambun82 honest opinion on this sequence. Do you feel like everyone is wrong about the refs during this sequence?
I feel for Cocoa. Teams should lose on the field of play. Not like this. Enough said.
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5 minutes ago, Longtime Observer said:
Chaminade big
STA comfortably
TC close
MNW close
BT close
Central comfortably
St. Joe's comfortably
Jones big
You are missing a couple games. I do not want you to handicap your chances.
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59 minutes ago, Longtime Observer said:
But I stand by my current assertion that Seminole will beat Treasure Coast fairly easily. I expect by 7 to 10 points.
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7 minutes ago, Longtime Observer said:
You got me.
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Chaminade vs Bergen Catholic
STA vs Cocoa
Seminole vs Treasure Coast
MNW vs Venice
Mainland vs Bartram Trail
Miami Central vs BTW
Lakeland vs St Joes Pa
Calvary Christian vs CDSOsceola vs Jones
Tampa Catholic vs CCC
Picks are bold underscored.
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1 hour ago, Jambun82 said:
DarterBlue2, even though you are NOT my superior, I never had the chance to thank you for the very kind words and compliments that you have used to describe me in this post. It makes me feel very proud, and does my heart good to know that this is what you really think about me. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
@Jambun82, you are, indeed, a strange human being. I hope some day you find what you are missing.
I am done exchanging messages with you. Be well.
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51 minutes ago, Longtime Observer said:
We shall see! I seem to remember another guarantee you made about the 2018 7A title back in September of that year
I did not have any strong feelings about St. Thomas beating Lakeland. Lakeland had soundly beaten Apopka during their regular season game, and I knew you have some potent weapons.
I admit I was very surprised by the ease with which Lakeland won, though.
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9 minutes ago, Longtime Observer said:
They aren't going to lose all three of those. They may well win two...
TC will not beat Seminole. No way, no how.
Cocoa Appeal Officially Denied
in The Huddle
Posted
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.