DarterBlue2
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Posts posted by DarterBlue2
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4 hours ago, Perspective said:
Maurice Wells.
Sandlewood High School
THE Ohio State University
Got beat in the playoffs by some team from the Orlando area . . . Darter, can you give me some help?
I believe this was Badbird's greatest moment. Sandalwood, with Maurice Wells, Army All American, came into town and got run into the ground by the Blue Darters! They did score on an 80 yard bomb, but otherwise were dominated.
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2 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:
I took this shot at that game.
When you play Apopka you get astigmatism!:)
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33 minutes ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:
1940 was the earliest nomination we received when doing the list, unfortunately nominations were needed because information on the older teams were nearly impossible to come by
Makes sense. The people knowledgeable of those teams have probably all died off by now.
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18 hours ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:
https://columbiahighh2003.wixsite.com/tigersportsnetwork/columbia-football-all-time-team
Definitely check it out, also got a lot of good stuff on the website in general
So, I assume these players were all-time best at Columbia. But I noticed that no one was listed before the 1940s. And, I believe Columbia has been around before 1940 and probably played football before then. Is there any reason no "golden age" old timers were not on your list? Lack of information, etc.?
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1 hour ago, Kyle Wilcox said:
Just set up the rematch and da west will smashed them worse then they beat us back then.
Maybe and maybe not. Apopka is one of a few Central Florida schools that has enough talent, and a culture of winning, that allows them to compete with the better south Florida schools. This year there is no chance of a rematch, as schedules have been set. However, there is a decent chance there will be a basis for comparison as Apopka has American Heritage Plantation on its schedule and you will play them, too.
Apopka does not fear or back down from any challenge because there is a belief that a loss is a learning experience. In fact though we have won three state titles, we have never done so undefeated. I am sure Apopka would be willing to play MNW over the next few years, if an agreement acceptable to both programs can be reached.
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6 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:
Must have been a fun ride home after the big win.
It was! Was forced to spend the night as I had three young men with me and driving conditions were scary. The fog had come in during the final quarter of the game and was as thick as pea soup when we left. I drove about 10 miles down I-10 and decided the risk was not worth it.
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Just now, OldSchoolLion said:
I'll have to make it harder for you next time, Darter.
I was at that game. First trip to Doak Campbell and Apopka's first trip to the finals. I did not know what to expect, but liked that Apopka offense.
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1 hour ago, OldSchoolLion said:
The Bulls have produced some great playoff defenses over the years. Beating them in the playoffs is tough. The odds are even lower for a one dimensional team, but this team pulled it off, knocking the Bulls out of the playoffs while only completing one pass the entire game.
Who was that team?
This was a gimme. Apopka only completed one pass (for a long touchdown) in handing the Bulls a 34-16 beating in the 6A title game in 2001 up at the Doak. Now to be fair, the Darters should have been two for two on passes as Antoine Coley dropped one in the endzone when he was wide open.
While a running team, it is slightly misleading to describe Apopka as one dimensional as it always has multiple backs and often the ball is snapped to multiple individuals during the course of a game.
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1 hour ago, Miamidade92 said:
I believe Mark Guandolo did it as well. But he didn't win the title at all three stops. The schools were Chaminade, Cypress bay, and Southridge.
He won two titles at Chaminade
At Cypress Bay in 2012 he made it to the final but lost to Apopka I believe.
At Southridge in 1999 he made it to the finals but lost to Lincoln.
That is correct on all fronts. The Cypress Bay Apopka game was a classic!
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1 hour ago, badbird said:
so how much will it cost to test every one every game?
More than the gate for many schools and for many sports.
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36 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:
Name the coaches that have led 3 different FL high school teams to a state final and the teams each coach led to a final?
Billy Rolle, Miami Northwestern twice, Killian once, and Southridge once.
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1 hour ago, OldSchoolLion said:
No need to refer to good folks on here as "trash." That is disrespectful.
I don't know what's wrong with little Jesse. He constantly craves attention but in the wrong way. Strikes me as a kid that did not make the cut for the team and must now somehow compensate for that by being a jerk on the message board.
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12 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:
Though you did not get it on the first try, I have high expectations of you Darter.
Orlando Evans, which tied Southridge in 1991, 20 years after Bishop Moore gave Orlando its first state title. If I am right, you are a tricky guy with a wry sense of humor.
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1 hour ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:
You mean to tell me even as late as 1991 they didn't have OT for a state championship?
The FHSAA changed the rules after this game. I had just moved to the Orlando area the year before, and the grandson of a lady I stayed with for the first three months I was in the area, was a backup on that Evans team.
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4 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:
To clarify, it wasn't the team that had a 20-year hiatus in the finals, it was the city in which the high school resides. In other words, this city went 20 years without a representative in the finals until the team in question made it. Sorry if that was not clear.
Titusville?
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2 hours ago, Perspective said:
They're a tricky bunch. I'm pretty sure that use more than one football on some of their plays.
Dang, the cat's out of the bag!
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1 hour ago, Perspective said:
17 running plays? Sounds like something Apopka would do. Actually, sounds like something Apopka did. Over and over.
Yeah, but we did not win a state championship that way. Besides which, most APK drives don't last 17 plays as there is usually a big 40 yard pickup on one of the plays!
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6 minutes ago, Perspective said:
Outlier or the first of many dominoes to fall?
Probably the first of many dominoes to fall given the recent uptick in Florida. I could see a few of the upper income public schools doing the same if they are allowed.
The risk is real, both to the kids and their families. Tough decisions will have to be made and the more informed are likely to err on the side of safety.
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19 minutes ago, Jambun82 said:
DarterBlue, do you think that Apopka could have given NW a more competitive result than Boone did in that 2007 title game?
Yes, I say this because Lake Brantley did the year before. My thoughts have nothing to do with the talent or fundamental coaching of the two teams. It has to do with three things.
Northwestern does not see single wing or for that matter triple option football down in south Florida. That right there would have been a touchdown in Apopka's favor. Also, on a team, not individual player basis, Apopka had more speed than Boone. The two Jeremy's Gallon and Wright, would have been good for at least an additional touchdown. Also, while I think from an X and O standpoint that Coach Z was probably Darlington's equal, I do think that when it came to trick plays, Darlington was a master. So, I would credit Apopka with a third touchdown.
At the end of the day, MNW would still have won as they just had too much talent and from that perspective were probably the best team in the country. I think a final score in MNW vs Apopka hypothetical match up that year would have been something like:
MNW 42 Apopka 21. Apopka's secondary would have had a lot of trouble defending Tommy Streeter and Aldarius Johnson.
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50 minutes ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:
It's amazing how Sandalwood blows so much talent and rarely makes a deep run
Sandalwood eliminated Apopka in the second round that year coming from behind to win in the fourth quarter. Then the next week Lake Brantley beat them at Lake Brantley in a game where I thought the score did not reflect the actual run of play. I felt Brantley was at least 10 points better than that Sandalwood team on that night.
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On 6/23/2020 at 10:30 PM, Jambun82 said:
Was Lake Brantley a district runner up that season that they lost to NW in the state title game? I don't recall if it was the same year, but I remember in the first round of the playoffs, Lake Brantley putting a running clock on Deland at Spec Martin Stadium. I was thinking if the Patriots were the runners up in the district, I would have loved to see the district champion.
They were the district champions if my memory serves me correctly. But if they traveled to Deland for the first round, that does not make much sense.
NM - Badbird got it right. I forgot about the Oviedo loss which was a huge upset.
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1 hour ago, OldSchoolLion said:
Nice to see Boone had a good season a few years ago. They gave Wekiva all they could handle in the playoffs. Moving forward, maybe they will be one of those teams who puts together a contender every few years.
Boone is surrounded by significant football talent just outside its zoning border to the northwest (Jones kids), to the immediate north, some kids zoned for Edgewater, and, to a lesser extent, to its south, Oak Ridge zoned kids, most of whom now chose to go to Jones due to William's success at Jones. If Boone actively encouraged transfers (I probably did not say this delicately enough), and could pick up three to five of the more talented kids from nearby, they could be a deep playoff contender most years.
Playing with just what they have within the zone, the best the school could hope for is, as you suggested, a run every four or five years at best. In a sense it is unfortunate. It is a very nice place to take in a game, and the fan base turns out in droves when the team is decent. The Northwestern/Boone state title game drew one of the all time best crowds for a state title game. Boone's contribution to the crowd was probably at least 50% and you know the Bulls travels with largest south Florida crowd.
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2 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:
Glad you got that one, Darter
. It is Boone, who was coached by Phil Ziglar at the time. I guess one could call Boone a 3-hit wonder, because they have not done much in football outside those years. Interesting to think a team could play in 3 state semis and never had to travel much more than 30 or so minutes.
Am sure you remember that Seminole team was led by Ray Ray Armstrong. And Jeremy Gallon, a guy we spoke about not too long ago in another post, was the Apopka qb. And Pat Dimarco, a future NFL player, caught the winning catch for Lake Brantley.
Actually, on one of the three runs, Boone traveled to Sarasota, Palm Beach County, and Palm Beach county again to get to the semifinal against Lake Brantley (which relatively speaking was a home game). I believe it was the first run in 2006 when they went 6/4 in the regular season before getting hot in the playoffs.
That Boone team 2006-2008 was blessed with its best overall sophomore class of all time. It took them some time to get their act together in 2006 but came of age in the playoffs and showed they were no fluke in 2007 and 2008. Boone has always been very well coached. Many of the assistants who are Ziglar alumni, have done fine coaching in the area, specifically at Timber Creek High. If Ziglar had had the talent at his disposal of a Darlington, Gierke or others, he would have been blessed with many, many deep playoff runs. A mark of his success is that back in the early 2000s he had the third highest number of former Boone players in the NFL (exceeded only by Evans and Apopka alumni) despite the fact Boone up to that time had never had a deep playoff run.
Yes, of course I remember Ray Ray, Gallon and DiMarco, all in their own right, Central Florida legends!
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13 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:
This team played in 3 straight state semis, all of which were decided in the final 2 minutes of each game, all of which were decided by less than a touchdown, and all of which came down to the need for a defensive stop.
Who was the team?
Who was their coach?
Boone High School?
Phil Ziglar (Sp)?
2006, lost to Lake Brantley in one of the most exciting games I ever saw; 2007, beat Apopka in a heart breaker (if we had a kicker that year it would have gone to Overtime); 2008, lost to Seminole High when Seminole drove the length of the field to retake the lead in the final minute of the game.
Who Is This FL HS Legend? Maurice Wells/Sandalwood
in The Huddle
Posted
Yeah, the fumblerooski did go for a lot of yards! It was well executed.