Pipe Dreams

I don't care as much as you may think I do. I root for STA against out-of-state teams and don't mind the "if you build it they will come" logic. I just prefer that Florida public schools win titles as opposed to schools that are stacked to the brim with transfers. That's too synthetic for me. High school football is geographically focused. I like it being one town against another town. That's the urban planner in me. I'm old school I guess.

You didn't answer the question I had. By the way, too many schools to name with players who have played together for years. Most go 5-5, 6-4, 7-4, 8-3... but there are some good programs out there that are bottom up. Apopka, Winter Park, Lake Brantley, Lake Mary, DP all have good feeder systems from Pop Warner and a large chunk of the kids play together for years. It was like that on my HS team. I'm just saying I hope somebody beats them. I prefer HS football to be void of all star teams, which STA clearly is. I think it cheapens the game at the HS level. Care about it.

Why are they not classified like IMG? Losing an in-state game with that amount of talent is the equivalent of a losing season, IMO. As usual I'm hoping a public school with guys who have played together for 5+ years shows them the business.

Gibbons/AHP lost to the top tier. I welcome arguments against. Florida is not deep with elite teams this year, or so it looks. I’m not even sure of Columbus at #4. I have DP at #29 for those wondering, just ahead of West Orange at #30. The two play week 3. Venice, Lee and Raines just outside. I also like —Miami Southridge, Sarasota Riverview, DeLand (1-0), Orlando Jones (0-1), St. Augustine, Baker County, Flagler Palm Coast (1-0), Bishop Moore (0-1)

St. Thomas Aquinas (1-0) Miami Carol City (1-0) Miami Central (1-0) Miami Columbus (1-0) Cardinal Gibbons (0-1) Am. Heritage Plantation (0-1) Miami Northwestern (1-0) Wekiva (1-0) Deerfield Beach (1-0) Lake City Columbia (1-0) Apopka (1-0) Vero Beach (1-0) Lakeland (1-0) Dwyer (1-0) Osceola (1-0) Sanford Seminole (1-0) Godby (1-0) Cocoa (1-0) Delray Beach Atlantic (1-0) Tampa Bay Tech (1-0) Armwood (0-1) Plant (1-0) Edgewater (1-0) Jax Trinity Christian (1-0) Chaminade-Madonna (0-1)

Every drive started from the 50 for Lee. DP went nowherr

Timber Creek struggled so we have an opportunity to regroup week 2.

DP having major problems on offense. I’d put them in the 7-10 range at this point. The defense can’t do it alone.

Vero looks good, 35-20

Vero’s offense (especially the receivers) looking good. Manatee is improved but Lakeland is wearing them out. Lakeland has some solid running backs.

DP has Lee County GA on Saturday. Most starters played the first half with the score 7-3 Osceola. Second half was a lot of sophomores and freshmen. The defense is just as good as last year, which was probably the second best in 8A behind Wekiva. The offense is behind the defense at this point but has the talent to get it done. O-line is the question mark but there are some good underclassmen.

Better for this to happen week 0 than week 11. Falsifying documents... impermissible benefits... smh

This is a solid list... lets keep this going. I will join next week.

By far the biggest upset in DP history was the 1997 first round loss to Oviedo. DP was 10-0, demolished everyone on their schedule (including state power Evans) but lost 27-24 in OT in the upset against the Lions. The 1997 team, to me, is on an equivalent level to the 2010, 2016 and 2017 teams that made the title game... they blew teams out early. They were up 14-0 in the 1st against Oviedo if I remember correctly.

I’m thinking the final score will be something like 13-10, 14-10, something like that. DP has 5 receivers who are about 6’2, 190 and a high D1 running back. They should be able to move the ball. The offensive line play and QB will determine their success.

The Orlando Metro has become a pipeline for elite QB’s as well. Over the last 10 years there has been a big jump overall. The decade-long consistency of Apopka, Mainland, DP and Osceola has given the area a big boost. I’d say the big difference from previous decades is the volume of good teams. This is likely a function of population growth to a degree.

Badbird, would you say you see 6-8 top 25 teams on this list? I think our top 16’s match in terms of teams listed. I see a very good year for East Central Florida teams. There is a clear tier of about 8 teams with very high ceilings, each in their own right. 10-12 could also make runs. Interesting that Lake Mary is starting a freshman QB.

DP-Osceola score not close to accurate. DP was rotating the whole game but the defensive starters were out completely when it was 7-3. Both teams are major contenders with their defenses. DP has Lee County this Saturday, as you noted... I think your top 12 is correct (order of 2-5, 6-8 are somewhat changeable), and DeLand could be a spoiler from the outside.

I added Edgewater. Lots of football to be played... I never put too much weight on the Classics but that seemed to be starters vs starters when the scoring happened in the WP-Edgewater game. So a nice result...They should win the district without much of an issue. Central Florida is about 8-10 deep with real contenders... I’m still including Winter Park in that list.

Please, tell us more

In person... Vernon Hargreaves, Tampa Wharton.

You can’t judge teams using the recruiting services like you used to. Rivals, Scout, etc. used to identify all the 2-3 star guys their sophomore and junior years. Now, and this is the exact science so listen...... they focus almost entirely on the 4-5 stars. When players get Power 5 offers their junior year they become a 3-star, and when players get an FBS offer their senior year they become a 2-star. You will only find about 10% (sophs) to 40% (juniors) of the future FBS level sophomores/juniors (respectively) in any database. Back as recent as 2012 or so, the services really allowed you to to search by school and class. Not any more.

I’m listing around three teams per region with an occasional fourth in loaded areas. I am leaving some good teams off on purpose because it’s a season-end list. All lists are in order. First listed is my favorite. - 8A-1: Wekiva, Apopka, Seminole, Winter Park 8A-2: Dr. Phillips, Osceola, Vero Beach, Sarasota Riverview 8A-3: Palm Beach Central, Deerfield Beach, Atlantic 8A-4: Columbus, Southridge, South Dade - 7A-1: Lake City Columbia, Edgewater, Lee 7A-2: Lakeland, Plant 7A-3: Venice 7A-4: Aquinas, Dwyer - 6A-1: Niceville, St. Augustine, Crestview 6A-2: Armwood 6A-3: Largo, Naples 6A-4: Carol City, Central, Northwestern, Mainland

8A-4 Apopka Wekiva West Orange Evans

Byrnes also beat DP 18-14 in 2007