Dan in Daytona

History is a fascinating subject which is often recounted from very different perspectives in different countries and in different periods of time. But it does not put food on the table and pay a mortgage unless you take it to its natural conclusion with a PHD.
Back when I was your age, once you completed your Bachelors, you were generally able to get your graduate studies paid for from a combination of: scholarships, fellowships, and research assistantships when you enrolled in a Doctoral program, provided you kept your grades up when doing the course work, and kept on track when writing your dissertation. Today, that path is more difficult, though still possible as it is more costly and fewer financial aid opportunities exist.
But determination and hard work usually end with the completion of goals, be it a state championship or a PHD. So, I admonish you to keep your head up and grind away if you really want to go in the path you outlined.   
Though I don't have a dog in this race, GO INDIANS!

Keem, feel free to take Bradford in the Pick 'Ems finals.  

It'll be a game for about the first quarter and a half. Cocoa will make adjustments and open it up. Offense may make a couple mistakes early. The defense will shutdown any run attempts. Bradford may take some wrinkles from the Booker game to throw it out of run packages when Cocoa starts getting overly aggressive when not respecting the pass completely

The real question would be.....Does Bradford have what it takes to not make this a running clock?

Short answer is no, unless Cocoa gives the game away.

For all you clowns who said metro suburb plan would create parity, looks like same group of suburb teams who were awesome before and made semi finals regularly are the only ones who benefitted from the plan. But, you crushed many metro schools with a  huge enrollment number which led to more blowouts in district play. Nice. 
Put all cheaters in same couple of divisions with promotion and demotion is only real solution to  the recruiting problem. 
 
Here are the state match ups. Mandarin (Jacksonville) vs. Columbus (Miami) - Gee never saw Columbus in finals huh and mandarin won a couple of years ago.
Homestead vs. St. Thomas Aquinas - Rematch of last years state game
Class 2MBerkeley Prep (Tampa) vs. Miami Norland- Norland new but had many transfers to get  good.   
 1MClearwater Central Catholic vs.Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood) Florida- Chaminade should be in 4m.. 
Class 1RMadison County (Madison) vs. HawthorneDec.  Madison should be in 3 M
 4SLakeland vs. VeniceDec - surprise...never saw these two in state game before.  Lakeland State House Rep started this whole crap. 
.  3SMainland (Daytona Beach) vs. St. Augustine-  these teams were state semi-finalsts regularly before break up and both won state before. 
Class 2SBradford (Starke) vs. Cocoa - Cocoa is such a lock to win state here that even Fanduel would not post odds on it. 
 1STrinity Catholic (Ocala) vs. Cardinal Mooney (Sarasota) - Never saw Trinity before. 

I just saw it on the internet, it must be true  

True, I saw some walking wounded tonight. Hopefully there's time to recover for all six teams that play on Thursday December 7th ( a National Holiday ).

Well, that one was a little nerve-wracking. The yellow flags were flying and not a "Jambun" in sight . Make no mistake, the better team won tonight, regardless of all that litter thrown about the playing field. Mainland's defense manhandled Vanguard. They looked DANGEROUS !  And when the Mainland offense was sputtering they still came up with just enough big running plays to let the Ocala team know this wasn't going to be the evening they dreamt about. The Buccaneer's must clean up their propensity for silly and foolish penalties that only let opponents dangerously hang around longer then they should. Let's not give St Augustine any helping hand next week. It's been exactly twenty years (2003) since our first and only state football championship. They can't beat a mistake free Mainland. We're way too strong. Buc Forever. 

Vero, can't say I remember the issue why that game never happened, but we have been down near you a couple times in the regular season to play a good Sebastian River High, and a very good Fort Pierce Central. Mainland always likes to play strong out of area teams during the regular season to challenge itself and prepare for the playoffs. Some strong regular season opponents : Miami Central, American Heritage-Plantation, Cocoa, Jacksonville Bolles, Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna, St Edwards-Ohio, Gwinnett County-Ga., Olive Branch-Mississippi, Madison County, Rockledge, Dr Phillips, Orlando Edgewater, Sanford, Melbourne-Palm Bay, Bartram Trail, Kissimmee-Osceola, etc.  

KeemD, thanks for the support.....like Deion says, "they don't believe."   

RIP John Belushi. 

Upon further reflection, (Googled it) it (Pearl Harbor Day)  is not a Federal Holiday. But flags are flown at half-staff. 

True, I saw some walking wounded tonight. Hopefully there's time to recover for all six teams that play on Thursday December 7th ( a National Holiday ).

The Germans ?   you almost got me.

Upon further reflection, (Googled it) it (Pearl Harbor Day)  is not a Federal Holiday. But flags are flown at half-staff. 

I went with First Baptist despite a fairly strong feeling that OTC was going to win. Had I not done that, I would be in the finals despite my poor seeding. 
But it was fun. Good luck to both @KeemD321 and @Perspective. May the best man win!

I just saw it on the internet, it must be true  

True, I saw some walking wounded tonight. Hopefully there's time to recover for all six teams that play on Thursday December 7th ( a National Holiday ).

Dan, unfortunately I won't be able to make the final as it's at 3pm on Thursday and my appointment is at 4pm that day. So, I can't even watch the majority of it via stream. 
I am not sure why they scheduled this game for that time as I think it would be one of the better attended ones if it were at night and especially if it were Friday or Saturday. 
But then again, nothing the FHSAA usually does makes a whole lot of sense to me. We could also have certainly used a one week break as the schools set for Thursday have no more than a six day break, and in the case of the earliest, about a 5.5 day break.

Thanks Darter for the moral and the physical support.

Well, that one was a little nerve-wracking. The yellow flags were flying and not a "Jambun" in sight . Make no mistake, the better team won tonight, regardless of all that litter thrown about the playing field. Mainland's defense manhandled Vanguard. They looked DANGEROUS !  And when the Mainland offense was sputtering they still came up with just enough big running plays to let the Ocala team know this wasn't going to be the evening they dreamt about. The Buccaneer's must clean up their propensity for silly and foolish penalties that only let opponents dangerously hang around longer then they should. Let's not give St Augustine any helping hand next week. It's been exactly twenty years (2003) since our first and only state football championship. They can't beat a mistake free Mainland. We're way too strong. Buc Forever. 

Vero, can't say I remember the issue why that game never happened, but we have been down near you a couple times in the regular season to play a good Sebastian River High, and a very good Fort Pierce Central. Mainland always likes to play strong out of area teams during the regular season to challenge itself and prepare for the playoffs. Some strong regular season opponents : Miami Central, American Heritage-Plantation, Cocoa, Jacksonville Bolles, Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna, St Edwards-Ohio, Gwinnett County-Ga., Olive Branch-Mississippi, Madison County, Rockledge, Dr Phillips, Orlando Edgewater, Sanford, Melbourne-Palm Bay, Bartram Trail, Kissimmee-Osceola, etc.  

I used to feel the same way, but actually got to know him a little this past year.

First off my credentials as a Mainland Buccaneer Homer. First game I ever saw, Gainesville Purple Hurricanes (QB Eddie McAshan, Ga. Tech) beat Daytona Mainland (RB Touchdown Tommie Durrance, U of FL.) 32-27 (?) in 1967. I started as a runningback/cornerback on a fully integrated Mainland team from 1970-72. Between  2000-2018 I missed only two games (Deltona, Bartram Trail) total home or away.  I bleed Blue and Gold...... The 2023 Buccaneers might be the most "physical team" they have ever had. I witnessed all our Miami Central losses from 2010 onward and this year's Buc team compares "physically" with those great Rocket teams. It also compares favorably with them in getting dumb and unnecessary penalties one after another. We let teams hang around much longer then they should. It hasn't bit us yet this year, but it could. Defense and special teams are first rate. No noticeable weakness anywhere (Good offensive coordinators may say otherwise). My only question mark is the offense. It has been inconsistent at best against the better teams. The O-Line is huge, maybe along with our biggest ever. Running backs are solid, receiving core is improving, and the QB may be the fastest player on the team. So where's the problem ?  I'm a loud mouth know it all and don't have an answer. Something tells me after the "MAINLAND" win Friday night it won't matter what I think.... Buc Forever
Edit : My last sentence was changed. It was a little confusing, sorry