shredstar

Well, hopefully Mandarin can get it done Saturday or at least be consistent in the upcoming years. We don't need any more of going from first to worst.....like Flanagan has done.

Yep. That darn social media will get em every time. A dynamic we didn't have back in the day....thank god.

Haha, Lee was on the wrong side of Karma. If a certain officiating crew could actually count they probably wouldn't have even played Edgewater.

Mandarin has always been known as sort of a sleeping giant since it opened in 1990. Lots of resources and community support, but could never get the right guy in there to make it happen. Coaches would just come and go, so no one really paid them any attention until recently.

Raines...maybe. They have been qualifying for state title games since the 70's. As of now they are the only Gateway school with any titles. Waiting to see if we can add Mandarin to that list. Mandarin has no history, other than this year and 2015. Lee comes and goes, but hasn't qualified for a title game since the 60's. Bolles and TCA's success can be directly linked to a single coach for each school. One recently retired (Bolles) and the TCA coach probably isn't too far behind. Prior to those coaches, Bolles was decent and TCA was a lay up for anyone on their schedule.

I've seen Raines. It is really simple. Stop Brandon Marshall. QB is average and nothing like last year. If Cocoa stops him they have an excellent chance to win.

Will definitely be interesting to watch and see what happens.

Yep. Trinity Christian Academy of Football.

Those guys were supposed to play Lee down here and for whatever reason "cancelled."

We have had some decent niche QB's up here over the years. Riley Skinner from Bolles and John Wolford from BK come to mind. Both ended up at Wake Forest. But really, the last blue chip type up here was a kid at Middleburg in the late 80's/early 90's who ended up at Miami, where he kind of got lost in the shuffle down there. Name slips my mind at the moment. I am getting old.

Haha, I know right. We need our own academy of football right here in Jax.

I have read them and you are spot on. I don't know why we can't produce better QB's. We have an abundance of everything else. Haha, I am pretty old. Have been following HS ball up here since my days in the early 80's at Orange Park, where we had a guy named Ray Criswell, who was a pretty good QB in his own right, but one hell of a punter, which is what he did at UF. Best HS punter I have ever seen in my almost 40 years of paying attention. Have seen a lot of QB's come an go, with many college flame outs, but really nothing of significance in these parts until Tebow Time at Nease. He was a different cat though. More of a bulldozer with lots of intangibles. But even with all that, he still couldn't hit the side of a barn with a pass. This kid at Mandarin is a pure passer, with the snap release and all. This is his first full year of starting. He did some mop up time last year at Providence. He showed up at Mandarin over the summer. It was like Christmas in July. I think Mr. Saban may have had a little to do with him going there. Mandarin's coach and he have a little history together...i.e. Derrick Henry.

Really, there is no debate. Mandarin's receivers aren't any more talented than any others, and I have watched this particular group for the last two years. They are good and have developed nicely, but their success can be 100 percent credited to having a physically gifted QB who has all the tools for the next level and his ability to get them the ball anywhere on the field.....accurately (key word). It is a luxury few teams have at this level. Mandarin's offense is really quite simple and fun to watch. They utilize motion and the defense's reaction to said motion to create, identify and exploit mismatches, while employing the run game enough with a quality back to keep the defense honest. It seems to have a lot of tendencies, to a much lesser degree of course, to the late 90's/early 00's St. Louis Rams offense. It is a new system that was implemented this year and it has taken almost the entire season for it to evolve into what it is now. Their QB returns next year, so they should be able to expand it to an entire new level. Mandarin's defense is good enough. They are very good at getting penetration at the point of attack and creating negative plays. They do give up a lot of yards in the middle of the field and can get away with giving up some points too, given the offense that they have. They have given up very few big plays though and usually make offenses grind out long, time consuming drives in an effort to score. But, in the end, when they really have to stop someone, they usually do and have shown they can win a defensive game as well when they beat Wekiva. In Deerfield's case, they absolutely do have talented receivers who were limited by an average at best QB, who, like most at this level, can throw the hell out of a flanker screen and short slant. But, in most cases, he is wildly inaccurate with everything else unless the receiver is so wide open we could get them the ball. If they had a QB who could deliver the ball downfield accurately and utilize their full skill set they would probably be playing in this upcoming game. Columbus seemed to pay very little attention to their receivers because they didn't have to, other than defending the edges. No knock on their QB, but it is what it is and the reason why 95 percent of high school teams' offenses revolve around running the ball and throwing flanker screens ad nauseam. As for this upcoming game, Mandarin has a significant advantage solely because of their QB. It is an advantage they have had with every playoff opponent up to this point. They can do things offensively that others just can't do and, in most cases, haven't had to defend all year. But, like anything else, teams just have to go with what they've got, maximize the talent they have and put them into positions to be successful. Both teams are solid. I have watched enough of Columbus to see that they are good defensively and look pretty closely aligned to the defenses Mandarin has faced during this playoff stretch. The only exception to that would be Wekiva's defense. They are significantly better and noticeably more talented than any of the other four. Offensively, they have a good back and run the ball quite a bit. They also have a quality receiver which allows them to mix in some bubbles and flanker stuff. They do put the QB under center some, which is something the Mandarin defense really hasn't seen all year. The records of the two teams are of no significance and really only tell you that Columbus has had more "lay ups" than Mandarin. Twelve of Mandarin's 14 opponents this season won seven or more games, which is likely more than anyone else has faced in the entire state this year. In fact, the only true "lay up" Mandarin has had was the first week of the season in August. It should be a fun game to watch matching two teams with completely contrasting styles.

The majority of the points were given up after the outcome was long since decided. Mandarin just let them grind out long drives, trading that for time off the clock. They also called off the dogs toward the end of the third quarter. If needed, they could have easily dropped 60 or even 70 points on Riverview. I guess they showed a little compassion.

Watching DB, it is easy to see that they are undisciplined and very poorly coached.

Actually, Raines has been in quite a few close, one score games this season. They beat Mandarin by 3 on literally the last play of the game. They had to come from behind in the second half to beat both Sandalwood and Lincoln by 7 each. They let Ribault hang around the entire game, eventually winning by 8. They have had their share of close calls this year. I think Raines will win a close game, but would not be surprised at all if Cocoa wins. Definitely one to watch this week.

I think this may be the first time ever two DCPS schools have advanced to the finals together. Kind of ironic that out of the three left up here, the two Gateway schools advanced rather easily while TC was sent packing. It throws a little water on the private vs public debate.

You had it dialed in from the start. Good call.

I always try to be objective, but I just don't see it with this Riverview group. I have watched them quite a bit and they look a lot like Sandalwood, FPC, DeLand, Winter Park, etc, etc. Nothing really stands out. Simply put, Mandarin will likely be the best team Riverview has faced all year, with exception of maybe Venice. Conversely, Riverview will be the best team Mandarin has faced since last week. Just my $.02.

It is pretty simple for North Marion. Stop Crowley and you stop TC, because they do not have the type of QB who can take over a game if needed. They have basically hitched their wagons to Crowley all year long.

They will eventually pass Bolles, probably sooner rather than later. Bolles most likely won't be winning any more titles in the foreseeable future.

I think a more realistic scenario would be the FHSAA adjusting their cut off numbers, keeping most schools right where they are, except for the ones whose population has changed dramatically. And of course, there will be some politicking involved as well.

It's the Tebow rule. Not sure if TT ever counted toward Nease's enrollment....but he certainly played there. Maybe that is why they have been bad ever since...Karma.

This would be more realistic. That other district would be crazy difficult.

Yes. Raines and Ribault are very similar in size, and Ribault is 5A. Would not be surprised if Raines gets moved up next year.